FORMAT 09

FULL VERSION / NOTES ON FORMAT FESTIVAL…

from 'the accidental theorist' by edgar martins

‘Team Ffoto’ finally made it up to Derby for the opening night of the festival, it was super busy and brimming with excited peoples merrily supping wine (or local ale) and floating between the ground floor gallery at quad and all the little nooks and crannies filled with work, presented in a million different ways. From the epic framed prints of Crewdson, to posters stapled up in corridors, beautiful tray framed pictures from Nadège Mériau, projection installations and even little light boxes set flush on the walls – the perfect place for checking out ways to present our work for Lost In Transit. After seeing such variety I’m a little frustrated that I have come away still seduced by the ‘large-scale print’ – but hopefully thats a constant and a dream and i’ve actually come away with more ideas stored in the back of my brain, that i can adapt to suit budgets and effectively display my projects.

Anyway, here’s some highlights…

Copyright HANNAH STARKEY

HANNAH STARKEY

-top name already but this was the first time I’d seen her work in the gallery context and they inspiring.> beautiful slim white frames worked unexpectedly well on huge prints. and was set off amazingly with the dark grey of the walls.

KATE PETERS

- Uni of Derby space, simple hang but rich images at about 40 ” – no frames.

Work made in the USA – looking at the homogenisation of towns and the how individual and independant identities can be seen in these places as this increases.

“Kate is interested in how we contribute to personalising our surrounding environments, asserting our individuality both consciously and subconsciously on a place and the ways in which we exist within these spaces. It was her intention to seek out expressions of individuality within areas that are gradually being taken over by shopping malls and fast food chains.” Taken from Format website

Kate Peters was born in Coventry, England in 1980 she studied Photography at Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall. After completing her degree she moved to London where she spent 4 years assisting Nadav Kander.

JULIETA SANS

- had a quiet, modest little space in the basement of the pickfords house museum, some might say slightly off the radar – but it was a beautiful red brick store (with an amazing rug) and this warm, rustic room really suited the work. Below each print (unframed) the related books were hanging with highlighted sections that inspired the photographs.

AARON SCHUMAN

Copyright Aaron Schuman

- Once Upon a Time in the West was photographed on the eroding sets and locations of Sergio Leone’s celebrated 1960’s ‘spaghetti Westerns’, deep in the Almerian deserts of southern Spain.

- exhibiting at Derby Museum & Art Gallery, with no frames the prints are evenly space and fill the walls – works well in that way. the narrative is easy to see, as in it isn’t hard to quickly gain an understanding of a wider concept and to catch on to visual language in the more playful images.

UNKNOWN>liked this as i think back now but didnt make note of the artist.whoops.

Comment if you can remember more and their name etc – in the back of the Quad ground floor gallery, just right of Mr Simon Roberts’ blue hues, there was a film installation piece. The film was a diptych set up of black and white looping footage. On the left was a seemingly 1940’s? couple frozen in numerous poses of still frames as the landscape behind the train they were journeying on passed by in real time; as did the clouds of smoke coming from the gent’s cigar. In the adjacent screen a retro film editor character was winding the tape around its reels or through some sort device> as if he was intervening with the playing of the left hand screen. A little gem that entertained and bemused.

—————————

Biggest let down: For me I have to say i was really looking forward to seeing Edgar Martins photography. I don’t feel the big screen did them justice – in fact i walked past on Friday morning and it had crashed…hmm. reliable output for work? I’m not sure why the work was chosen for the screen… they were the largest pictures at the festival-perhaps scale was the priority. Even if they were high def projected inside i’d have enjoyed them more.