Format International Photography Festival (stylised as FORMAT) is a biennial photography festival held in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, UK. It takes place in March in various venues in Derby including Quad,

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ea ...

, Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derwent Valley Mills, Market Place and in nearby cities. Format comprises "a year-round programme of international commissions, open calls, residencies, conferences and collaborations". Though it exhibits some work by established photographers, it is predominantly a platform for emerging photography. FORMAT was established in 2004 by Louise Clements and Mike Brown, and built on the legacy of the past Derby Photography Festivals. It is organised by QUAD in partnership with the University of Derby. It was Directed by Co-Founder Louise Clements also known as Louise Fedotov-Clements from 2004-2022; in 2017 it was directed by Monica Allende. In 2010 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it "the UK's leading photography festival".

Episodes

2006 – Format06

The theme was "Transform" and it took place in September/October. Included work by

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin Adam Broomberg (born 1970) and Oliver Chanarin (born 1971) are artists living and working in London. Together they have had numerous international exhibitions. Their work is represented in major public and private collections. They were awarded th ...

2009 – Format09

The theme was "Photocinema". Included work by

Aaron Schuman Aaron Schuman (born 1977) is an American photographer, writer, curator and educator based in the United Kingdom. His books of photography include ''Folk'' (2016), ''Slant'' (2019) and ''Sonata'' (2022). Life and work Early life and education Aaron ...

and Wim Wenders.

2011 – Format11

The theme was "Right Here, Right Now: Exposures from the Public Realm"—

street photography Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Although there is a difference between street and ca ...

. Included work by Giacomo Brunelli,

Raymond Depardon Raymond Depardon (; born 6 July 1942) is a French photographer, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. Early life Depardon was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France. Photographer Depardon is a mainly self-taught photographer, as he bega ...

Bruce Gilden Bruce Gilden (born 1946) is an American street photographer. He is best known for his candid close-up photographs of people on the streets of New York City, using a flashgun. He has had various books of his work published, has received the Europe ...

Joel Meyerowitz Joel Meyerowitz (born March 6, 1938) is an American street, portrait and landscape photographer. He began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the id ...

Chris Steele-Perkins Christopher Horace Steele-Perkins (born 28 July 1947) is a British photographer and member of Magnum Photos, best known for his depictions of Africa, Afghanistan, England, Northern Ireland, and Japan. Life and career Steele-Perkins was born in ...

, Raghu Rai, Alex Webb, Zhang Xiao, and 60 works by street photography collective In-Public including

Nick Turpin Nick Turpin (born 1969) is a British street photographer and advertising and design photographer. He is based in London and near Lyon, France. Turpin established the first international collective of street photographers, In-Public, in 2000 and ...

. Speakers at the opening weekend included Bruce Gilden,

Nate Larson Nate Larson (born March 16, 1978) is a Baltimore-based artist and photographer known for investigating contemporary American culture and history. Education Larson received a B.A. degree in Photography and Visual Communication Design in 2000 fr ...

, John Maloof on Vivian Maier, Chris Steele-Perkins,

Mark Sealy Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

Amy Stein Amy Stein (born 1970) is an American photographer. Some of her photo series include ''Stranded'' and ''Domesticated.'' Her work has been shown at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.. In 2007 she was one of fifteen "emerging artists ...

, Nick Turpin, Michael Wolf and Joel Meyerowitz.

2013 – Format13

The theme and subtitle was "Factory: Mass Production". The festival had two categories: "Focus", which was curated, and "Exposure", "comprising work selected from an open submission programme." Included work by Ken Grant,

Erik Kessels Erik Kessels (1966) is a Dutch artist, designer and curator with a particular interest in photography, and co-founder of KesselsKramer, an advertising agency in Amsterdam. Kessels and Johan Kramer established the "legendary and unorthodox" Kessels ...

, and Archive of Modern Conflict.

2014 – Format14

Included work by Zhang Xiao.

2015 – Format15

The theme was "evidence" and it was directed by Louise Clements. Included work by

Larry Sultan Larry Sultan (July 13, 1946 – December 13, 2009) was an American photographer from the San Fernando Valley in California. He taught at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1978 to 1988 and at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco ...

and

Mike Mandel Mike Mandel (born 1950) is an American conceptual artist and photographer. According to his artist profile, his work "questions the meaning of photographic imagery within popular culture and draws from snapshots, advertising, news photographs, and ...

(''Evidence'').

2016 – Format16

An off-year episode. The theme was called "reGeneration3" and it was curated by the

Musée de l'Élysée Musée de l'Élysée is a museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, entirely devoted to photography. It is a government-supported institution founded in 1985 by Charles-Henri Favrod. It was housed in an 18th-century mansion until October 2020.

(Lausanne, Switzerland). Included "work by some 50 students of 25 different nationalities and 40 art institutions".

2017 – Format17

The theme was "Habitat"—"landscape, environment, migration, digital worlds, ideas of home and displacement, conflict and regeneration". The headline exhibition explored the

Anthropocene The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change. , neither the International Commissio ...

. Included work by David Moore (his play ''The Lisa and John Slideshow''), Lisa Barnard, Sohrab Hura,

Ursula Biemann Ursula Biemann (born 8 September 1955) is a Swiss video artist, curator, educator, and art theorist.Yvonne Volkart (2010, 2016). Biography Born on 8 September 1955 in Küsnacht. Biemann trained in art in Boston, Mexico and New York, graduating ...

, John Maclean,

Tom Hunter Sir Thomas Blane Hunter (born 6 May 1961) is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Sports Division Tom set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde as he was, in his own words, "unemployab ...

and from the W. W. Winter studio in Derby. The Format Conference included a talk by Martin Parr.

2018 – Format18

Included work by Mark Neville (''Displaced Ukrainians'' and ''Battle Against Stigma'').

References

External links

*{{Official website, www.formatfestival.com Art biennials Art festivals in the United Kingdom British biennial events Photography festivals