exposure

With our new name of exposure we are launching the festival into the new century. Of course, getting the exposure right is part of what making great photographic images is about. But there's no point in great images if they don't get exposure. And if the images are about important human issues, then they need the widest possible exposure. That's what the hereford photographic festival is about. This year and for the future we do not have a defined theme, in order that we can show the best available work on a wide range of human social and cultural issues. For what is art if it is merely decorative - it's real power is its ability to address emotive events and themes; to allow us to explore ourselves and our world.

Appropriately at the time of the Millennium, several of our exhibitions are concerned with religion. In all these the relationship between the Church and its members is examined in terms of icons and rituals - the fixed foci that give continuity and stability. It is upon such structures that societies are built and flourish. But societies must adapt as the world changes, either gradually, or sometimes in the culture shock of cut-off communities suddenly coming to terms with the modern world.

And our own little icons of our lives - the portraits and family snaps that help us to define who we are, also change their meaning over time. Whilst we have several shows that relate to portraiture - how we see ourselves and are seen by others; some of our exhibitions also address the intensely personal aspects of the experience of what it is to be human - with the physical and emotional wounds that can arise in the lottery of life - disease, ageing, alienation and deprivation.

But what it is to be human is not all doom and gloom, we have carnivals; we enjoy art and cultural contrasts. The enjoyment of photography is both emotional and aesthetic, across a broad spectrum of styles and subjects. In this Millennium Festival we believe that there is something for all tastes and interests. We welcome everyone to the festival and hope that you will find work that is stimulating and enjoyable.

Robert Ashby
Festival Director