The FORMAT Festival, based in Derby in the heart of England, opens today. Following the 2013 edition, whose theme was “Factory,” Louise Clements, artistic director of the festival and the QUAD Art center, has chosen the seventh edition of the festival’s theme to be “Evidence.” The event features over a hundred exhibitions divided into two categories: “Focus,” gathering the work of one or several photographers selected by the artistic director and her team, and the exhibitions in “Exposure,” dedicated to the discovery of young photographers following an open call for submissions. A series of conferences, workshops, portfolios readings and prizes are also on the program.
L’Oeil de la Photographie is a media partner of the Format Festival, and we’ll be devoting all of today to this British festival of international photography.
FORMAT was established in 2004 the same year as Facebook, Flickr and Web 2.0 which marked the start of the dynamic web and the dawn of social media. Since then people have been able to command their own space online through blogs, online magazines, websites and dialogues on social media, consequently the number of images that we can access and interact with has risen from thousands to billions. Every two minutes, we take almost as many photographs as the entirety of humanity took during the 1900s. Millions of seemingly insignificant moments are recorded, shared online and stored in digital devices on a daily basis. We still use photography to record our lives, routines and encounters but we are also now living in the era in which most of the photographic images created are produced by machines, such as facial recognition and biometric surveillance cameras, to be analysed by machines. In reference to Baudrillard, in this era of the simulacra the real is quickly fading, leaving us behind to become part of layers upon layers of simulations and representations.
Since its inception photography has been subverted as a subjective medium, despite this it was once considered the most accurate way to record the world around us, the photograph acted as material evidence, indisputable proof of and silent witness to ideas, events and a reference to reality. From the mug shot and crime scene document, to the satellite image and drone still, whether we are producers or viewers of photography, we all share the hangover of trust that comes through the understanding that by taking images with a camera we are essentially, making a testimony. This supposition is so profoundly ingrained that today photography still acts as a prime evidential medium in many cases, however it certainly has become more difficult to distinguish between the documentary, staged or manipulated image.
Inspired by the seminal work of Evidence by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel and through a selection of the best of international photography in a diverse programme of exhibitions and events, FORMAT features over 300 photographers, including 70+ from over 20 countries selected through our EXPOSURE open call alongside curated exhibitions such as Beyond Evidence: An incomplete Narratology of Photographic Truths. In the programme FORMAT will endeavour to make sense of our complex world through photography and its connection to the theme of EVIDENCE, in a multitude of inspiring and vital ways.
FORMAT is the place to engage in an incredible range of new work alongside leading practitioners from around the world. The year round festival programme is focused on developing opportunities for audiences to see, debate, develop and participate in the best of what photography is and can be from the mobile phone to the darkroom. Now firmly established on the cultural calendar it is an essential meeting place for professionals and enthusiasts from around the world, in 2013 we welcomed over 100,000 people to the festival. In our 10th year we would like to extend special thanks to everyone who has supported and contributed to our programmes, we look forward to collaborating with new audiences and participants in the decades to come.
Louise Clements, Artistic Director QUAD & FORMAT International Photography Festival
FESTIVAL
Format 2015 : Evidence
March 13th to April 12th, 2015
Market Place
Cathedral Quarter
Derby DE1 3AS
UK
[email protected]
+4401332 290606
