Ffotogallery

Photography development agency of Wales

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The Old Sunday School, Fanny Street, Cathays, Cardiff, Wales CF24 4EH

Region

Wales

Official language

Welsh and EnglishWebsitewww.ffotogallery.org

Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in Wales.^[1] It was established in 1978 and since June 2019 has been based in Cathays, Cardiff. It also commissions touring exhibitions nationally and internationally. Its current director is David Drake. From 2003 to 2019 Ffotogallery used Turner House Gallery in Penarth as its gallery.

Background

Ffotogallery is a national organisation and has an exhibition programme featuring artists from Wales and the rest of the world. It features touring exhibitions, collaborations with other organisations and galleries, print and online publishing and an education and outreach programme. Ffotogallery also works with film and video, digital media and installation.

In 2003 it acquired Turner House Gallery in Penarth, near Cardiff, from the National Museum of Wales and used it for photography-based exhibitions.^[2] Its administration and education programme was based in Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff.^[3] In 2009 David Drake took over as director, from Chris Coppock who had been director for 19 years.^[4]

In 2016 Penarth town council suggested they planned to convert Turner House into a food outlet.^[5] In June 2019 Ffotogallery moved to The Old Sunday School on Fanny Street, Cathays, Cardiff.^[6]

Ffotogallery receives regular funding from the Arts Council of Wales, for example receiving £198,688 in 2015/16 and a similar amount in 2016/2017.^[7]

Projects

Ffotogallery organises Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography.^[8] The biannual festival was held in 2013,^[9] focusing on Europe, in 2015 when the title was "Looking for America" and in 2017 when under the theme 'Revolution.' The fourth instalment took place in April 2019 with the theme Sound + Vision, exploring the relationship between sound, photography and lens-based media.^[10]

In 2023 Ffotogallery ran a scheme with MADE Cardiff, to support graduate photographers, with a Ffotogallery exhibition to be held in November 2023.^[11]

Commissions

Major Ffotogallery commissions made in and about Wales over the last three decades include The Valleys Project, A470 and Barrage. These have featured alongside important new work made in single artist projects such as Keith Arnatt, Josef Koudelka, Peter Finnemore, Willie Doherty, Peter Fraser, Wendy McMurdo, John Davies, Catherine Yass and Bedwyr Williams.

Exhibitions

Some of the exhibitions Ffotogallery has hosted at Turner House include:

January–February 2004: Urban Dreams, John Davies^[12]
January–February 2008: Niagara, Alec Soth^[13]
August–October 2009: Cockroach Diary and Other Stories, Anna Fox^[14]
March–April 2010: Lost for Words, Peter Fraser^[15]
June–August 2010: Villes/Cities, Raymond Depardon^[16]
November–December 2011: Believing is Seeing, photographs by seven Korean artists^[17]
January–February 2012: Works ion Memory, Daniel Blaufuks^[18]
July–September 2013: Early Photographic Works, Daniel Meadows^[19]
August 2013: Quiet Heroes, Ken Griffiths^[20]
November 2013–January 2014: Stasis, Trine Søndergaard^[21]
March–May 2014: "Day Dreaming About The Good Times?", Paul Reas^[22]
February–March 2014 We make the path by walking, Paul Gaffney; and Clear of People, Michal Iwanowski.^[23]
July–August 2014 The Black Hole & Hiraeth. Janire Nájera and Gareth Phillips.^[24]^[25]
March–April 2017: Kanu's Gandhi - rare photographs of Mahatma Gandhi^[26]
June 2017: A Million Mutinies Later, Various
July–August 2017: The Queen, The Chairman and I^[27]
October–December 2017: Land/Sea, Mike Perry^[28]
January 2018: Still Lives: Consumed, Dawn Woolley^[29]

At other venues:

September–October 2018: Land / Sea, Mike Perry (co-curated with Plymouth Arts Centre) - at Aberystwyth Arts Centre^[30]

References

^ "About Ffotogallery". Ffotogallery. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
^ "No Paintings On Show At Penarth's Only Remaining Art Gallery". Penarth Daily News. 2 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
^ "A trip to Ffotogallery at Turner House, Penarth, south Wales". Urban 75. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "David Drake, Ffotogallery's Director, talks about how he's imagining a new photography centre in Wales". National Photography Symposium. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
^ "Take a look inside Turner House as it re-opens its doors". South Wales Argus. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Visit". Ffotogallery. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
^ Cathy Owen (24 February 2016). "Which arts organisations are in the money following the latest Investment Review?". Wales Online. Retrieved 24 March 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Sritharan, Brennavan (8 October 2015). "Looking for America – Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography returns". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
^ "Diffusion". Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography. Ffotogallery. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
^ Heywood, Nicola. "Diffusion Photography Festival". BBC Radio Wales. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
^ "New scheme offers professional development to aspiring photographers". Nation.Cymru. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "John Davies – Urban Dreams". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Alec Soth – Niagara". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Anna Fox – Cockroach Diary and Other Stories". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Peter Fraser – Lost For Words". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Raymond Depardon – Villes/Cities". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Believing is Seeing exhibition at Ffotogallery" (blog). BBC Wales. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Daniel Blaufuks: Works on Memory". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Works". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Quiet Heroes: Exhibition captures Welsh community life". BBC News. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Trine Sondergaard, Stasis". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Paul Reas – "Day Dreaming About The Good Times?"". Ffotogallery. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Paul Gaffney and Michal Iwanowski, Ffotogallery, Cardiff". Aesthetica. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
^ Eicker, Eva. "Janire Najera: The Black Hole". Photomonitor. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
^ McNay, Anna. "Gareth Phillips: Search for 'Hiraeth'". Photomonitor. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
^ "Exhibition on last decade of Mahatma Gandhi on display in Penarth". Penarth Times. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Kurt Tong - The Queen, The Chairman and I | Ffotogallery". www.ffotogallery.org. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
^ Design, Dominique for Lorenz. "MIKE PERRY PHOTOGRAPHER - CONTEMPORARY UK PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST". www.m-perry.com. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
^ "Dawn Woolley's still life photographs show us the shocking side of consumption". Creative Boom. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Ffotogallery has Land / Sea exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts". Welsh County Magazine. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2023.