From Alec Soth, a Minneapolis photographer best known for his off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America, who’s collaborated with his 8 year old daughter to avoid working visa complications. To 25 year old Dhruv Malhotra from Jaipur, an Economics graduate from Mumbai University who, since suffering from insomnia, wanders the streets with his Mamiya 6x7 capturing urban cities at night, highlighting issues of progress, modernity and the otherworldly. To 69 year old Wout Berger, a photographer from The Hague.

So how did you discover such a wide range of photographers?
First off I get to do a lot of travelling, I’m very privileged to meet a lot of people and see a lot of work, and I was offered to create this platform through the biennal, so I really tried to find an eclectic wide ranging group. The better known photographers who we’ve commissioned, they’re people I know personally like Rinko Kawauchi and Stephen Gill. The other people are all knew discoveries.

And did you find thee new discoveries by literally pounding the pavements, seeing galleries and studios?
Oh people have helped me, contacts, and books and magazine - I’m a very nosy reference - I’m curious to find new work and actually having a platform to discover these works was a pleasure, so I could share them with everyone.

You have chosen certain themes for the exhibitions - how did you identify these, were they trends which you picked up after actually seeing the works?
I decided to have no theme – that was my theme, I wanted to find the best possible work, rather than follow a theme. I knew there would be a space for vernacular work to be shown.

Then I noticed themes such as night photography and staged photography- there are a lot of new ways of looking at documentary work, the themes came later rather than the other way around.

This bring me to a question about your positioning as a photographer in relation to your subject, how do you position yourself, when you are photographing so called normal people in their everyday lives?
But this is not about my own photography.

But would you place your photography in the realm of Vernacular?
My photography is influenced by vernacular, but I’m a conscious author- the answer is yes and no. I’m a curator in this case- of course I can never escape the fact I’m a photographer as well, so I have an intuitive sense of what’s good and bad that helps me to show the people I want show in an entirely different way. These activities are entirely separate to my photography.

You singled out Alejandro Chaskieberg and Viviane Sassen for us to interview as part of this special feature. What struck you about their work?
Both new very exciting and with very distinctive voices. I saw Alejandro’s work in Buenos Aries- in a folio review that someone set up for me.

I had looked at 8 different portfolios and the standard was very high. His work is remarkable, moonlight photos with staged pictures with a bit of flash thrown in.

Viviane, I had seen her book Flamboyer, her publisher – an Italian guy- actually sent me a copy of her book.in which she does strange things with African people, some posed some caught but all entirely different to any other photos of African people. Her fashion background informs her way of moving people around in the way a fashion photographer does, very original, very fresh.

This is what Brighton’s all about; people who are going to be part of a wave of the next generation.

Yes you spoke about the Biennial being a process of discovery…
Yes you get them all in place instead of tracking around the world like I’ve had to! I’m passing on the fruits of my discovery from over the past few years.

And some of these respond directly to Brighton and it’s community…
Yes five bodies of works have been commissioned and taken place in Brighton, 3 at Brighton gallery - Rinko Kawauchi , Alec Soth and Stephen Gill. And there are two American photogoraphers who’ve come to look at the gay community.

What are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to seeing it all up, we’ve got it all here now we have to make it look the way it should,  I’ll be quite active in the actual hanging.

The Biennial Opening Weekend begins on Friday October 1 through to Sunday 3 October, comprising an exciting programme of talks and panel events, offering festival visitors the change to meet many of the invited international artists, to discuss and debate ideas shaping current photographic practice.