Photo|Frome is a brand new photography festival that’s set to bring ‘world-class photography’ to Frome and the Southwest of England this summer.
The inaugural festival will run daily for almost four weeks, from 21 June to 15 July 2022.
It will showcase all types of photography – from local, national and international photographers – at seven different exhibition venues, all with free entry.
There will be talks, workshops, a book fair, portfolio reviews and more.
The theme of the festival is The Independent Eye, celebrating photography as an art form and reflecting some of Frome’s famed spirit of independence.
NASA Space Shuttle STS-72 training. © John Angerson
Exhibitions
Among the exhibition highlights will be the music photography of Danny North, who has shot Dave Grohl, Oasis, U2 and many other bands.
John Angerson’s unique photos of the training programme for NASA’s Space Shuttle STS-72 mission will also be exhibited.
Olga Karlovac’s mysterious but alluring black and white portrayals of her native Croatia are atmospheric and rich with story-telling emotion.
Fell. © Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz
For the first time ever, Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz will exhibit her extensive documentation of the European Green Belt along the former Iron Curtain borderlands, where paradoxically wildlife flourishes.
James Ravilious’s world-renowned photography of the Southwest is another highlight of this inaugural festival. James’s widow, Robin, will be giving a talk on his work, and his friend Chris Chapman is exhibiting with his beautiful take on Southwest rural life.
Dramatic street portraiture of strangers in East London by Trinidad-born Robert Huggins celebrates the diversity of that great city.
Dave Grohl for Rolling Stone magazine. © Danny North
Vanessa Fairfax-Woods’s unique perspective on the role of women highlights the frustrations, absurdity and fragility of not showing one’s true self.
Aljoscha is a Ukrainian-Russian artist showing biomorphic maquettes called ‘bioisms’ which were installed in 13 Ukrainian asylums and special schools as beacons of hope in the current war.
The high energy live music photography of Ramona Carraro is featured at Frome’s unique entertainment venue, 23 Bath Street.
Group shows
There will also be four group shows, one of which features many of Frome’s professional photographers.
Another is dedicated to the work from Frome Wessex Photographic, one of the region’s most successful amateur groups.
The third will be a large-scale display of contemporary photographers from across the world, and the fourth will showcase work by students from the local Frome College.
Tich Scott and Wilf Hutchings, drystone walling on Belstone Common. © Chris Chapman
Talks programme
Photo|Frome’s talks programme partly reflects the festival’s exhibitions, with sessions from Robin Ravilious, Chris Chapman, Olga Karlovac and John Angerson, offering personal and captivating insights into the work.
They will be joined by Justin Quinnell’s practical talk on pinhole photography and Tim Gander’s revelations on his photo-documentary of Frome’s abandoned Saxonvale industrial site.
There will also be an audience-involving debate on the meaning of photography today from a professional perspective (Joss Barrett) and that of a fine artist (Martin Wade).
There will be an event discussing the work of Alice Seeley, later Lady Harris, who lived in Frome for many years.
This is in collaboration with Frome Heritage Museum, who are currently featuring her in their ‘Celebrated Women of Frome’ exhibition.
This pioneering photographer shocked the world in the early 1900s with her images of human rights abuses in the Belgian Congo, which led to King Leopold’s withdrawal, though her enduring legacy is not without controversy.
Archie Parkhouse and his dog Sally. © Beaford Archive/James Ravilious
Workshops
There is a full programme of workshops covering technique, equipment, and creativity.
The workshops will range from Polaroid-based photowalks to ‘camera-less’ cyanotype photography and digital camera phone photography – alongside a book and magazine fair and portfolio reviews.
Altogether, Photo|Frome will be in nine different venues, featuring the work of, discussion with, or instruction from around 50 photographers.
Monographs
Photo|Frome is starting a series of limited-edition monographs which will continue through future festivals.
These will each be released in a limited edition of 100 and be available for sale at the book fair throughout the festival, and online thereafter.
Volume 1 follows this year’s festival theme – The Independent Eye.
Four monographs will start the series – they are by Danny North, Mary Maynard, Robert Huggins and Tom Hull (who are all exhibiting during the festival).
Each monograph measures 21x13cm, has 48 pages, has a soft cover and is printed on art paper for £15.
London Couple. © Robert Huggins
About Photo|Frome
Photo|Frome is a new festival dedicated to showcasing and celebrating all levels of photographic endeavour from local, national, and international photographers.
The festival aims to put photography on the map in Frome and the Southwest of the UK – and, eventually, put Frome firmly on the international photo circuit.
Photo|Frome was co-founded by Frome-area photographers David Chedgy, Mick Yates, Martin Bax and Joao Diniz Sanches in the autumn of 2021.
There is a diverse team of eight steering the festival, supported by a wide range of funding and creative partners from across the region.
For more details about Photo|Frome go to Photo|Frome Festival of Photography.
