Programme announced for Suffolk’s first photography festival

The line-up for Suffolk’s first photography festival, PhotoEast, has been announced.

The event in May, in collaboration with University Campus Suffolk (UCS), will combine exhibitions, talks from leading photographers, family activities and events providing a feast for photography enthusiasts from 24 May to 25 June.

The theme of the Festival is ‘Of Time and Place’. In UCS’ Waterfront Gallery in Ipswich, two exhibitions reflect on the changes of time and age. Acclaimed documentary photographer and former Ipswich school boy, Julian Germain, presents Face of the Century, 101 portraits of individuals- their birth dates spanning every year of the 20^th century - commencing with a 100 year old, ending with his five week old child.

Zed Nelson’s The Family features the same family photographed every year, on the same day, at the same time, against the same backdrop, for over quarter of a century.

Outside, using the architectural backdrop of UCS’ Waterfront Building, two specially commissioned works interpret the Festival theme from a local perspective. In Welcome to the Waterfront Tim Mitchell draws on the photographic archive of the Ipswich Maritime Trust (IMT) and his work with local residents using pinhole cameras. George Georgiou’s exhibition, Omnibus, is a visual narrative of life on the streets of Ipswich, taken from the top deck of an Ipswich Bus. His photographs will also appear on designated gallery buses around the town, courtesy of Ipswich Buses.

Festival events continue along the East Suffolk railway line. Up the track in Halesworth, events have a canine feel. At the Cut Arts Centre in Halesworth, Libby Hall’s historic collection of photographs and postcards of people and their dogs from 1840 is sure to delight dog lovers. A pop up studio, run by Halesworth’s own multi award winning photographer, Bill Jackson, invites local dog owners and those visiting for half term, to recreate the golden era of early 20^th Century studio photography and have their photo taken with their dogs.

With its ambition to host a festival along the length of the East Suffolk railway line, PhotoEast is delighted to present a world class retrospective of avant-garde Russian artist, Alexander Rodchenko at Darsham Nurseries.

On Saturday 28 May, a full day of talks and workshops will take place at the UCS Waterfront Building led by world renown photographers and industry professionals offers something for anyone with an interest in photography.

Fiona Shields, Picture Editor of the Guardian, and Chloe Dewe-Matthews, whose visual tribute to those who were shot for cowardice in WW1 relocates from the Tate in London to a shipping container on the Waterfront, are among the speakers.

For families, Photocopy Club offers a chance to shoot, stage and launch an exhibition in a day. Or they can take part in a live exhibition through the huge camera obscura in the Waterfront Building throughout the day. All events are FREE to attend, but advance registration is recommended to avoid disappointment at www.photoeast.co.uk

Adrian Evans, director of PhotoEast and photography agency Panos Pictures who are supporting the Festival says “We are thrilled to be bringing the work of world class photographers to Suffolk to rub alongside our home grown talent. PhotoEast 2016 takes photography onto the streets. We’re hugely grateful to University Campus Suffolk, Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council and all our other partners and supporters for sharing our vision to create an event which will put Suffolk on the map for photography.”

Course leader for BA (Hons) Photography at UCS, Mark Edwards, said “We are thrilled to be playing an active part in this exciting new festival of photography. It’s an exciting exhibition programme of internationally renowned photographers and will be an inspiration for our students; the talks and workshops will give them a fantastic insight into the world of professional photography.”