News items - ffoton

Y CAE / THE FIELD is an ongoing series of exhibitions curated by Valley Ffocws art collective in collaboration with the Ynysybwl Regeneration Partnership (YRP) on the subject of the former Lady Windsor Colliery site, a few miles north of Pontypridd. Each exhibitor will take over the six presentation boards located along the the Windsor Trail for two months, host a shared community event and create a publication available from the YRP office.

The common focus is the site of the Lady Windsor Colliery and its future. Each contributor brings their own expertise, including photography, industrial archaeology, social history, illustration & storytelling, fine art, ecology and surveying. The aim is to both inform and stimulate given the backdrop of the site’s industrial life between 1886 and 1988 and provoke fresh ideas in the context of today’s challenges; in particular, climate emergency.

Dr Steven Murray has been recording the Lady Windsor Colliery site for 14 years and finds a mosaic of biodiversity, an accidental haven for wildlife at a small scale. His macro photographic landscapes across this tapestry of habitats are displayed much enlarged, but the originals can still be spotted by the naked eye. Steven works as a Science Teacher in Beddau.

Listen to Steven discussing his work and images for this project below…

Valley Ffocws is a multi-disciplined, inclusive creative collective making innovative work in and on the Valleys.Outcomes can take any number of forms, but activism and change lie at the heart of its endeavour. This shifting collective invites creativity beyond the traditional arts

— Julie Cook, Valley Ffocws founder

You can follow the Valley Ffocws collective and their progress on Twitter @valleyffocws2
Or contact Julie Cook at: [email protected]

Original Valley Ffocws piece shared here in Ffoton News on 12 March 2021

The Valley Ffocws Collective have a new project seeking photographers interested in contributing creative work

Click the image to download 2-page brief as PDF file

Ynysybwl is in many ways a typical valleys village with the Former Lady Windsor Colliery (closed 1988) at its core. The historical names of the fields also tell us that this site was also once a calf field and in the surrounding area there were apple fields, pasture,

Ffoton's Brian Carroll talks with Anglesey-based photographer Adrian Cann about the launch of his new virtual gallery website www.eyelevelgallery.co.uk and what it can offer photographers in and beyond Wales. The Gallery website launches with an exhibition of work by photographer Philip Butler titled 'Small Hours' - inspired by the 1977 John Martyn song of the same name. Small Hours is a collection of photographs produced to document the peaceful cinematic atmosphere that isolated points of artificial light create after the sun has set. Captured in and around his small hometown of Malvern, Butler wandered the streets after dark searching for inspiration. The work was published as a photobook in late 2020 by Art Deco Magpie (ADM) Publishing. Audio © 2021 Ffoton

Join us for new supportive community discussions and guest talks as we double-up on our popular Monthly Ffoton photography socials -now online during Covid-19 lockdown

We’re excited to announce the return of a double-dose of our monthly Ffoton socials online via Zoom in the immediate future.

AVAILABLE IN TWO FLAVOURS!

We will be hosting Ffoton Socials every second and fourth Thursday of each month: one being a small, friendly and supportive Community Discussion social between twelve people; and the other with a guest speaker talking about their work or services contributing to the wider photography community.

These online Ffoton Socials are not only a unique opportunity for those new to or studying photography to meet and engage with other photographers in a relaxed, friendly and supportive environment but also offer a platform to build new relationships for ongoing discusson, advice and personal & professional development.

• Monthly Community Discussion Socials are free to join but limited to twelve participants on a first-come first-served basis.
  Places can be booked using the form at the bottom of this page.

• Our Guest Speaker Socials have lots of places available at just £3.00 per place/event or £5.00 for two events (one event per month). Places can be booked via our online store here.

Guest Speaker SocialS

Thursday 25 February 2021

Euan Ross - photographer and founder of Biblioscapes.com

Euan Ross is a Glasgow-based photographer and founder of Biblioscapes.com - a website and Podcast which he describes as "the digital library of my personal collection of photobooks".

Euan is being modest - we think the Biblioscapes website is more than that!

Biblioscapes hosts an extensive and growing library of video flip-throughs of the photobooks in Euan's collection with new entries added weekly. In late 2020, Euan added a 'In Discussion' section to the website - a Podcast in which he talks with the artists, photographers, book designers and publishers who have worked on the books in his collection.

Euan will share his background in photobook collecting and the fascinating ‘origin story’ of Biblioscapes and its ongoing development with a new Podcast series. There will be an audience Q&A and discussion.

Book a ticket for this event here >

Thursday 25 March 2021

Cary Benbow - independent writer on photography

Indiana, USA-based Cary Benbow is an independent writer, editor, staff writer at F-Stop Magazine and photographer.

Cary's articles, interviews and book reviews have been published widely in a number of online and print magazines and he's a regular contributor to the popular F-Stop Magazine on Medium. He is also the publisher of Wobneb Magazine

With photography articles and reviews being important components in promoting new work, exhibitions and photobooks and those delivered online gaining more popularity and large audiences, Cary will talk of his background in writing on photography and his approach to keeping a finger on the pulse of good work being produced internationally. This event is a great opportunity for photographers to interact directly with a knowledgable writer based in the USA but whose work reaches audiences worldwide.
There will be an audience Q&A and discussion.

Book a ticket for this event here >

Community Discussion Socials

Complete the form below if you’d like to join our first Community Discussion Social.
Places will be allocated to the first twelve respondees.

Name * First Name Last Name Email * Community discussion events * Please select a Ffoton Social disussion event from the pull-down menu below. These online sessions are limited to twelve participants and run for a maximum of two hours.

In this exclusive first interview with its four members, Ffoton explores the project behind Wales’ new photographer Collective - collaborating to document
the impact of Brexit on people across Wales.

Ffoton’s Emyr Young talks with DocCymru photographers Rhodri Jones, Kristina Banholzer, Roger Tiley and Glenn Edwards about their new documentary project in Wales and what it aims to achieve over the next three years.

Follow the photographers and development of the project on Twitter @DocCymru24

© 2021 Ffoton

Ffoton are Excited to present the Results of the Photography Survey Wales 2020

The survey was intended to run from 15 February to 31 May 2020 but was extended by a month and closed 30 June 2020 during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. The survey was open to anyone with an interest in photography in Wales.

This online survey sought to create a ‘snapshot’ of current opinion on photography activity across Wales and gather comments and suggestions on any areas that might be improved. We believe this to be the first photography survey of its kind ever undertaken in Wales: open to all and unaffiliated with any commercial or formal organisation or body.

All contributions by those who completed the survey were treated anonymously as we wanted anyone with an interest in photography to feel they could provide honest feedback and air their views in confidence. Comments by respondents have been included unedited - the only few adjustments were ‘tweaks’ for profanity or disguising personal information submitted.

Structured with an Introduction and three main sections, the survey sought to gain insight and views on the following:

Photography and You - geographic location of respondents; their current interest in photography; aspects most important to them; their favourite way to access photography; and their preferred skillset if working collaboratively.

Photography in Wales now - preferred online engagement; preferred exhibition types; preferred photography Festivals organised in recent years in Wales and preferred photography-specific spaces receiving funding in terms of best value and visiting experience offered.

Photography in Wales going forward - any preferred new exhibition types/locations; preferred publications, workshops and meeting formats; preferred organisation to organise and deliver photography activity in Wales; any preference on how photography activity is funded; and views on photography activity, funding, opportunities and strategy going forward. A final question invited respondents to suggest what would help develop the wider photography community in Wales in the future.

Ffoton has made these survey findings available under a Creative Commons license and the 122 page document is available for free download via the button below.

DOWNLOAD SURVEY PDF

Ffoton joined Newport-based photographer John Briggs for a special event in Cardiff on Saturday 9 November to launch ‘Walking Cardiff’ - a new book he collaborated on with author and poet Peter Finch and published by Seren Books.

l-r: photographer John Briggs, writer Peter Finch, and event Chair - novelist and literary critic Grahame Davies

Walking Cardiff is a new book published by Seren and brings together twenty walks around the bustling capital of Wales in a guide that visits the new and the ancient, the difficult, the undiscovered, the lesser-knowns, the artistic, the entertaining, the quirky and the unexpected - uncovering Cardiff past and present for all to enjoy.

— Seren Books

The authors describing some of the more interesting walks around Cardiff. Image © Brian Carroll

The animated Peter Finch describing the ‘psychic centre’ of Cardiff with photographer John Briggs capturing the moment. Image © Brian Carroll

To mark the launch of the new book, Seren hosted a free event in Jurys Hotel in Cardiff bringing together author Peter Finch and photographer John Briggs in conversation with Grahame Davies.

Our thanks to the authors and Seren Books for agreeing to record the event.

You can find out more about the book on Seren’s website - www.serenbooks.com

Photographer James Morris talking about his work made in Palestine and exhibited in Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth 11 June - 5 October 2019. Joining Peter for this special talk on was Irish poet Damian Gorman who discussed his own time in Palestine and read some of his own work on the day.

Ffotogallery celebrated the opening of their new home on Fanny Street in the Cathays area of Cardiff on the evening of Wednesday 11 September 2019.

If you didn’t have an invite, you’ll have missed the opening speeches by new Chair of their Board of Trustees Mathew Talfan and current Director David Drake. So we recorded it for posterity.

Congratulations to the Ffotogallery team on securing a home and new gallery space - and for the initial refurbishment efforts to create an immediately useable gallery and library space.

“The beginning of a new chapter…”

Ffoton believes it important that all photographers in Wales have a listen and keep track of actual delivery on the many aspirational goals mentioned in the recording since, in their own words…
“Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography and lens-based media in Wales”.
This self-ascribed title attracts £199,472.00 of Welsh Government public funding via Arts Council Wales* - so it’s important that photographers across Wales share in the benefits of this funding annually.

Pay attention folks.

*source: latest Ffotogallery Accounts to 31 March 2018 on Charity Commission website (worth a read)

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

— Ansel Adams

Continuing our experiment to encourage more photographers in Wales to liberate their images off hard drives and share them in print, Ffoton & The Northern Eye Festival are partnering to introduce a new ZINE SWAP event for the Festival speakers weekend (12-13 October 2019.)

It's really simple…

If you have a personal photography project (completed, in-progress or experimental) just bring it along in the form of a A4 zine. All we ask is you bring along two copies of the same zine to swap with other willing photographers. By the end of the weekend, we hope ‘swappers’ will be taking home photography they admire by two others in a unique, limited edition zine format.

Daunted by the prospect of putting a zine together and the potential cost of producing it? Fear not, there is a special Zine sections on the Ffoton website for Resources and a new Print Guide written in collaboration with online digital print experts Mixam.

By using the Mixam 'test print' option (HERE) to upload your zine pages or artwork, you can receive two free copies of a fully printed and stable-bound zine of up to 16 pages for just £1.80 to cover postage.

Bargain!- there has never been an easier way to test out ideas and proof your projects in print!

And on the off chance you might have more than one photography projects tucked away on your computer that merit Zine liberation, you can use the Mixam test print service once every 30 days - meaning you can get busy between now and the weekend of 12-13 October and potentially bring along six different zines (2 copies of each) to the Northern EYE. More Swaps!

We can't wait to see some new photography in A4 zine format! This larger size offers a few more creative options to incorporate text, narrative, graphics etc alongside larger images - and A3-size spreads!

Visit our Zine pages via the links below for some tips and ideas on producing your own zines…

Printing Guide Zine Resources

A couple of very simple T&C’s:

• Only open to holders of Northern Eye speakers weekend/day tickets

• For the purposes of this #zineswap please stick to the 16 side A4 format (you are free to choose any other paper weight/finishing options you desire)

• Both printed copies must be made available for ‘swapsies’

Photography talk at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth 30 March 2019 by group exhibition photographers John Blakemore, Pete Davis, Marian Delyth, Peter Cattrell and Aled Rhys Hughes.