Open this photo in gallery: This image by an unidentified photographer called Motorcycle Matrimony is part of The Wedding Photography Collection of Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash on view as part of CONTACT at The Image Centre.The Wedding Photography Collection of Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash/The Image Centre/Supplied Contact soldiers on. The May photography festival, which can still claim to be one of largest photo events in the world, continues this year without a title sponsor. Scotiabank, which was covering half of the festival’s $1.5-million budget, ended that 15-year relationship last year. ‘Proud Canadian photographer’ Clara Gutsche reflects on life behind the lens The festival has dropped two staffers from what was a six-person team, cut back on advertising and marketing, and will not print a catalogue this year. Also, there will be fewer of the large-scale public art projects, such as the outdoor billboards, that are often Contact’s most recognizable feature. And yet, partly because the festival includes not only juried shows but also an open call to photographers who provide their own venues, the event remains large with dozens of exhibitions in Toronto and scattered across the GTA. “We are as big as we have been in a long time; we are back to pre-COVID numbers: We have over 160 exhibitions,” said chief executive officer Darcy Killeen. “It’s a reduced model but I also think it will provide a tremendous festival.” The festival includes more than 40 invited exhibitions of photography and film at established venues with such highlights as the wedding photography collection donated to the Image Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University by festival founder and photo dealer Stephen Bulger and his wife, Catherine Lash. Public art programs include camera-less photography by the French artist Laure Tiberghien on show at the Davisville subway station. Billboards around the city include the work of Filipina artist Kiri Dalena, Australian Amu Kumar and American Alanna Fields. The festival also includes more than 100 open-call shows organized by the artists or venues themselves. (They don’t pay to register but aren’t paid artists’ fees either.) Both BMO and the Power Corporation have stepped up as sponsors, but not at the title level. Killeen points out that it took several years of working with Scotiabank at a lower level before it joined as title sponsor in 2010, but he also says title sponsorships for arts organizations are increasingly tough to snag. Independently from the festival, the bank still organizes its own Scotiabank Photography Award, given to Montreal photographer Clara Gutsche in 2024. Contact continues through May at multiple venues in the Toronto area.