The Team
PhotoFrome Community Interest Company (CIC) was founded in February 2022 by four Frome-area photographers: Martin Bax, David Chedgy, João Diniz-Sanches and Mick Yates. Mick serves as Chair. The group are joined by others in this so far all-volunteer organisation to make Photo|Frome happen.
In 2023, the rapid growth of the festival means that governance will be extended. First, we are seeking to add to the Board up to four non-executive Trustees to better represent the aspirations of the festival and the diversity of the communities it represents. Second, whilst members of the team (below) bring a wealth of expertise, Photo|Frome will be creating a small executive team to lead specific areas of activity. We are also adding team members with new areas of expertise. Third, we will seek funding mid-term to support a minimal number of part-time staff to lead and develop Photo|Frome going forward.
For more information and expressions of interest, please contact info@photofrome.org
Jesse Alexander is a photographer, writer and lecturer based in the Mendips. He studied at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design (Farnham) and Documentary at the University of Wales Newport. His practice examines the representation of space and place, the discourse of landscape art and how it occupies our culture more broadly. Jesse has contributed criticism and commentary to publications including Hotshoe, Source, 1000 Words Photography, Photomonitor and is the author of Perspectives on Place: Theory & Practice in Landscape Photography (London: Bloomsbury, 2015). In addition to research projects Jesse undertakes commercial and editorial commissions, and has worked for leading publications, businesses and organisations. He is currently Course Leader for MA Photography and BA(Hons) Photography (Top Up) (online) at Falmouth University. Jesse is a member of Photo|Frome’s steering team.
Tori Allison is a Scot who has made her home in Frome for the last 17 years. She arrived at photography with the eye of an artist, as she is a multi-medium creative using oils and making life drawings. Tori creates window displays for Frome’s community event Window Wanderland. Her photography journey started with an iPhone, but she now photographs landscapes, portraits and street with a mirrorless camera. Tori is well known for promoting Frome in all of its glory across social media. She plans to pursue photography in a professional capacity after her military career. Tori leads Photo|Frome’s social media activities.
Anjalika Baier has always been drawn to the visual arts, including photography, but up until about 10 years ago she only ever used a small automatic camera, mainly to take on holidays. With the purchase of her first digital camera her passion for photography and learning more about it evolved. Suddenly there was this opportunity to see the world with different eyes, either close up, abstract, or even blurred when moving the camera intentionally. Her passion and expertise is for the camera-less techniques of the 19th century like cyanotype, cyanolumen, and phytogram. Using these techniques she works directly with paper, subject matter, light and some chemicals to produce unique and unrepeatable images.
Martin Bax is the founder and President of the Frome Festival which celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year. Martin enjoyed a long association with both The Royal Shakespeare Company and Anthony Quayle’s Compass Theatre Company. He was a member of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London and later at the Royal National Theatre on the South Bank. Whilst at Stratford, Martin created the second theatrical space in the town and ran an experimental late night season with the company. Martin was a Town and District Councillor and a former Mayor of Frome. He is founder and Chairman of Rook Lane Arts Trust, a charity dedicated to art and educational projects, and he was awarded the MBE in June 2006 for services to Frome. He has always been a keen photographer, often combining his interest by shooting with the theatre and film companies he was working with. Martin is a Director of PhotoFrome CIC.
David Chedgy was a partner at Ellenbray Press the Toy and Stationery retailer in Frome for over 40 years. His photographic journey began after purchasing his first camera back in 1978 and over the years he has progressed, having a wide variety of experience in different styles and genres covering editorial, people portraits, events and stock photography, turning professional two decades ago. His images have made it into numerous media, ranging from local to national papers, magazines and books. David was also a founder of Frome Wessex Camera Club, now Frome Wessex Photographic. Photography is his love, passion, joy, obsession – long may it continue. David is a Director of PhotoFrome CIC.
Paul Clements studied photography & Film at Napier University, Edinburgh, then took a Postgraduate Diploma in Photojournalism and Documentary at London College of Communication. Paul’s work has been published in The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, International Herald Tribune, The Glasgow Herald and The Scotsman. He has worked in areas of conflict, including Israel/Palestine and Northern Ireland. Personal Projects have included the Palestinian Christian Community in The Occupied West Bank, the Orthodox Neturei Karta in Stamford Hill, and the Rural Resettlement Programme on the West Coast of Ireland. Paul completed a Photographic Residence at The Eastern General Hospital, Edinburgh, and was a judge on pre-selection for The Sony World Photography Awards. Paul is a Tutor on the Falmouth Flexible MA Photography programme. His current practice explores Stane Street, a Roman Road linking London with Chichester, with its Blakean connections to Felpham where William Blake wrote ‘Jerusalem‘. Paul is a member of The National Union of Journalists, The British Press Photographers Association, and The William Blake Society.
Tim Gander is a professional photographer based in Somerset, serving regional, national and international business clients with stills and video in what he describes as his ‘corporate communications practice’. In parallel to this, he explores subjects of his choosing through his personal projects in which he works to bring the discarded, ignored or unseen to the fore. Tim is leading several parts of Photo|Frome’s 2023 programme, including outdoor exhibitions.
Hannah Jones is a photographer based in the South West of England. She is the founder of Grace & Wild where she works commercially and has just completed her MA in Photography with Falmouth University. Hannah has spent several years living in France and Spain and her work is largely inspired by the natural world. She is drawn towards documenting natural aesthetics, colours and textures and works exclusively with natural light. Her work is born from an interest in making connection, to create meaning from her surroundings and to share it with the world. Hannah has worked professionally for a number of brands creating lifestyle and branding photography for the past eight years.
Lydia Lutz moved to Frome a year ago to work for the Frome Heritage Museum as a conservator and curator of photographic materials. She specializes in the care and research of photographic archives and is a Fine Art analogue photographer herself. She was most recently exhibited at the Mount Without gallery in Bristol. After completing an MA in Heritage Management through Bath Spa University, she is now working freelance for heritage organizations, galleries, and museums across the South West. Lydia hails from generations of analogue photographers, and is passionate about uncovering stories through long-forgotten photographs. Lydia is leader for Photo|Frome’s exhibition production in several venues.
Gitte Morten is from Copenhagen, Denmark, and now lives in Frome. She is mostly a self-taught photographer and has been working seriously for the past 12 years in stills and photographic projections. Gitte is interested in finding the beauty in the everyday, the inter-relationship between image and sound, and in exploring styles and techniques of an imagined past.
João Diniz Sanches came to professional photography after a career mostly focussed on editorial (magazine and book publishing) and international event production (20+ countries across four continents), but you would have typically found him camera in hand over the past four decades. Life doesn’t always work out the way you plan it, but he got to his destination eventually. While his professional work is centred on people, products, and property, his personal photography often tries to convey a sense of narrative, whether obvious or hidden from first glance – and that’s what ultimately draws him to the work of others. João is Secretary of PhotoFrome CIC.
Krishna Sheth is an Art Buyer and a Director of Photography, commissioning for print and web content for a variety of clients, including the 1843 Economist Magazine, Saatchi & Saatchi, The Financial Times, Telegraph Media Group, Airbnb, The Robb Report and Raffles as well as book publishers and individual luxury clients. She has more than 23 years experience of commissioning photography and photo research. Krishna was Deputy Photography Director at the Telegraph Magazine for 17 years, was a tutor on the MA Photography online for Falmouth University and lectures at various universities. From Nov 2019, Krishna worked as Director of Photography for Stella Magazine, Telegraph Media Group. She has been Chair Judge for pre-selection for all Sony World Photography Awards, and reviews portfolios and book dummies. Krishna is passionate in raising awareness for and championing emerging talent in the industry.
Mick Yates has been a photographer all of his life. He believes that life is always in motion, every moment creates a sense of place or personality. Having travelled and worked all over the world, his photography is informed by the view that we are more the same than we are different – yet differences reveal stories. In 1999, Mick and his wife Ingrid founded a program building schools in the Khmer Rouge Reconciliation Areas of Cambodia, and he was a Trustee of Save the Children (USA). After decades in global business, working on 6 continents, Mick is now focused on photography. He has published photobooks, and been both an exhibitor and a curator. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), and has an MA in Photography. He also holds an MSc in Consulting and Coaching for Change. Currently, Mick is a Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds, Interdisciplinary Ethics Applied, working on both photographic ethics and data privacy. Mick is Chair of PhotoFrome CIC and lead curator.
Victoria Yates has a background in journalism, following her MSc at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, USA, and nine years of communications work. She loves finding creative ways to tell compelling, audience-focused stories. She likes to bring a research-focus into each project, collaborating with clients to understand not just their goals but the competitive landscape and bigger history / aspirations of the brand. Working across print and digital, her main expertise lies in editorial design, though she works in logo / brand identity, illustration, and web design. Victoria is Photo|Frome’s designer and branding lead, and she created the limited-edition monograph series.