David Drake, Director at the Welsh photography agency Ffotogallery, speaks with Buzz about what’s going on in the world of photography.
What’s your role at Ffotogallery?
I’m Director, which means I lead the organisation artistically and in terms of our strategic development, which includes our international engagement, the Diffusion Festival and our work as the national photography agency for Wales.
What does Ffotogallery have coming up?
We’re entering our 40th year, and 2018 will have many special exhibitions, events and projects to mark that anniversary. We’ve chosen the theme 40:40 Vision to explore how photography in 1978 imagined the shape of things to come, what happened in the intervening years, and how the work produced today sets out a compelling vision of a near future. I’m also curating a show in Delhi featuring six Welsh artists, as part of the Dreamtigers India-Wales project Ffotogallery initiated in partnership with Delhi Photo Festival and the Nazar Foundation. We’re launching an online platform and the next stage of the European Prospects project, and a new quarterly magazine called Ffotoview. Diffusion 2019 will be unveiled in Summer 2018, with commissions, an open call and a symposium in Cardiff. We’re also touring Mike Perry’s Land/Sea to Llandudno and Aberystwyth, and Marcelo Brodsky’s 1968 – the Fire of Ideas to Lyon, Glasgow, Kaunas and Madrid. So a busy year.
What does Ffotogallery do to help local photographers?
There are so many ways in which we help local photographers – by providing affordable darkrooms and digital facilities, courses and workshops, exhibition opportunities, volunteering, paid internships and as tutors, advice and support with their projects, crowdfunding and showcasing their work online.
What mistake do you think amateur photographers make most?
Thinking that a technically competent and ‘pretty’ picture is an interesting one. Anyone, including myself, can produce a decent image. Being able to consistently produce interesting and engaging images is an entirely different proposition.
Which photographers in Wales and around the world should we be keeping our eyes on?
This is always a tricky one for me to answer. My vote is for youth. Clémentine Schneidermann is an exceptional photographer and her Heads of the Valleys series won her the Leica Oscar Barnack Newcomer prize at Paris Photo 2016. I was at the Backlight Photo Festival in Finland last week and a young Finnish artist Jaakko Kahilaniemi won the 10,000€ Majaoja Prize. His 100 Hectares of Understanding is an innovative, funny and insightful project about the guilt he feels about inheriting land from his father that he doesn’t want, as his heart is in being an artist, not a forester.
If you could recommend somewhere to visit to someone who’d never visited Wales before, where would you pick and why?
Barafundle Bay or the Blue Lagoon, because Wales does have the most amazing and spectacular coastline and beaches… and not enough people realise that.
Info: www.ffotogallery.org