Last summer, B&H Photo hosted a relatively small camera industry trade show and exposition in New York, testing the waters for the viability of in-person shows after the collapse of Photo Plus. It went so well, that the retailer is doubling its efforts for the follow-up next year.
Called Bild Expo, the show was originally intended to be a celebration of B&H Photo’s 50-year anniversary, but the company tells PetaPixel that it was so successful that a “bigger and better” Bild Expo will take place on May 20 and 21 next year, 2025, at the Javits Center in New York City.
“50 years ago, B&H opened its doors — a mom-and-pop shop in downtown New York City guided by a belief in honesty in all interactions with customers and suppliers. We built the business over the years, thank G-d, by re-committing to our principles every day. This past year we were privileged to reach the half-century mark and to thank our customers and partners for their critical support,” the company says.
“Our 50th year was momentous, and it all came together with September’s Bild Expo. Bild celebrated our creative industry and the passionate members of the creative community. The event exceeded all expectations in terms of engagement, satisfaction, and the quality and quantity of the attendees.”
After speaking to multiple companies in the camera industry who were present at the 2023 Bild Expo as vendors, all of them tell PetaPixel that the show not only went better than expected but was both busy and exciting. There was some initial apprehension at putting resources behind an in-person event like it, given the way Photo Plus went the last few years, but whatever B&H did differently gave a positive result.
“We’ve had a lot of internal discussion about what’s next. While B&H’s business is serving customers, not running large-scale trade shows, we believe Bild was unique and special. After consulting with many of our vendors, we’ve decided to do it again, but we are going to wait until 2025 to let the momentum grow and make sure we keep Bild very special and unique.”
Over 160 brands and 70 speakers were lined up for last year’s event, so those local to New York should expect an even larger turnout for the May 2025 event.
After Photo Plus collapsed and its follow-up, Create NYC, failed to build enough support to take place (it has been officially canceled), it did not look like the photography community would see another event in New York. B&H appears to have changed that, at least to some degree.