Format Festival

Format Festival was held in Derby and featured a bunch of different photography held events and galleries all within a short distance of each other. Although I wasn’t able to visit all the venues I got to see a fair amount including ‘Paper Geographies’ held at the Derbion and Hidden Worlds Exhibition.

The first place me and my peers went to see was the Paper Geographies exhibition as shown in the image above. We had the privilege of talking to the photographer whose work is shown Yan Preston. It was incredible be able to see it printed in a larger format and understand the collaboration and ideas behind the project. A testimony to hidden landscapes and those that are dissapearing. The tree shown in two different locations shows the attempt of conservation in China, trying to save the three-century-old daqing tree that was then soon after flooded. The other artists pay tribute to documenting other landscapes and that explore the theme of place and materiality through different types of photography, even displaying artifacts to add context.

One exhibition I found particularly helpful to my own study was seeing all the different photobooks and zines, especially as they were so in depth as to listing all the information needed to make them inlcuding paper stock and binding. It was incredible to see all the different techniques used and how it put across the themes of each individual projects. It solidified the idea that I wanted to create a photobook to show my own project as I’d seen how effectively professionals had done it and although it will take a while to reach those standards it may be something I can continue in the future.

Overall it was an enjoyable day and I’ll look forward to going there again in the future to see all kinds of photography exhibited, it has something there for every photographer.