Venue Closure

We regret that we have had to close one of our venues - the Gwynne Warehouse Gallery, Left Bank Village. This has been done on the advice of the Environment Agency due to Flood Warnings for the River Wye.

Opening night speeches...

Sir ROY STRONG

Well, for those of you who do not know, I happen to be the President of this activity, which explains my presence here and, I am rather proud of being President of the Hereford Photography Festival, exposure which like all these arts activities it is never easy to keep it going and the fact that it is going this year is because of Nina Gustavssen. We all owe a debt of gratitute to Nina who is a fantastic, fantastic lady and who has put the whole show together as well as putting together a new board of trustees for the festival with Richard Heatly as Chairman. I hope very much through having an active and committed Board of Trustees and, hopefully committed funding, the festival will go on.

One thing that also attracts me about this event is the elegance of the venue. I think it gives the activity an enormous lift but also the fact that it is international. There is not a lot that is international going on in Hereford City and I would commend it to the City Fathers. I know that our distinguised MP is present here tonight, Paul Keetch. Its good to see Hereford as a city actually sponsors what is an international festival. Those of you who have been to the various venues looking at the photographs and realised the different countries both from America and across the mainland of Europe who have made their contribution to this festival will realise it truly is international

Well, it is my pleasure to introduce Stephen Frailey who is Chair of Photography at The School of Visual Arts, New York.
I don’t propose to do a obit notice on him that is too boring but he is a person of immense distinction both as a photographer and a writer. I know all of you, to come the distance he has from New York to declare this festival open, I think we owe him a great debt of gratitude. I hope you will give Stephen an especially warm welcome as he launches what is our festival of photography…exposure.

STEPHEN FRAILEY

I want to thank you for having me here, it’s a great honour, a great privilege. I am flattered that you invited me all this way. When Nina contacted me she mentioned that she thought my presence would add some glamour to the festival. At that point I was convinced that she had called the wrong Stephen Frailey.
So,I Googled myself and there were other Stephen Fraileys but
I guess, alas, I am here anyway.

I can only reinforce what has been said. There are a couple of impressive things that you all are doing here. One of them is the fact that that the community is so involved in this and has presumably given their spaces in which you see the work. This seems to be an event which is not an isolated, elitist arts’ situation but one which is designed to involve as many people as possible and I commend the festival for doing that.

I am also very interested and very impressed with the cultural polarity of the work that is being shown. Not only does it represent a lot of different countries, a lot of different points of view but, I am also curious about how many people from one particular culture have ventured into a separate culture in which to make a statement and in which to make observation about that, I think that is very impressive.

The festival should generally be commended for soliciting and encouraging under-recognised talent. I was thinking on the train here about how curious it is and what a contradiction it is that photography is the most ubiquitous medium on the planet right now. Everybody has a camera and everybody knows how to use it. So, it s the most ubiquitous and the most accessible but its very, very difficult to make a photograph that has significance, that has meaning that has resonance. Again, its one of those strange contradictions. I admire everyone who has worked this year for having achieved that goal. For taking a very accessible approachable medium and doing something worthwhile with it. One other thought before we move on.

I have been involved recently with building a photography department at the University of Kabul. When I realised a year or two ago that the present administration was going to leave Afghanistan, my anger about that made me think that well maybe there’s something we can do that’s very positive. So I got together about 60 very well known photographers in New York and we put together an auction at Christies and raised over $70,000 and we are in the process of building a photography department at the University of Kabul. I think this is very important because, as most of you know, photography was outlawed under the taliban and to be able to teach a new generation of people that through photography they can define themselves, they can achieve their identity, they can create a cultural voice on their own terms is something that we take for granted, is something that through this programme we want to encourage there. I mention that not to necessarily promote that venue but just to say how lucky we are that we can gather here tonight and look at work which has been motivated by self-expressive principles as well as by making observations about the social good.

Thank you so much for having me here, its a great honour; you have a great city with wonderful people and I like my hotel so much that I might stay another week!

Young Photographer of the Year 2004

A photography competition sponsored by Herefordshire College of Art & Design and the Hereford Photography Festival

1st Prize £200, 2nd Prize £100, 3rd Prize £50 (Voucher). Plus, all prize winners and runners-up will have their work exhibited as part of the
Hereford Photography Festival.

Photography is a great way to express how you feel about things. You may photograph friends and family or you may focus on current issues such as the environment. You might prefer to take pictures of nature, or you may like to capture things that happen in a city. We are looking for young talent in image-making. If you are between 11 and 16 years old and have access to a camera - why not give it a shot.

Full details here....

Friends of the Festival

If you would like to become a Friend of the Hereford Photography Festival please contact our Administrator Pippa Burns on 01432 351964 for details of how to become one.

Volunteers Needed....

hereford photography festival, is seeking volunteers to help with the 2004 exposure, which will run from October 1st through October 30th, 2004. exposure is UK’s longest running festival of photography. It brings international and national attention to Hereford. It is a county wide event and the Hereford’s arts and education organizations participate. This is an interesting way to see how a large photographic event takes shape and happens - from opening night planning through installation and deinstallation.

exposure volunteers assist with art handling; gallery hosting; international, national and press mailings; local distribution of exposure materials; reservations and arrangements for artists and VIPs; office administration including database updates, mailings, telephone, photocopying and other support. If you are interested in volunteering for us, please contact