Ffotogallery is excited to present Ffoto Cymru – Wales International Festival of Photography.

Debuting in venues across the country in October 2024. Building on the successes of five editions of Diffusion Festival, audiences are invited to engage with photography in new and meaningful ways through a programme of exhibitions, commissions, conversations, public installations and events.

Our Open Call invites photographers to submit an existing body of work for consideration to feature as part of this year’s festival responding to the theme What You See is What You Get?

Theme: What You See is What You Get? is intended as a provocation, an invitation to question the literal translation of visual information. Do we really get what we see? Or is it more complicated than that? What You See Is What You Get? explores how we see, understand and use images, how

This opportunity is open to all artists inside and outside of Wales, but must respond to the theme of this year’s festival, “What You See Is What You Get?”. Up to four selected artists will receive a £400 artist fee, with all print and production costs covered by Ffotogallery as part of Ffoto Cymru 2024.

Selection:

• The initial selection of digital submissions will be made by Ffotogallery. This decision is final.
• Key dates: Submission deadline closes at 23:59 BST Tuesday 30th July 2024
• Successful Artists will be informed w/c 5th August 2024
• Digital print files of selected works to be delivered to Ffotogallery by Friday 16th August 2024

Exhibition Dates run 1st October 2024 – 31st October 2024

How to Enter: Complete the online submission form at the bottom of this page and submit. There is no limit to how many times you submit bodies of work for consideration but we will not display more than one series by any one artist as part of this year’s festival.

My submission

Title of work(s)/ project Please give a brief overview of the work or project (max 150 words)

This work transforms subconscious thoughts, into the visually concrete. Though humans provoked the work, they are not evident in the images.

‘What Lies Beneath’ expresses my reflections on community using the landscape of an ancient woodland as a visual model where things coexist and support each other.

Conversely my local community is often disharmonious and driven by difference. The inclusive, characteristics of these diverse woodland societies, would benefit human communities where sadly ‘incomers’ like me, are never accepted as local, no matter how long passes, or what they contribute to the neighbourhood – a story common to settings globally.

In this work, combining the world in my head, with the one in front of me, has helped to heal some of the wounds that inspired the story’s beginning.

What here lies beneath the emerald wrapping, embracing their collective realm?

What lies elsewhere beneath man’s disguised demeanour, civil but deliberately divisive? 150

Please share a brief biography or artist statement (max 150 words)
Niki South is a visual artist born in England, now living in Pembrokeshire Wales. Visiting Pembrokeshire she found a hiraeth (deep longing for the place), and after spending years living a ‘dual centre’ life between the two places, is now located there permanently. She is currently finishing her BA (Hons) Photography degree with the Open College of the Arts.

She uses photography as a medium for expressing her reflections, photographing in a metaphorical manner. Her work is shaped by research on ‘affect,’ expressing what is in a photographer’s mind, versus ‘effect,’ realism. Previous works have focused on ‘Layers of Truth,’ whilst others are visual metaphors on issues of the moment.

Niki’s photography is a personal response to dynamic landscapes both internally and externally. She finds combining the world within her head with the one in front of her cathartic – a way to filter and express her subconscious thoughts. (149)

Please submit up to three images that you are submitting for this application, or that best represent your project. (2MB file size each-verbal Bob 10 mb altogether) check submission detail on return to email

Ts & Cs iv: All works must be clearly labelled with the name of the artist, title of work and its orientation (landscape or portrait).

Community

Harmony

Cooperation

I wasn’t selected for this open call, which was a shame as I felt that my work fitted the brief well. It will be interesting to see what was selected.