By Gary Sprengel

Strike a pose! In what has become a highly anticipated yearly tradition for the Nork! Project, hundreds of photography enthusiasts descended on Newark’s streets on September 16th (a mercifully sunny and warm day) for the 4th annual Nork! Photo Fest, which in its first three years had been termed a photo walk. Film has a long history in Newark; a version of celluloid film was invented at the Plume House by Reverend Hannibal Goodwin. The Nork! Photo Fest, started during the pandemic in 2020, celebrates and continues the tradition of local film. This year, as in past years, had a lot of walking and picture taking but with a more choose your own adventure approach than prior years. This photo walk included an inaugural edition of an exhibit series featuring photography from local artists in three different outdoor galleries throughout the city.

The event kicked off at noon at Harriet Tubman Square, site of an outdoor gallery focused on social activism. The event organizers, Gabe Ribeiro, founder of The Nork! Project, and Chrystofer Davis, an award-winning fine art photographer and adjunct professor at Montclair State University, greeted the enthusiastic photography lovers. Maps and information were passed out, and Have You Met Newark? (a tour group) also hosted two neighborhood and mural tours from this location. The participants’ selected photos were displayed on banners attached to two big wooden cubes. The other two gallery locations were Military Park, with a Portraits of Newark theme, and Riverfront Park, which focused on a theme of environmental justice. 

After the centralized initial meeting place at Harriet Tubman Square, photographers were free to start roaming at their own pace. Various businesses throughout downtown and the Ironbound were official festival stops with art on display and merchandise to buy, some at a handsome discount. BrownMill Company, Black Swan Espresso, bunkr., The Yard, Sihana Cafe, Five Corners Ristorante, and Down Bottom Farms all contributed greatly to the festival’s success. The Newark Museum of Art also had free admission for Community Day. The bunkr. gentlemen opened their door for a live guest DJ set from noon until 3pm. It was an extremely full schedule that challenged even my fast-walking feet. 

More than two hundred photos were submitted for the exhibition in August with submissions from sixty artists, 75% of them Newark-based. Roughly forty were selected from thirty artists, some of whom had two or three photos selected, and the photographers ranged in age from twenty to seventy-five. Ribeiro said he was overwhelmed by the joy people felt  having their photos displayed publicly, sometimes for the first time. I have always been struck and encouraged by the diversity in the turnout for these walks and photo displays, which says a lot about the community that Newark fosters. 

For the second year in a row, ODR Studios handled afterparty duties, this time showing off their new industrial high-ceilinged first floor space. This venue was a dazzling sight to behold, with various photos from last year’s walk hanging from chains amongst ancient machinery like a time card punch clock, often in cozy corners and even a small side room. There were appealing photographic discoveries at every turn. Beer, wine, and boxed water flowed, while Sihana Cafe and Five Corners Ristorante provided the tasty treats. The lads from bunkr., Nick Keleshian and Joshua Garcia, returned to expertly anchor the musical vibe. Regular sponsor Unique Photo had a prominent table set up, where they gave out shirts and raffled off very impressive cameras. They also had a contest for the top three photos of the day.

The 2023 Nork! Photo Fest came to an end by 10:45pm. Another head-spinning success. I took so many photos that I am still sorting through them. Boise and San Diego won this year’s most-traveled guest awards, by the way, which goes to show how much people value this event. After the festival, The Nork! Project worked with the Brick City Run Club on a couple of Sunday morning runs, and there was also an after-work walk in early October. It’s not out of the question that more smaller events could pop up as long as the photo galleries remain in the parks. As for next year, it is far too early to offer specifics, but it is hard to imagine something this positive for Brick City not continuing to top itself.

Gary Sprengel is a Harrison native who fled to Amish Country, PA to obtain his BA in communications from Elizabethtown College. He enjoys photography, craft beer, wandering urban landscapes, and country music. He wrote dating blogs under a pseudonym for about a year, and was once pulled onstage by Don Rickles in Atlantic City. He goes by the cryptic @garysprengel on Instagram and Twitter.

All photos by Gary Sprengel