Walking Cardiff : Book launch

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

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

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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

James Morris @ Ffotogaleri y Gofeb

The very special Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth played host to photographer James Morris on Saturday 14 September for a talk about the work he produced for his Time and Remains project on Palestine and some of the issues it raised for his photographic practice.

James was joined in conversation by writer and poet Damian Gorman, who also discussed his own work where he has tried to test if (and how) the written word, especially poetry, might have anything to offer at all in situations of real ongoing violence and civil unrest.

Photographer James Morris speaking in Machynlleth. Image © Brian Carroll

“The origins of these photographs lie in a pine forest, walked through at the start of my first visit to Israel when I came across the unexplained crumbling walls of seemingly ancient structures, a small stream running by . . . a plaque announced it as “an oasis,” “a recreation area, a place of water, of hope, of peace, of vision.” Later that day I found a film online depicting a recent visit to the same location by Israeli Palestinian citizens. Elderly men recalled that as children those remains had been their village, the terraces their fields, the water their spring; they had been made internal refugees by the 1948 war during what they called their ‘Nakba’; their village flattened, their right of return refused, a planned forest of imported pines veiling their former world. Such divergent interpretations of place were a potent introduction to the dislocation in their land.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER: JAMES MORRIS, PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTE IN TIME AND REMAINS OF PALESTINE, (2016)

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Writer & Poet Damian Gorman in conversation with James Morris. Image Copyright © Brian Carroll

Listen to the talk and audience Q&A below. Many thanks to James and Damian for allowing Ffoton to record their discussion.

James’ work was exhibited in Ffotogaleri y Gofeb as Time and Remains of Palestine - a selection of work conceived by the photographer during a period of time he spent in Israel and Palestine, and was open to the public (free) from 11 June until 5 October 2019.

You can find out more about the latest Ffotogaleri y Gofeb events and exhibitions via their website:
www.ffotogaleriygofeb.co.uk

Ffotogallery - Fanny Street opening

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

#zineswap at Northern EYE Festival

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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…

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’

Rituals of Intimacy - Photographers Talk

On Saturday 30 March 2019 Geoff Young and Diane Bailey, curators at Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth, brought together celebrated photographer and teacher John Blakemore along with Pete Davis, Marian Delyth, Peter Cattrell and Aled Rhys Hughes for a unique talk on landscape photography.

Rituals of Intimacy, taken from John Blakemore’s writings provided the inspiration to bring together Ffotogaleri y Gofeb’s Collection 1, a special exhibition featuring the work of the five photographers and was exhibited from November 2018 until 19 April 2019.

Many thanks to the photographers and curators for allowing Ffoton to record the talk and share the audio below.

Photographer John Blakemore

Image © Brian Carroll

Photographer Peter Cattrell

Image © Brian Carroll

Photographer Marian Delyth

Image © Brian Carroll

Photographer Aled Rhys Hughes

Image © Brian Carroll

Photographer Pete Davis

Image © Brian Carroll