Outline
Introduction
by Bob Hewitt, Chairman FotoFreo Inc
FotoFreo 2010: The City of Fremantle Festival of Photography is almost over.
Once again the exhibitions curated by FotoFreo have taken place in dedicated venues (including the Fremantle Arts Centre, the Western Australian Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay, the Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, the Fremantle Prison, the Western Australian Museum in the Perth, the Cullity Gallery at UWA and the Perth Centre for Photography). And during this Festival there has been a major exhibition and a number of Fringe exhibitions on nearby Rottnest Island. Events during the Festival consisted of 3 evenings of audio visual projections, an exciting series of panel discussions, floor talks and conversations as part of the Incite Programme, 3 book launches, a series of workshops (still underway), film screenings and portfolio revues.
Participating photographers included, Narelle Autio, Philip Blenkinsop, Pat Brassington, Bruno Barbey, Zesopol Carlito Caminha, Michael Coyne, Chien-Chi Chang, Jean Chung, Viviane Dalles, David Dare Parker, Kapil Das, Agnes Dherbeys, Peter Eve, Joy Horwood Cooke, Sohrab Hura, Carrie Levy, Martine Perret, Robert McFarlane, Claire Martin, Stacy Mehrfar, Simon Obarzanek, Max Pam, Trent Parke, Brad Rimmer, Magda Stanova, Amy Stein, Annet van der Voort and Zhao Yongsheng.
Participating speakers included Andy Adams, Philip Blenkinsop, Bruno Barbey, Ray Coffey, Chien-Chi Chang, Jean Chung, Marta Daho, Viviane Dalles, Kapil Das, Kyla McFarlane, Alasdair Foster, Sohrab Hura, Carrie Levy, Jon Levy, Robert McFarlane, Mark McPherson, Claire Martin, Stacy Mehrfar, Jack Pam, Max Pam, Trent Parke, Brad Rimmer, Aaron Rose, Magda Stanova, Amy Stein, and Annet van der Voort.
In addition, the 2009 World Press Photo along with the 2009 Walkley Awards have been showing at WA Museum in the City and an exhibition entitled Sydney Life from the Oculi photoagency outdoors in the Perth Cultural Centre.
Most of the events that involved visiting photographers and speakers took place during the first 10 days of the month long Festival period.
The fringe exhibition programme, entirely organised by FotoFreo Inc volunteers, has been showing in almost 100 venues across metropolitan Perth.
FotoFreo Inc is an incorporated non profit association established as a community based organisation for the purpose of organising and running the FotoFreo Festival of Photography in the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia.
The port city of Fremantle is a popular destination for visitors to Western Australia. It is a very interesting and visual place, with a bustling port, a substantial fishing industry, surrounded by beaches and with a city centre (the West End) containing an outstanding collection of Federation and other historic buildings. Fremantle is also renowned for its coffee houses, small restaurants, numerous museums as well as significant historical landmarks such as the Round House and the Fremantle Prison.
But, from the point of view of an arts festival, there is substantial exhibition infrastructure and the town is compact, making it easy to get around on foot or on the free public transport.
Participation in FotoFreo is by invitation only.
Photographic festivals are now important cultural events in many countries, particularly in Europe and North America.
It is the intention and the hope of the board of FotoFreo Inc that the FotoFreo festival will continue to grow as a significant photographic and cultural event both nationally and internationally.
In 1996, a group of photographers and other interested people tried to establish FotoFreo Mark 1. This group put together the outline of an event very much along the lines of FotoFreo 2006. But this first attempt was a much more ambitious project and probably, with hind sight, ahead of its time.
Subsequently, the inaugural FotoFreo festival took place in late March, 2002. This festival was more of a pilot and did not include any dedicated exhibition venues. It was considered a qualified success despite the many problems encountered. It ran at a loss that was covered by some of the organisers all of whom were volunteers. However, the consensus was that to grow the festival it could only be done as a biennale.
FotoFreo 2004 was three times bigger than the inaugural festival and included a number of dedicated exhibition venues and a fringe festival. All agreed that this event was an unqualified success. One of our sponsors, Fremantle Ports, won an award from the State Government for "The most innovative partnership" with a cultural organisation or event. The event broke even.
FotoFreo 2006 was more than twice the size of the 2004 festival and was again entirely organised and run by volunteers. For the first time during this festival there was a full range of the activities envisaged for the event besides the exhibitions and audiovisual projections - a conference, a seminar, lectures, floor talks, films and workshops.
While very similar in scope and structure to the previous festivals, FotoFreo 2008 proved to be a significantly bigger and better attended event than any previous festival.
The current board members of FotoFreo Inc are David Blenkinsop, June Moorhouse, Felicity Johnston, Jude Savage and Bob Hewitt (chair).
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