Post-100 Years

It's been a couple of weeks now since Newport held its celebratory weekend for 100 years of photography in Newport and since then there has been no change of gear in the run-up to the Christmas break.

Now late in December things have slowed a little as we welcome in the start of another year and (momentarily) take a break from talking about photography.

The 100 Years weekend was a great success. Spread over two days, there were talks from Mark Duerden, Ben Burbridge, Sarah James, Annebella Pollen and Liam Devlin on the first day, as well as David Bate, Davide Maione, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Clare Strand, Paula Gortázar, Ken Grant, Mishka Henner and Bertien van Manen on the second.

Afterwards, there were speeches, food and drink, and the impromptu takeover of a local pub.

Many thanks to all those who came down to celebrate with us, both past and present students and staff. Let's do it again in 25 years.

On behalf of everyone on Photo Art, I'd like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you in 2013!

Graduate Internships

We're looking forward to welcoming back three 2012 alumni of the Photo Art course, who have successfully secured graduate internships at the University. They are Sion Jones, Meg Beaumont and Jo Sowden.  They'll be working on a variety of projects within the department and eCPR (European Centre for Photographic Research) from January 2013.

About the scheme:

The University’s Careers and Employability service has been working with university departments to create and develop graduate internship opportunities in order to enhance graduate employability, and support graduates in their transition from university study to employment.

With roles including film-making, research, photography and arts management, event support and marketing, while also offering a range of positions in university administration, the scheme will provide opportunities for recent graduates to help them further hone their experiences.

The scheme was open to all 2012 graduates from the University of Wales, Newport.

Pontypool: Transforming Historic Town to its Former Glory

Photo Art 2nd year's involvement in the town of Pontypool has made leaps and bounds over the past few weeks. There's an update on the whole project now on the UWN website. You can read it all below (continuted after the jump):

Newport University’s Photographic Art students are set to help restore Pontypool town centre to its former glory as part of a major £2.6million project. 

The group of 43 students and their lecturers have been commissioned by Torfaen County Borough Council to create art work for use in the production of hoardings as part of the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), a Heritage Lottery Fund programme to help communities regenerate the historic aspects of their towns and cities. 

It focuses on delivering sustainable conservation in urban areas, bringing new uses and new life back into areas that have lost their traditional economic bases. 

The project runs until 2016 and is funded by a range of organisations including the Heritage Lottery Fund; European Regeneration Development Fund, targeted match funding, Cadw, Pontypool Regeneration Partnership and Torfaen County Borough Council. 

The students, who are in the second year of their BA (Hons) Photographic Art degree course, met THI project officer for Torfaen, Graham Middleton, during a visit to Pontypool Museum, where he outlined their brief for the project.

100 Years of Photography

Current Photographic Art students and staff are looking forward to welcoming back alumni of the course to celebrate 100 Years of Photography at Newport this weekend.

There are a number of events across this Friday and Saturday and it's not too late to get involved!

Visit the 100 Years website for more information.

Darwin Magazine

The 100 Years of Photography at Newport celebrations are this Friday and Saturday, and to coincide with the first day there will be a number of stalls at the city centre campus including Ffotogallery and Darwin Magazine.

If somehow you haven't heard about it already, Darwin is a magazine created by Newport students Harry Rose and Ryan Grimley. The first issue, which will be on sale at the 100 Years celebrations, has a feature and interview with NYC photographer Christopher Schreck.

Jo Sowden in the Catlin Guide

This is big! Congratulations, Jo!

Photographic Art graduate Josephine Sowden has been named as one of the top 40 artists in the UK to watch out for in 2013. 

The Catlin Guide is an introduction to 40 of the most exciting new artists across the country, selected from a nationwide survey by curator Justin Hammond. Now in its fourth year, the book is regarded as an essential reference for followers of contemporary art and the only publication to provide an authoritative overview of new art in the UK. 

Each artist profile details future exhibitions, projects and aspirations for the coming year. The selection of artists for the Catlin Guide is made from both postgraduate and graduate degree candidates from across the UK. 

Josephine was nominated for the impressive accolade by notable Welsh artist Peter Finnemore, curator of the Graduate exhibition at Wales Millennium Centre earlier this year.
Since graduating in September this year, Josephine’s work has been exhibited in Platform 2012, Graduate 2012 and Videoholica festival in Bulgaria. 

She has also been commissioned by Hand in Glove, an organisation which provides a platform for emerging artists to show their work, to produce a solo exhibition at Motorcade/Flashparade in Bristol in January. 

The Catlin Guide will be launched at the London Art Fair 2013 on 16th January, alongside work by a selection of the featured artists, with a limited number of free copies given away to visitors to The Catlin Guide stand on each day of the fair.

Photo Art 3rd Years @ Paris Photo

Last week a group of current Photo Art 3rd years went off to Paris Photo. They visited fringe events such as Offprint and various galleries around the city. Of course, as well as all the photography-related goodness, there was also some obligatory sightseeing, wine drinking and cheese tasting.

Click here for a whole smorgasbord of photos from the week.

Hired Hand - Paris Photo

Hired Hand is a book featuring four artists. Bea Fremderman, Ingo Mittelstaedt, Athena Torri and 2007 Photo Art alumni Stuart Bailes. It is one of 20 books that have been shortlisted for the 2012 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards in the First Photobook category. 

'It can be difficult to create a book that brings together the work of four distinct artists -and a few stock images for good measure- without loosing coherence. This book is beautifully designed and edited to create what the publisher calls "a softspoken picture poem in which brute force and a slight caress suggest an undefined plot." Via the careful selection of materials and pacing within the pages, Hired Hand successfully hybridizes the physical object of the book with the vocabulary and pacing of a Tumblr feed.'

ALL FINE - Exhibition now open!

All Fine - the collaborative photographic exhibition between all three years and a variety of the creative courses, curated by Sara Rejaie - has opened in the Fine Art studios!

The 80+ submissions will be in situ for at least the next week or so, so if you missed the opening today go check it out! For more photos from this afternoon's opening click here.

Hand in Glove present INTERPLAY

Upcoming event in Bristol:

Hand in Glove invites you to our next event happening on Saturday 17 November, 2 – 8pm at the Z Shed in Bristol.

 INTERPLAY brings together artist-led groups, spaces and initiatives from south west England, south Wales, the midlands and beyond, to share knowledge, present work and explore the possibilities and limitations of collaboration.

The event is FREE and open to all and refreshments will be available.

Please see our website for more information. A programme schedule will be published next week - join the Facebook event or follow us on Twitter for updates and announcements on more participating groups.

Liz Fraser - Portrait of Britain Award

Congratulations are in order for Liz Frazer, 1st Year Photo Art student, who has been shortlisted for the Portrait of Britain award organised by the Economic Social Research Council.

The shortlisted images will appear in the exhibition Celebrating Portraits of Britain at the Strand Gallery in London.

Best of luck, Liz!

ALL FINE - A Photographic Exhibition

Photo Art 3rd year Sara Rejaie is curating an exhibition in UWN's Fine Art studios entitled ALL FINE. It is an open submission for all three years of all three photography courses as well as fine art. So, for everybody, really. All you are asked to do is print one photo on an A4 piece of paper and hand it in. The rest will be sorted out by Sara and everyone who submits will be exhibited!

There is a Facebook events page where you can see any further updates and the deadline for submissions is Wednesday 7th November, so get printing!

Here is Sara's original message and submissions guidelines:

OPEN SUBMISSION!
PHOTO ART - FINE ART - PFA - DOC PHOT
FIRST, SECOND, THIRD YEARS AND GRADUATES
E V E R Y B O D Y 

Submit one photograph of anything at all, of any size, on A4 paper. Write your name, and if you want to, your website or contact details on the back of the print. 

Everything submitted within these guidelines will be exhibited! 

Those of you in third year might remember Jason Evans' Empty Shop Project. This exhibition will be practising the same concept, but instead of empty shops it will be shown in the studio space. 

Drop your print off at the box marked ALL FINE at the AMD desk, the time to submit ends and the box will disappear on Wednesday 7th November...

Create, Observe, Perform in Helsinki

Create, Observe, Perform is a new exhibition on show at the Alkovi Galleria in Helsinki. Opening last night, the show was curated by Cardiff artists Dawn Woolley and James Moore, and includes Peter Bobby's new video work Curtain.

"Create, Observe, Perform forms the first part of an exchange programme between curators based in Cardiff, UK and Helsinki, Finland.

The first programme, curated by Cardiff based artists Dawn Woolley and James Moore, will be shown in Alkovi Gallery from 27th October to 4th November 2012.

The programme doesn’t have a theme or central idea, but brings together a wealth of artistic approaches to video art. From animation and construction to documentary and performance, the artists explore the creative potential of moving image.

The artists are both stylistically and geographically diverse, from the UK, USA, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Norway and Argentina. Some of the artists featured in this programme have responded to an open call, others have worked with the curators on previous projects further selections were made in collaboration with Outcasting (online moving image gallery)."

Pontypool Site Visit

Photo Art 2nd years have just returned from their first site visit to Pontypool.

Keep up-to-date with all their news here.

Lauren Jury, Assistant Curator at Arnolfini, Bristol.

Photo Art 2008 alumni Lauren Jury has taken up her new position as Assistant Curator (Performance) at Bristol's prestigious Arnolfini Gallery.

Lauren moves to the Arnolfini leaving her role as Assistant Curator at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, where I'm sure she'll be sadly missed.

All involved with Photo Art at Newport would like to congratulate Lauren on her new position and wish her well for the future.

Peter Bobby - Blind

A little bit further afield now, current Photo Art lecturer Peter Bobby will have the debut of his video piece Blind at the Society of Korean Photography International Photo Festival.

Some students may have already seen part of the work so watch this space for future developments and screenings of the project!

Ronnie Close at Brighton Photo Biennial

Brighton Photo Biennial is drawing to a close in the next few weeks, finishing on November 4th. Above you can see a photo of ex-Photo Art lecturer Ronnie Close giving a talk on his film, Ultras. 

2nd Year Pontypool Project

Second Year students on the BA(Hons) Photographic Art course at Newport have begun a new and exciting project set in the Welsh town of Pontypool, some 8 miles north of Caerleon.

As part of a large regeneration programme currently underway in the town, the students have been commissioned, by Torfaen County Borough Council, to develop a number of projects in and around Pontypool.

A blog has been set up over at photographicartpontypool.blogspot.co.uk that will serve to document this project and the work of the individuals involved. It will be managed by the participants themselves and will include regular updates, news, images and any other information relating to the project.

Brighton Photo Biennial and Fringe

Last week students from all three years of Photo Art headed over to Brighton for a two-day look around the Biennial and Fringe festivals whilst also meeting with Liam Devlin, curator Ben Burbridge and MacDonaldStrand. 

Fontcuberta in Newport and Cardiff

Joan Fontcuberta, perhaps best known for his 1987 project Fauna (above), will be visiting South Wales over the 17th and 18th October.

As well as discussing his own practice as part of Newport's visiting lecture programme on the 18th, he will be discussing "the significant challenges of producing histories or archaeologies of photography" at the National Museum Cardiff in a lecture titled Photography in Crisis on October 17th.

For more information, see the National Museum website here. Both these events are not to be missed!

Liam Devlin and Ronnie Close

Ronnie Close, former senior lecturer on PhotoArt, and Liam Devlin, current PhD researcher and lecturer at UWN, are everywhere at the moment!

Since moving out to Cairo almost a year ago, Ronnie has been documenting his time there on his blog. Now, with the Brighton Photo Biennial starting this Saturday (October 6th), the work they have produced over the past year is starting to see the light of day.

They have contributed two essays to Charlotte Cotton's eitherand.org - under the heading Use/Re-Use - on the fluidity of photography in various, ever-changing uses, appropriations and contexts.

Liam has also interviewed Ronnie in the latest issue of Photoworks as well as speaking at a symposium on Photography's Contested Spaces at the University of Sussex alongside Charlotte Cotton, Jorge Ribalta and Broomberg & Chanarin.

Ronnie will also be speaking at the Opening Weekend Symposium at BPB with Jason Larkin, Silvia Mollicchi and David Batty on the topic Critical Image Cairo – Photographing Egypt.

Coinciding with this panel discussion is a exhibiton of the same name put together by Ronnie and including his film Ultras on groups of non-sectarian football supporters in Cairo. There will also be a separate screening and talk given by Ronnie on the film on October 8th.

Photo Art 2012 / 2013 Meet & Greet

It's the start of another academic year. There's a lot of post-summer catching up to do as well as the greeting of our new Freshers. So on Friday 21st September there will be a meet and greet with all current years of Photo Art followed by a drink and lunch at the Hanbury Arms. Hope to see everybody there!

Original message from Peter Bobby:

"I'd like to invite you all to a short all-course meeting (years 1, 2 and 3) on Friday 21st September at 1pm (last day of induction week), in B4 (Main Fine Art Space). It is essential that you attend this if you can as important information for the year will be corresponded in this session. It is also an opportunity to get everyone in one room at the same time, so there will be plenty of people to meet.

 After this, the plan is for all three years to venture down to the Hanbury in Caerleon for a welcome back drink and lunch. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet the 1st years and get to know some of those in the 2nd year a little better. Staff will of course be present on mass.

So just to recap:
1pm - All course meeting in B4 (Main Fine Art Space)
1.30pm - All move down to the Hanbury Arms in Caerleon

I think that's about it.

I hope you're all well
Best wishes
Peter"

New Essay: Elliott Wilcox - Walls with Attitude

Walls with Attitude is a new essay on the work of 2008 Photo Art graduate Elliott Wilcox available over at Photomonitor: 

"From the moment we are born we embark upon a lifelong relationship with walls, with all their connotations of containment, protection, division, demarcation, ownership and all the emotive associations that they arouse in us. Walls that we decorate with wallpaper or paint, hang with paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, ornaments etc., become familiar, affording us the sanctity and reassurance of that familiarity and the confirmations of our identity that they bring, as their trappings weave the ambience of domesticity. Other walls such as those in schools, in our workplaces, or those of transit lounges, waiting rooms or prisons offer totally different connotations. These have impersonal, neutral qualities, walls that denote the non-place that we are rarely able to interact with, or to impose our identities upon; and if we do so, we do it at the risk of prosecution, sanction or other punishment. Walls are not to be touched lest they become marked – their history only scantily marked by light, heat or dust, a history that is subtly registered, weightlessly applied. Structurally strong, paradoxically walls often have vulnerable, fragile surfaces that we feel compelled to protect. So, while they protect us we also need to protect them – this symbiotic relationship is one that is unsung, rarely acknowledged, yet a timeless and enduring one." Continue reading ... 

 

Graduate: Opening Night

Some of you may be aware that Charlotte Winter and Jo Sowden, who graduated from Photoart this summer, have both been selected for the forthcoming show 'Graduate' at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The opening is on Friday 7th September, 6pm-8pm. If you happen to be in the Cardiff area, this show is well worth a visit and I'm sure Charlotte and Jo would very much appreciate your support. This is the first year that this has taken place, so I also think it's really important that it is well supported. There will be music and drinks at the opening. Friends and family are very welcome. Sam Laughlin from DocPhot and Sarah Wooldridge from Fine Art have also been selected.

Newport Grad Jo Sowden Solo Show

Just to let you all know that following on from Jo Sowden's selection to show in Platform 2012 at the Bristol Diving School and organised by Hand in Glove, Jo has now won their commission for a solo show in Jan 2013 at Motorcade/FlashParade (BV studios, Bristol). Jo was the only one in this show to get this commission.

Here's the announcement on the Hand in Glove website and the Gallery.

Many congratulations to Jo.

Summer Shows

Quite a few Photo Art-related shows going on this summer so if you find yourself in Bristol, London or even Berlin, these will be worth taking a look at.

THE WORLD IN LONDON - THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GALLERY, LONDON

The World in London is a new portraiture exhibition that opens tomorrow night in London's Victoria Park and includes work by Photo Art tutor Magali Nougarède. Go Magali!

CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE PHOTOBOOKS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S GALLERY, LONDON

A hands-on exhibition at the newly opened Photographer's Gallery of rare and elusive Japanese photobooks, curated by former Newport tutor Jason Evans. This year's graduate show saw a number of books created by students and everyone seems to love a good photobook right now! So if you like your photo books and want to see something you've never seen before (and may never see again unless you take a trip to the Far East), you should give this show a look-in.

A PHOTOGRAPH - 401 CONTEMPORARY, BERLIN

Curated by former Photo Art student Stuart Bailes, who met Photo Art 2nd Years on their trip to Berlin back in February, this conceptual exhibition at 401 Contemporary in Berlin looks like a really interesting musing on the relationship between the photograph and the space it inhabits - in this case, a gallery space. The show closes on July 28th and for more information you can read the press release here.

BRISTOL DIVING SCHOOL

Over the past few months the Bristol Diving School has put on a number of short exhibitions including original work and recent Newport graduates. If you're not yet familiar with the Diving School, you should check it out. Former Photo Art student Matt Simmons just completed a one-year residency there and it's open to a new group of graduates every year.

Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2012

More congratulations to 2010 Photo Art graduate Jocelyn Allen who has been selected for Magenta's 8th Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2012. Chiara Tocci was also selected from Newport.

Jo Sowden's The Lilies of the Field at Videoholica

Many congratulations to Jo Sowden, whose video piece 'The Lilies of the Fields' has been selected for this years 5th 'Videoholica' festival in Varna, Bulgaria. Jo graduated from Photo Art this summer and you may have seen here piece at the graduate show. Her page on the graduate website is here.

Off The Menu

This year's degree show is well and truly over (until next year), but if you missed the show or fancy revisiting the work you saw, take a look at the BA(hons) Photographic Art graduate website over at www.offthemenu.com.

Graduate Photography Exhibition

On 1st June, the graduation show for all three photographic courses at the University of Wales, Newport, opened to the public. Each course had publications to buy / give away. If you missed it, it continues at the City Centre campus until 8th June.

Post-UWN Look Closer

The second year Photo Art exhibition has been and gone, but the website is now live for those who missed it or wish to revisit it: http://www.uwnlookcloser.com/

LOOK CLOSER and more!

The past week or so have been very busy and so activity here has slackened. Photo Art 2nd Years -myself included - just finished their three-day exhibition at the Riverfront in Newport. A massive thank you to everyone who came and has helped in some way put together a really great show and subsequent party.

The fun doesn't stop there though. We make way for the 2nd Year Photography for Fashion and Advertising exhibition - Through The Lens - which opens at the Riverfront on May 23rd.

Shortly after that, at the beginning of June, it's time for the graduate show. Busy, busy, busy!