The fifth annual Olympus InVision Photo Festival, Nov. 7 - 9, at ArtsQuest Center and the Banana Factory, Bethlehem, features activities of interest to photographers, amateur to professional, and those who appreciate fine photography.

"Olympus Visionaries are handpicked professional photographers by Olympus that represent a wide array of photography types," says Janice Lipzin, ArtsQuest Vice President of Visual Art.

There are two categories of Olympus photographers that will be at the festival: Trailblazers, who are emerging artists, and Visionaries, which represent veteran artists.

The festival kicks off 6 - 9 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Banana Factory with the exhibit, "The Cost of Gold: Child Labor," by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Olympus Visionary Larry C. Price. There will also be two competitive exhibitions, "Pennsylvania Photographers Juried Exhibition" and "InVision College Photography Exhibition."

Price will judge the college photography contest. Prizes are: first-place, $1,500; second place, $1,000, and third place, $500. The Pennsylvania photographer competition will be judged by Heather Campbell Coyle, curator of Contemporary American Art at the Museum of Delaware. Instead of a cash prize, the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, Haverford College, James A. Michener Museum and Lehigh University Art Galleries will each purchase one work for their permanent collections.

Attendees may meet Olympus Trailblazers and Visionaries throughout the evening. There will also be a showcase of the works of Banana Factory resident photographers Thomas Shillea, Olaf Starorypinski and Bruce Ward.

Nov. 8 events at ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, include presentations by Andrea Modica and David Maialetti that share a theme of photojournalism. There will also be a presentation by Olympus Trailblazers Laura Hicks and Tracie Maglosky, "Oh No, Mom and Dad are Gonna Snap! How to Instantly Take Better Photos," which is a lesson in how to take photographs of children. Price's exhibit will continue.

Director of Photography at the New York Times Magazine Kathy Ryan debuts her exhibit, "Office Romance," before it opens in the Triennial of Photography, Hamburg, Germany. Ryan's exhibit is a collection of Instagram photos she has taken in the New York Times Magazine office building.

The building was designed by Renzo Piano, who used white ceramic rods to sleeve the outside of the building. The rods cast linear shadows inside the building throughout the day. Ryan said she uses these shadows as the focus of her photography. "The majority of what I photograph is incredible light in this building," she says.

Nov. 8 concludes with the "Slideluck Lehigh Valley" slideshow and party. Slideluck is an international organization that creates photography slideshows. They create local events by allowing submissions from professional and amateur photographers. Slideluck chooses photos to create a slideshow that runs for about one hour long with music. Food will be provided, along with samples from one of Slideluck's sponsors, Brooklyn Brewery. There will be a silent auction and Olympus' award-winning corporate house band, Peripheral Vision, will perform.

"There seems to be a group of people in the community who love photography and come out to all these things, and they come out to Slideluck so it's really a lot of fun," says Lipzin.

On Nov. 9 at the Banana Factory, there will be a panel discussion hosted by Photo Review Founder and Editor Stephen Perloff, Photo District News Photo Editor Amy Wolff and photographers Larry Fink and Nicki Stager. The discussion panel will focus on the struggles, triumphs, and what one needs to do to become a professional photographer. Thomas Shillea, platinum printing expert, will host a workshop on platinum printing.

In addition, there will be a shooting workshop of world-renowned artist Steve Tobin's sculptures at his house in the Quakertown area.

"I call it an art and sculpture warehouse but it is huge," says Lipzin. "We can easily fit hundreds of people in there, and people will be able to have free rein of photographing in there. He has miles of artwork that's really sculptural and gorgeous, and outside he has a sculptural ground." There will also be dancers posing at the workshop, along with the Olympus Trailblazers and Visionaries to aid people in photographing.

Lipzin says that even people who do not photograph will enjoy the festival because the workshops aren't based around what camera is best to use, but instead focus on storytelling. She says people will leave the festival feeling inspired by seeing the works and hearing the talks. She also says that attendees will gain a sense of community by going to the other photography events throughout the month of November because the same crowd of people tends take part in the events.

"The reason we created the festival is because we want to celebrate photography of all different kinds, for all different ages, and all different kinds of people."

The event is made possible through a contribution by Olympus Imaging America Inc. Other supporters include Dan's Camera City and PPL.