Exhibitions
This year’s theme is ‘Decolonising Environments’, which explores the complex and often conflicting relationships between human communities, places, and the natural world. Encompassing a range of styles, subjects and genres, Photo|Frome invites photographers and audiences to contribute to discussions around the social and environmental impacts of longstanding political, cultural, and economic ideas about our world. Decolonising is usually defined as a process of self-determination and unlearning of the social and cultural constructs created by an established and maintained system of dominion of one group over another. ‘Decolonising Environments’ expands this concept, to encourage a wider examination of social, environmental, and cultural issues through the subjectivity of the photographer’s individual gaze.
What follows are the announced artists and exhibitions. More to come.
All exhibitions are FREE to visit.
MPB @ Rook Lane Chapel | Bath Street, Frome, BA11 1DN
Saturday 24 June to Wednesday 12 July 10:00–16:00
Presented by MPB, the leading platform for photographers and videographers to trade equipment, Rook Lane Chapel will showcase seven very different world-class practitioners. Six now announced.
MPB @ ROOK LANE Chapel
Gideon Mendel
Working with both stills and video, Gideon Mendel‘s intimate style of image-making and long-term commitment to socially engaged projects has earned international recognition. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1959, he began photographing in the 1980s, during the final years of apartheid. This experience as a ‘struggle photographer’, documenting the brutality of the South African state’s response to peaceful protest, marked him on some level and for much of his subsequent career his focus has been on responding to the key global issues facing his generation. Since 2007, for the ‘Drowning World’ series Gideon has worked in the UK, India, Haiti, Pakistan, Australia, Thailand, Nigeria, Germany, The Philippines, Brazil, Bangladesh, the USA, France, Australia, Greece and Canada, witnessing a shared human experience of climate catastrophe that transcends geographical, cultural and economic divides.
Gideon has won the Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, the Amnesty International Media Award, the Greenpeace Photo Award and he has been shortlisted for the Prix Pictet in 2015 (Disorder) and 2019 (Hope). In 2016 he was the first recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s ‘Pollock Prize for Creativity’.
MPB @ ROOK LANE
Christina Simons
Christina Simons an award-winning international documentary photographer focused on humanitarian issues and cultural diversity. Her work has been exhibited throughout Australia, the United States, the UK, Europe, Russia and Mexico. Icelandic & American, Christina resides in Australia and is a true citizen of the world speaking multiple languages. She is a member of the Women Photograph collective and regularly mentors and teaches photography. Throughout her 25-year visual arts career, her work has been represented in publications such as The New York Times, BBC and The Guardian. Christina has also worked with NGOs such as Medicines Sans Frontiers, Marie Stopes and UNICEF.
Photo|Frome will exhibit work from two of Christina’s series. ‘Australian Apocalypse’ shows the consequences of bushfires which ravaged over 10 million hectares of Australia, killing nearly 30 people and an estimated half a billion animals. Her latest work, ‘Uncertain Land’ documents how people already internally displaced because of war in newly formed South Sudan also had to flee climate change flooding.
MPB @ ROOK LANE
Gobinder Jhitta
Gobinder Jhitta is a Birmingham born photographer living in London.
In the far north of Columbia, nestled in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, is “the heart of the world”. This is a belief held by the Arhuaco people, an indigenous group that have lived here for thousands of years. According to their history and cosmology, they, along with their neighbours the Kogi, Wiwa, and Kankuamo peoples (distinct yet related indigenous groups) sprung from this site during the creation of the Earth. As such, they refer to themselves as the Elder Brothers, and to the rest of the world as the Younger Brothers. This distinction arose not just from a difference in age, but from a difference in responsibility. as the groups view themselves as the Earth’s caretakers, with an obligation to ensure balance between humanity and nature.
Having watched the snow on the peak of their most sacred mountain (the form of which inspired the conical white hats they wear) slowly retreat due to global warming, the Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa, and Kankuamo peoples have recognised the need for spreading their message. Since the early 90s, they have begun to allow documentation of their home, their lives and their rituals of conservation, in the hope of inspiring their Younger Brothers.
After learning about the history and wisdom of these groups, Gobinder was eventually given permission to visit the Arhuaco and Kogi groups and capture their way of life. The resulting body of work is titled Xaku (which, in the indigenous language of these peoples, means ‘spirit of the mother’). Gobinder photographed the special bond that the Arhuaco and Kogi share with nature, and the earnestness with which they perform their age-old task of protecting it.
MPB @ ROOK LANE
Leah Gordon
Leah Gordon an artist, curator, and writer. Her work explores the intervolved and intersectional histories of the Caribbean plantation system, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Enclosure Acts, and the creation of the British working-class. Leah’s work amplifies ‘histories from below’ and recognises in the role of carnival, folk traditions, grassroots religion in both performing and sustaining radical histories. Her film and photographic work has been exhibited internationally including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; the Dak’art Biennale; the National Portrait Gallery, UK and the Norton Museum of Art, Florida.
For the ‘MONUMENT TO THE VANQUISHED | PART I | THE COMMONERS’ we identified the small pockets of common land that still exist in Shropshire and photographed people who still had common rights there. We interviewed them about their personal stories, commoners’ status, and explored the history and local myths of the land. These stories provide an excellent mechanism for understanding the historic legacy of enclosure and loss of commons. They are a kind of snapshot back into the 17th century.
The photographs are taken on an analogue medium-format camera with black-and-white film and the subsequent prints are hand-tinted using traditional photographic dyes. We used this process to imbue the landscapes, through colour, with a form of magical realism.
Note: The enclosure acts describe the legal process through which common rights over land were terminated and the common land converted to the exclusive property and use of a landowner.
MPB @ ROOK LANE
Jesse Alexander
Jesse Alexander is a photographer, writer and lecturer based in the Mendips where he has been making work for over a decade. His practice examines the representation of space and place, the discourse of landscape art and how it occupies our culture. He has contributed criticism and commentary on photography and visual culture 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). Jesse is currently Course Leader for MA Photography (online) at Falmouth University.
Photo|Frome will showcase ‘The Digging Season‘, which is the first part of Jesse’s larger exploration of the Somerset Levels. Using topographic photography, still life, drawing and planting, the project examines the intersections of archaeology, ecology and the peat industry on the Somerset Levels.
MPB @ ROOK LANE
Keerthana Kunnath
Keerthana Kunnath is a London based Indian artist who uses her artistic medium to initiate conversations around sociocultural issues. Through her practice, she addresses themes such as sexuality, queer, womanhood, and mental health, all of which are topics that are often overlooked in her homeland of South India and the South Asian community at large. Her work seeks to push societal norms around gender and encourage dialogue around these topics. Keerthana uses visual storytelling to unravel the stories of her subjects, while keeping their authenticity and emotions intact. Her art aims to bring attention to and create a safe space for discussing and exploring complex issues, ultimately promoting understanding and awareness.
Born and raised in the South Indian state of Kerala, Keerthana is passionate about challenging the entrenched societal norms that have long constrained the lives of women and girls. She frequently travels back to her homeland to explore the issues that confront her community, with the ultimate goal of inspiring young women to question limitations imposed by society and to forge their paths to fulfillment and purpose.
Keerthana’s work has been recognized and published in numerous reputable publications, such as British Journal of Photography, WePresent, Paper Magazine, UN Women Netherlands x Gemeente Amsterdam, Outernet, and many others. Her art reflects a deep passion for creating spaces for open and honest dialogue around social issues.
Round Tower, Black Swan Arts | 2 Bridge Street, Frome, BA11 1BB
Saturday 24 June to Sunday 16 July 10:00 – 16:00
The Beaford Archive is premiering the early 1970s work of Oscar winning cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins, together with documentation of the impact of Ash Dieback created by artist-photographer Robert Darch. This exhibition this exhibition presents collections from the first and most recent photographers commissioned by the Beaford Archive and demonstrates how Beaford is actively adopting a new curatorial approach to continuing a living archive.
Round Tower, Black swan Arts
Roger Deakins
The first artist to work on the Beaford Archive was Sir Roger Deakins – who took on the commission as a young art school graduate during 1971-72. After a year’s residency at Beaford, he decided to work in moving image and went on to study at the National Film School and is now best known as one of the most prolific and revered cinematographers working in film. He is favourite collaborator of the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes to name a few, and in March 2018 – Roger won his first Oscar (from his 14th nomination) for his work on Blade Runner 2049. He won a second Oscar for 1917 in 2019.
Roger Deakins / Beaford Archive. © Beaford Archive. website
Round Tower, Black swan Arts
Robert Darch
In 2020 Robert Darch was commissioned by the Devon Wildlife Trust and Beaford Arts
to make an artistic response to Ash Dieback in Devon. The work forms part of the DWT’s, ‘Saving Devon’s Treescapes Project’. The Saving Devon’s Treescapes project is led by Devon Wildlife Trust on behalf on the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum. It is a partnership project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, One Tree Planted and Tesco Bags of Help. This is the first photographic work that has been commissioned for consideration in the Beaford Archive in over 30 years.
Robert Darch / Beaford Archive. © Beaford Archive. website
The Whittox Gallery | Whittox Lane, Frome BA11 3BY
THE WHITTOX GALLERY
Arteh Odjidja
Arteh Odjidja is an award-winning photographer and educator specialising in portraiture and fine art photography. He has had the privilege of speaking and exhibiting his work throughout the UK and US. Arteh considers London his home but also draws inspiration from his West African heritage. London is where he completed his degree in graphic design at the University of the Arts. Growing up with a father working in the filmmaking industry, Arteh developed an early fascination with the creative process. He took to photography soon after he was gifted a camera by his mother at age 10, and as a professional photographer has been commissioned to create work for some of the world’s most recognised brands. He is also an Akademie ambassador for Leica Camera.
Arteh’s passion to make a positive impact with his work has led him to explore personal projects aiming to challenge our sense of privilege and equality in a transient, fast-paced, modern socio-economic world. His work has been exhibited extensively in the US and the UK, at the likes of the Tate Modern, The British Museum, London City Hall, and The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. Arteh also speaks at universities and colleges hoping to inspire young creatives.
His exhibition ‘Rise for Bayelsa’ highlights the campaign to stop oil spillages and other environmental degradation in the Nigerian delta area. Another artist will be announced at this venue before the festival.
THE WHITTOX GALLERY
UK Black Female Photographers
UK Black Female Photographers – UKBFTOG – presents Living the Dream. This group exhibition celebrates culture, creativity, and womanhood through the lens of Black female photographers. While continuing to strive for fairness and equality UKBFTOG members also recognise they are their “ancestors’ wildest dreams”. Originally exhibiting images of 51 photographers, this selection of Living the Dream displays various interpretations around the topic identity. The imagemakers acknowledge their perspective can challenge as well as deconstruct socially conditioned biases involving Blackness. With the display, the photographers seek to stimulate next generations and to pay tribute to inspirational women, and supportive men, from past and present.
Shown here is Nurturer by Hasna Tayyar, a British Jamaican/Turkish Cypriot digital and analogue photographer. Tayyar’s work highlights her relationships and emotional connections with those around her through documenting her ongoing exploration of her identity and womanhood.
UKBFTOG is a non-for-profit photography community offering UK based Black female photographers of all levels of experience a safe and welcoming space, both online and offline, to connect, support each other and to co-develop their practice. www.ukbftog.com
This exhibition has been supported by FUJIFILM UK and is printed by Digitalab.
Gallery at The Station | Station Approach, Frome BA11 1RE
GALLERY AT THE STATION
Intersectional Matters: Waste
Award-winning curator and photographer Jacqueline Ennis-Cole presents a group exhibition ‘Intersectional matters: Waste’ featuring a range of nationally and internationally acclaimed photographers.
More details soon.
GALLERY AT THE STATION
Clementine Wilson
Clementine Wilson is a social documentary photographer living in Somerset with her two young sons. 17 years ago, she completed a degree in editorial photography. Whilst on that course she started living with a New Age Traveller community because the cost of living was even then unaffordable. She began a project entitled No Fixed Abode which looks at social housing problems in the UK and the people affected, which she continues today.
Clementine has been recording families and individuals living on Traveller sites, scrublands, warehouses, and squats across the country. Some were born into this lifestyle, with Gypsy and Romany heritage, while others have chosen this way of life so they could live communally and retain a sense of freedom. A recurring reason for living this lifestyle was also the cost of living. Her project has since grown across the UK and Europe as she documented horse drawn communities, Irish Traveller and Romany communities and the refugee camps in France and Romania.
Some of those photographed have moved into social housing but have then struggled to adapt and in turn suffered from depression and feelings of isolation on being separated from their communities. Some have been racially attacked by their new settled neighbours.
Clementine has recently seen an increase in numbers of people living on the roadside in vans, caravans and even tents because of the cost-of-living crisis. She feels a duty to bring about awareness and hopes one day to evoke change. As a photographer, Clementine believes that her work gives candid insight into the deprivation and alienation endured by these communities.
Makers’ Yard | 37 Lower Keyford, Frome BA11 4AR
Wednesday 28 June to Friday 7 July 10:00 – 16:00. Weekdays only
MAKERS’ YARD
Guest-curated group
This specially curated group exhibition will showcase large-format fly posters hung candidly inside and outside of the unique warehouse space.
More details soon.
Frome Library | Justice Lane, Frome BA11 1BE
Saturday 24 June to Wednesday 12 July 9:30–17:00. Saturday until 16:00, closed Sunday
FROME LIBRARY
Student exhibition
Students from the University of the West of England (UWE) curate and produce an exciting group show, which will also include students from Frome College.
More details soon.
Frome Library | Justice Lane, Frome BA11 1BE
Saturday 24 June to Wednesday 12 July 9:30–17:00. Saturday until 16:00, closed Sunday
FROME LIBRARY
Open Book Call Exhibition
Photo|Frome is offering our first award for best photobook in 2023’s Open Book Call. Books entered will be on display for public perusal at the Frome Library for the duration of the festival.
Frome Town Hall | Christchurch St W, Frome BA11 1EB
Monday 3 July to Wednesday 12 July 10:00–16:00
FROME TOWN HALL
Local photographers
An interpretation of the festival theme by photographers from Frome Wessex Photographic, one of the region’s most successful and longstanding camera groups, and other local photographers.
More details soon.
23 Bath Street | Frome BA11 1DJ
Saturday 24 June to Sunday 16 July. Wednesday to Friday: 17:00–Late. Saturday: 12:00–Late. Sunday: 12:00–20:00. Closed Monday/Tuesday
23 BATH STREET
Guest-curated exhibition
Based on last year’s enthusiastic reception, Frome’s unique late-night venue also becomes a photo gallery for the duration of Photo|Frome.
More details soon.
Frome Heritage Museum | North Parade, Frome BA11 1AT
Saturday 24 June to Saturday 15 July 10:00–14:00. Sunday 2 July, 10:00 – 14:00. Not open other Sundays or Mondays
FROME HERITAGE MUSEUM
Faces of Frome
In 2022, in partnership with the Frome Independent, Photo|Frome offered free digital portraits via a student-run pop-up studio on market day. This will be repeated in 2023, at the Frome Independent outside of the Frome Library on Sunday, 2 July.
For the duration of Photo|Frome, the Frome Heritage Museum is pleased to present the photographic archive from the 2022 pop-up studio. The museum will also be specially open on market day, Sunday, 2 July.
Come and see your friends and family!