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4 news Ffotogallery Boss Departing After 13 years in the role, David Drake is moving on as Director of Ffotogallery, Wales’s photography development agency. Drake reflects on the institution’s legacy and the culture of contemporary photography when he started: ‘I arrived at a moment where everything was slightly up for grabs in terms of photographic galleries, or galleries in general, which no longer had a monopoly on exhibiting. There were a lot of artist-led spaces and pop-up activity, expanding photographic practice beyond the four walls – whether that was in online spaces or through things like artists’ photobooks or other areas of artistic practice. The photographic landscape had changed quite dramatically and was continuing to evolve, specifically; the relationship between documentary photography and other fine art practices; and moving image and photography. I wanted Ffotogallery to engage enthusiastically with that as well as honouring its legacy (Humanist documentary practice had been very dominant in Ffotogallery since the 1970s). The challenge was to successfully marry those without alienating the existing audience, whilst cultivating a new audience. I felt Ffotogallery needed to embrace that and not be defensive, but not lose its identity or become just another contemporary art space.’ Considering Drake’s own legacy, he singles out the Diffusion festivals, which have happened biannually since 2013 and is currently in its fifth iteration: ‘I came up with the idea of Diffusion at a time when Ffotogallery was in a state of transition: it didn’t have a permeant home and was split across sites. The idea Portrait of David Drake by Michal Iwanowski of Diffusion was to use the whole city, finding interesting temporary sites then creating something of real quality and international reach. I think we’ve achieved that every time. This year we are using billboards and taking over sites, not just in Cardiff but in Newport as well. As well as the ability to show a lot of work within an intensive period of time, it’s also about increasing the diversity of places and spaces in which we’re presenting work. We are de facto the largest and most ambitious visual arts festival in Wales so I feel proud that I’ve managed to deliver five of these.’ Finding a permanent home for Ffotogallery has also been a preoccupation since entering the role: ‘It took me ten years, but I have finally secured new long-term premises and we are very pleased with them. It’s very important for Ffotogallery that we have a secure future. Being back in the centre of Cardiff is important for us as well. I think if I was leaving without the premises being resolved I would feel that I had somehow failed.’ Considering the condition of the organisation and the challenges going forward, Drake notes: ‘The organisation is probably more financially solvent and resilient that it ever has been. At this moment there is regular funding from the Arts Council and we’ve had regular support from the British Council and Welsh government. I think the immediate challenge is really about where the priorities will lie: it might be that the Board and my successor may want to limit the geographical area of operation and concentrate more on the UK. There is “resilience” in terms of the organisation and its effective management, funding and generating income; and there’s the artistic resilience in terms of the programme being dynamic,
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creating opportunities, ensuring that Diffusion happens again… All of that has to be factored into the brief for my successor.’ Amongst various projects during the role, Drake notes European Prospects as his most satisfying: ‘This started in around 2010 as a multi-lateral partnership with France, Germany, Lithuania and Ireland, but has expanded. There have been books, symposia, exhibitions and dialogues around photography’s role in representing the changing European identity and the cultural landscape around this. Throughout the last decade we’ve had a really rich engagement with a range of artists and organisations at a European level. But it was also about creating opportunities for Wales-based artists to exhibit and have more visibility across Europe. The list is quite long, but to mention a few of those involved: Huw Davies, Paul Cabuts, Clémentine Schneiderman, James Morris, Helen Sear, Michal Iwanowski, Paul Gaffney, Maria Kapajeva…’ Drake intends to continue to work on the European Prospects project beyond his role as director: ‘I already have certain curatorial and publishing projects that I’m working on, and the European engagement is really important to me so I will take over the mantel of European Prospects, despite Brexit, and maybe not relying on EU funding. I like the idea of being able to choose projects that I want to work on without necessarily worrying about funding and the mechanics of running an organisation. So, I’m not leaving behind photography. It was a positive decision on my part. I felt it was the right time for me to leave and I was also thinking it’s good for the organisation to have some new ideas and new energy.’ – Jesse Alexander news 5 From Bristol Festival to the RPS Tracy Marshall-Grant has just been appointed Director of Development for the Royal Photographic Society moving on from her role as Director of the Bristol Photo Festival which she had been in since 2019. She will however still be involved with the Festival sitting ‘on that wider planning committee with the key partners, venues and funders’. Asked to pick highlights from this year’s Festival, Marshall-Grant mentions the outdoor exhibition at Underfall Yard of Bristol City Docks in the late 1970s by Jem Southam; the Windmill Hill City Farm exhibition, a public archive project gathering the stories and history of allotments; and Chris Hoare’s exhibition chronicling urban land cultivation in Bristol. ‘They really utilised the unique nature of Bristol’s architecture to produce some superb exhibitions’ she said. At the Royal Photographic Society she will be developing plans aligned with their newly launched strategy ‘Photography for Everyone’. She says it has ‘some fantastic new concepts and innovative aims within it’. Marshall-Grant is also one of the founders of the photography production company Northern Narratives, along with Ken Grant, responsible for the Parr's Ireland exhibition (reviewed on page 64 on its stop at the Gallery of Photography Ireland) currently on show at Roscommon Arts Centre before it moves to The McMullen Museum, Boston College, Belfast Exposed and then the Centre Culturel Irlandais for Paris Photo in 2022. Portrait of Tracy Marshall-Grant by Ken Grant Northern Narratives have also recently been asked to work on a large Chris Killip retrospective ‘but it is in its very early stages’ she says. She has also been working with Markéta Luskacova on her archive focusing on her children’s images which will appear in a publication with RRB Photobooks in 2023 and a number of UK and international exhibitions. ‘This will be all we take on for Northern Narratives for the next 3 years or so though. That will keep us very busy alongside our full time work’ she says. – John Duncan Erratum Due to an editorial error in the last issue of Source the quote from Leah Gordon in the article that accompanied her portfolio should have read: ‘But why are there no monuments that memorialise the brutality towards our own people by our own elites as well?’

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Ffotogallery Boss Departing

After 13 years in the role, David Drake is moving on as Director of Ffotogallery, Wales’s photography development agency. Drake reflects on the institution’s legacy and the culture of contemporary photography when he started: ‘I arrived at a moment where everything was slightly up for grabs in terms of photographic galleries, or galleries in general, which no longer had a monopoly on exhibiting. There were a lot of artist-led spaces and pop-up activity, expanding photographic practice beyond the four walls – whether that was in online spaces or through things like artists’ photobooks or other areas of artistic practice. The photographic landscape had changed quite dramatically and was continuing to evolve, specifically; the relationship between documentary photography and other fine art practices; and moving image and photography. I wanted Ffotogallery to engage enthusiastically with that as well as honouring its legacy (Humanist documentary practice had been very dominant in Ffotogallery since the 1970s). The challenge was to successfully marry those without alienating the existing audience, whilst cultivating a new audience. I felt Ffotogallery needed to embrace that and not be defensive, but not lose its identity or become just another contemporary art space.’ Considering Drake’s own legacy, he singles out the Diffusion festivals, which have happened biannually since 2013 and is currently in its fifth iteration: ‘I came up with the idea of Diffusion at a time when Ffotogallery was in a state of transition: it didn’t have a permeant home and was split across sites. The idea

Portrait of David Drake by Michal Iwanowski of Diffusion was to use the whole city, finding interesting temporary sites then creating something of real quality and international reach. I think we’ve achieved that every time. This year we are using billboards and taking over sites, not just in Cardiff but in Newport as well. As well as the ability to show a lot of work within an intensive period of time, it’s also about increasing the diversity of places and spaces in which we’re presenting work. We are de facto the largest and most ambitious visual arts festival in Wales so I feel proud that I’ve managed to deliver five of these.’ Finding a permanent home for Ffotogallery has also been a preoccupation since entering the role: ‘It took me ten years, but I have finally secured new long-term premises and we are very pleased with them. It’s very important for Ffotogallery that we have a secure future. Being back in the centre of Cardiff is important for us as well. I think if I was leaving without the premises being resolved I would feel that I had somehow failed.’ Considering the condition of the organisation and the challenges going forward, Drake notes: ‘The organisation is probably more financially solvent and resilient that it ever has been. At this moment there is regular funding from the Arts Council and we’ve had regular support from the British Council and Welsh government. I think the immediate challenge is really about where the priorities will lie: it might be that the Board and my successor may want to limit the geographical area of operation and concentrate more on the UK. There is “resilience” in terms of the organisation and its effective management, funding and generating income; and there’s the artistic resilience in terms of the programme being dynamic,

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