From the director's introduction:
"We at the Centre for Photography thought this first photographic festival would be a modest event that might kindle sufficient interest for a full blown festival in 2001. We were wrong. As you make your way around the more than 100 exhibitions, live events, virtual exhibitions, films and workshops, you will find there is clearly no need to stimulate interest. There already exists a huge demand for an event which can only begin to showcase the wealth of talent in contemporary South African photography.
From the outset, we were inundated with requests from South African and foreign photographers wishing to participate, and an initial twenty proposals grew to thirty, then to fifty. And in no time we had crossed the mythical one hundred mark. We have gone way beyond our limited capacity to handle an event such as this, so it is on a wing and a prayer that the Centre for Photography brings you the first Cape Town Month of Photography. This event is a partnership between the University, the Centre for Photography, participating photographers, business, the arts community and the people of Cape Town.
Our dedicated curatorial team included Berni Searle (curator and education co-ordinator), Lien Botha (curator and education officer), Jenny Altschuler (events curator and workshop co-ordinator), Elena Barbisio (research assistant and catalogue designer), Dale Yudelman (virtual exhibitions curator, poster logo and website designer), Torgny Hylen (website designer), Mark Coetzee (art night co-ordinator), Robyn Rorke (research assistant), Gabriella Kaplan (proof reading and editing), Freddy Scotchman (exhibition mounting co-ordinator), and many others who have worked day and night to bring you what we hope is the finest collection of photographic exhibitions yet seen in South Africa.
Along the way we have received generous assistance from many organisations and individuals, including Robin Olivier of Coza Digital, who looked after our Mac computers, Stuttaford Van Lines, the Scan Shop, the Smith Group, Supreme Larson-Juhl, and too many restaurants, museums, galleries, etc. to list here. Waterfront Charters hosted an exhibition on a ship, the Labia Cinema staged a small film festival and the National Gallery contributed with the inclusion of the 'Lines of Sight' exhibition. The Old Mutual, Creative Colour Laboratory, the National Arts Council, the City of Cape Town and the Arts and Culture Trust of the President all lent their financial support to the festival. The Durban Centre for Photography and the Nordic Council of Ministers made it possible for us to host the Shuttle '99 X-scape exhibition and the British Council brought our invited artist, Roy Mehta, to Cape Town from Britain. Thank you all for providing South African photographers with this unique opportunity."