#60: Offline Journal Newsletter : 12 Nov '23
'TISH' screening in Cardiff & more...
TISH
Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff will be screening the new ‘Tish’ documentary film which looks at the life and work of Tish Murtha – one of the better-known names that emerged from David Hurn’s Newport Documentary Photography course in the mid-1970s.
Tish was known for capturing life in the North East of England in the 1970s and 80s, chronicling the de-industrialisation of the region and the rise of Thatcherism.
The documentary film, directed by Paul Sng (who also ran the ‘Invisible Britain’ project and publication), was realised through backing from a successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2021, and had its debut screening at Sheffield DocFest in June 2023 and will be released on 17 November.
The film-makers are kindly offering 2 free tickets for the Chapter screenings to a Offline Journal Newsletter subscriber! To win both tickets, drop me an email to offline.journal@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesday 15 November, in which I ask you to…
name two publishers who produced titles featuring photographic projects by Tish Murtha.
The winner will be notified by email later that evening.
Chapter will be screening the film from 24-30 November 2023.
The 6pm screening on Saturday 25 November will have Director Paul Sng attending to give a talk on the film.
You can view the Chapter screening dates and times and book a ticket via the button below
DOCUMENTING YOUR COMMUNITY
A new Photography Project celebrating the work of Tish Murtha titled ‘Documenting Your Community,’ invites people to be inspired by Tish Murtha and take photos of their own community, capturing life in contemporary Britain. Participants don’t need to be a professional photographer - the project organisers would love to see photos that capture anything from local shopkeepers or people in the park or pub.
The British Culture Archive, in association with Modern Films and supported by the BFI, will showcase a range of work on its website that shows the breadth of modern life today. If you’d like to be part of this photography project, then all you have to do is post your photo on Instagram and tag it #tishmurthafilm with a line or story about what your photo is about. You can also submit your photo via contact@britishculturearchive.co.uk
There is no deadline for submitting images and the project will run until the end of 2023. The photo copyright remains with you, and by tagging the photo, you will be permitting the project to post the photo online on The British Culture Archive website. British Culture Archive will show a selection of submissions.
Port Talbot reaches National Portrait Gallery
Big congratulations to Roos Lewis on having his portrait of Captain Beany on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. The photograph, from his book ‘Port Talbot UFO Investigation Club’ published by GOST, was one of three featured in the latest issue #011 of Offline Journal.
The exhibition runs from 9 November 2023 - 25 February 2024.
NEW FFOTON CONVERSATION
Back in August I had the great pleasure of spending a day with respected international photojournalist Steve Benbow for Ffoton Wales.
Now retired, Steve worked across the UK, USA and Europe and was instrumental in the rallying of grassroots photographers in Wales to form the Ffotogallery in Cardiff back in 1978, and later, Photolibrary Wales – the largest commercial stock image library specific to Wales featuring work by over 350 photographers across Wales.
The first part of the 3-part interview is available now - listen free on the Ffoton website or on your favoured Podcast player.
Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales - Pete Davis
I finally managed to take a trip up to Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth to see Pete Davis’ Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales exhibition and, a few doors down the street, the related Tin Sheds community exhibition on the walls of the Penrallt Gallery Book Shop.
The large format prints really are worth seeing up close - and a selection of the images from the Tin Sheds series are available as prints to purchase direct from the gallery, as well as prints from other projects by Pete Davis.
I have just six signed copies of the new ‘Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales: Redux’ catalog that accompanies the exhibition - available from this evening on a first come-first served basis for £12 each via the link below.
Crowdfunding and making Photobooks
Impressions Gallery in Bradford has shared audio of a discussion titled ‘How to run a successful crowdfunding campaign with Marc Wilson and Gabrielle Motola’, recorded at their recent Photobook Fair on 28 October 2023.
With Marc Wilson’s story using Kickstarter a featured article in the latest issue #011 of Offline Journal, the audio is worth a listen via the button/link below…
There’s also the Impressions Instagram Live talk by Overlapse publisher Tiffany Jones, who also features in Ellie Macdonald’s piece in the new Offline Journal, you can watch Tiffany discuss sustainable approaches to making photobooks, using this button/link…
PHOTOBOOK SALE at WORKERS GALLERY
The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir will host a Photobook Sale next Saturday 18 November: 10.30am - 4.30pm
The all-day event offers a fantastic opportunity to grab more than a few bargains from the large selection of hard and softcover titles that will be available in the gallery - these books will not be available for sale on the gallery website. Don’t be slow - stack up on some early Christmas bargains!
The prints from the recent and popular David Hurn exhibition ‘South Wales Valleys: COLOUR’ may be off the gallery walls, but they’ve been packed neatly into the Workers Gallery exhibition box that will tour various community venues in the Valleys.
If you missed seeing the rare colour prints of David Hurn’s Valleys images made between 1972 and 2020 in the Workers Gallery, you might catch them at one of the venues above during November 2023.