Tim Gander – What Happened Here
PLEASE NOTE: This event has now been rescheduled.
Part photo-documentary, part art project, What Happened Here describes the life of an abandoned former industrial area of Frome between 2017 and 2019. Using expired, degraded photographic film, Tim’s attention to the site gradually revealed a darker narrative which comes more fully to light in his book published this summer.
Tim Gander’s professional photographic career spans more than three decades; the first 15 years spent as a news photographer, he now specialises in corporate communications. When Tim isn’t working on boardroom headshots and ‘website collateral’, he is happiest shooting long-form photographic essays. This personal work combines his love of editorial and documentary with fine art aesthetics, creating a deeper connection between subject and audience. Tim Gander Fine Art Photography
At the Assembly Rooms, Frome. Wednesday 26th October, 19:30 – 21:00. £10 per person. Tickets here.
Robin Ravilious – A Chronicle of Rural Life
Photographs by James Ravilious, © Beaford Arts digitally scanned from a Beaford Archive negative. Courtesy the Beaford Archive.
Robin Ravilious will talk about her late husband James Ravilious, the internationally renowned black and white photographer who spent over 17 years in rural North Devon recording in intimate and affectionate detail the land, its people, their work, and their everyday lives. James started this work in 1972; more than 70,000 images later, his Beaford Archive work had become what the Royal Photographic Society called ‘a unique body of work, unparalleled at least in this country for its scale and quality‘.
Robin will discuss James’s life (he died in 1999), his dedicated approach to his work, and the many influences that inspired him (including Henri Cartier-Bresson). She will also provide unique background notes to some of James’s best photos. Anyone with an interest in the history and photography of the south west should not miss this festival-opening event. James Ravilious
At the Town Hall, Frome. Friday, 24th June, 19:30 – 21:00. £10 per person.
John Angerson – NASA STS-72
PLEASE NOTE: Due to contracting Covid, John Angerson is unable to deliver his talk and the event has had to be cancelled. Our sincere apologies to all attendees and wishes of a speedy recovery to John.
Critically acclaimed documentary photographer John Angerson will deliver a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the NASA Space Shuttle STS-72 mission after being granted unprecedented access to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida and the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA, to document the final months of a yearlong intensive training programme.
After revisiting the original negatives during lockdown without the pressures of the original deadline, he discovered photographs that had been previously overlooked. Bringing them together with hundreds of images he uncovered at the US National Archives that were made in Earth’s orbit and captured by the original STS-72 crew, he created a new photobook. NASA STS-72 (Space Shuttle Publication) book pays tribute to a remarkable group of astronauts at a crucial point for the Space Shuttle programme. Since the first manned space mission, some of the most important items that the astronauts have brought back from space have been their photographs, which have over the years permanently changed the way we think, feel and see our place in the universe. johnangerson.com
At the Rook Lane Chapel Gallery, Frome. Saturday, 25th June, 19:30 – 21:00. REGRETTABLY, THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED.
Justin Quinnell – Aristotle’s Hole: From Mo-Tzu to the Selfie Stick
“If light was meant to be diffracted, space wouldn’t be a vacuum!”
Justin Quinnell is known to be one of the world experts in pinhole photography. For over 30 years he has worked around the world, from teaching in prisons in Australia to working alongside Rian Johnson, Mark Ruffalo and Rachael Weiss in the film ‘The Brothers Bloom’ (the only ‘pinhole photography consultant’ on the IMDB film website).
He has appeared on many TV and radio programmes but is most proud of his badge he was awarded by an appearance on Blue Peter!
Over 2,500 years ago the philosopher Mo-tzu observed sunlight travelling through a small hole and deduced that light travelled in the same way as an arrow being fired, in a straight line. In just over an hour, ‘Aristotle’s Hole’ covers the science, 500-million-year history and the immense variety of contemporary approaches to pinhole photography. Justin will then show his own work, which varies in duration from using fraction of a second to six months, and using a variety of cameras from the Smileycam (which can fit in his mouth) to a wheelie bin (that doesn’t!).
The lively talk may feature several unnerving demonstrations on capturing images entitled ‘being a golf ball’ and a ‘power drill portrait’. The talk can be punctuated by several demonstrations on how to make various pinhole cameras, some of which are given to lucky members of the audience.
He has had many books published including ‘Mouthpiece’ and annually assists with the experimental photography festival in Barcelona.
For the past 18 years, Justin has been a part time lecturer at Falmouth University Institute of photography as well as being one of the directors of the Real Photography Company, dedicated to reviving and refreshing traditional and alternative photography. pinholephotography.org
At the Assembly Rooms, Frome. Monday, 27th June, 19:30 – 21:00. £10 per person. Free parking.
Olga Karlovac – Theatre Stages
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we regret to announce that Olga’s talk, as advertised in our printed programme, will not now take place. Sincere apologies. Her exhibition at Rook Lane Chapel will still take place as planned.
Olga’s mysterious but alluring black and white portrayals are atmospheric and rich with emotion. The melancholic beauty invites one to take a poetic journey into the shadows as a fellow conspirator. Zagreb and Dubrovnik are her ‘theatre stages’.
Olga has published several photo books, and her photography has been featured in many photography magazines. She has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions around the world, in London, New York, Amsterdam, and Paris. Olga Karlovac Photography
Chris Chapman – Wild Goose & Riddon
His work has been published under various titles, including The Right Side of the Hedge (David & Charles 1977), Wild Goose and Riddon. The Dartmoor Photographs of Chris Chapman (Halsgrove 2000) and Silence at Ramscliffe, Foot and Mouth in Devon (The Bardwell Press, Oxford 2006). Chris Chapman Photography
At the Town Hall, Frome. Friday, 1st July, 19:30 – 21:30. £10 per person.
David Lassman & Mick Yates – Let’s Talk About Alice
‘Let’s talk about Alice’. Alice Seeley, later Lady Harris, lived in Frome for many years, and Frome Heritage Museum are currently featuring her in the ‘Celebrated Women of Frome‘ exhibition. Alice’s pioneering photographer shocked the world in the early 1900s. She photographed appalling human rights abuses in the Belgian Congo in the pursuit of rubber, which eventually led to King Leopold’s withdrawal. The images of atrocity still shock today. Alice was the first to use photography in a major, global humanitarian campaign, although initially Alice’s husband, John, got credit, making her yet another of history’s forgotten women. In later years she asked not to be called ‘Lady’, not wanting the borrowed interest of her husband’s knighthood. Alice and John used magic lantern shows in the UK and across the USA to publicise the cause, a first in the world of audio-visual documentary and using a carefully prepared script. The campaign attracted such luminaries as Mark Twain, who wrote ‘King Leopold’s Soliloquy’. Yet despite this undoubted good, the legacy of empire and missionary work in Black Africa is highly problematic and not without controversy, often brushed aside and not properly confronted today.
Alice’s story encompasses it all – humanitarian causes, ethical behaviour, photographic innovation, depiction of atrocity, the role of women, and the dark shadows of empire and abuse.
David Lassman is an historian and author, and Curator of the ‘Celebrated Women of Frome‘ Exhibition at and Trustee of the Frome Heritage Museum. Mick Yates is Chair and Curator of Photo|Frome and Visiting Professor, University of Leeds, Interdisciplinary Ethics Applied.
At the Assembly Rooms, Frome. Monday, 11th July, 19:30 – 21:00. £10 per person. Free parking.
(THIS EVENT CONTAINS IMAGES WHICH SOME MAY FIND DISTURBING.)
THERE IS A VIDEO OF THIS TALK HERE
Joss Barratt & Martin Wade – Does Photography Still Mean Anything?
Joss and Martin will debate the meaning of photography, in an interactive discussion, moderated by Mick Yates. Audience participation is not only welcome but needed! The hope is that as a group, and maybe more importantly, as individuals, we ask ourselves whether, in a world so awash with images taken by so-called professionals and amateurs alike, covering every aspect of life, it’s all become rather meaningless. Is there anything new to say? Or do we just say the same things over again with different technologies and effects? And does that matter? Is this not what every age has struggled with?
Joss Barratt is a professional photographer primarily shooting stills for the film and television industry. Originally a photojournalist, his quick eye for story telling pictures blends a personal approach with the particular demands of film sets and varied commercial assignments. He has worked with many different directors including Michael Winterbottom, Shane Meadows and has worked on over 20 films with Ken Loach. ‘My pictures can arrive from any quiet moment or take a team of stylists, art directors and technicians to produce a simple portrait.’ There is a slideshow of Joss’ work here.
Martin Wade is a photographer who works principally in black and white using analog materials and old 5×4 or 10×8 inch film cameras necessitating tripods and some time to set up. He does not work commercially, photography being more of a meditation when not working. He does not specialise in any particular genre although some know him for his Vanitas and Nature Morte or Still-lifes utilising bones, found objects etc. There is a slideshow of Martin’s work here.
At the Rook Lane Chapel Gallery, Frome. Tuesday, 12th July, 19:30 – 21:00. £10 per person.
THERE IS A VIDEO OF THIS TALK HERE