OK went up to the Format festival last weekend, spent Saturday and Sunday visiting the exhibitions. Saturday was a study visit with the OCA, I stayed for the weekend so visited more exhibitions on the Sunday.
I'd recommend this festival as somewhere to visit if you have an interest in the Art side of photography. If you're a person who comments 'thats crap' on threads of pictures that aren't pretty, then this probably isn't for you, but there's some stunning work on display.
It's so big you wont get around it all even in two days so you need to cherry pick and do a little pre-reading to get the most from some of the exhibits otherwise some will be lost. The main Quad gallery references Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan’s legendary
Evidence, but doesn't really explain that so a little pre knowledge of this is helpful to make the most of the display. Don't miss going up stairs in the Gallery as there is some excellent work here, although I felt there was not enough of the images in the series at times.
Must see places for me are St Werburgs church. Phil Toledano's work is thought provoking and emotional, the Chinese photo books are interesting to look at.
The Corn Exchange building for Media & Myth and Forensic
The Pearson building, some interesting work and installations, but the building almost steals the show.
There's a more indepth review on my blog
http://www.nineelmsphotography.com/blog/?p=1967
http://www.nineelmsphotography.com/blog/?p=1976
