FotoFreo The City of Fremantle Festival of Photography is a biennale, month-long celebration of photography in Fremantle, Western Australia. FotoFreo presents major photography exhibitions, photographer floor talks, workshops with Magnum Photos, films about photography, projections and in-depth dialogue and debate, along with a dynamic Fringe festival.

A defining feature of the festival is the FotoFreo Commission Project: each festival, FotoFreo commissions a photographer to undertake a project on a subject of social interest in Western Australia. The FotoFreo 2010 Commission Project is by David Dare Parker and is a documentation of six of Fremantle’s social clubs, which have played a vital role in the local community’s history but are now facing a declining and ageing membership. In 2008, FotoFreo commissioned Edward Burtynsky to photograph Western Australian Minescapes.

Jon Levy, Director of Foto8 is attending FotoFreo 2010 to take part in a discussion “The Virtues and Vagaries of Online Publishing” with Andy Adams (Editor, Flak Photo www.flakphoto.com), Kyla McFarlane (Assistant Curator – Exhibitions, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia) and Amy Stein (photographer). The symposium will address the questions: How are online photography galleries and curated art blogs changing the way we receive and view photography? What does it mean that newcomers from all over the globe can participate? Is it stimulating innovation, fresh ideas and talent or are we facing visual overload and global mediocrity? What does this broad access do to individual sensibility? And what of the role of digital curators – important filters or replicating the gallery system?

This year’s festival welcomes the following participants: Andy Adams, Narelle Autio, Philip Blenkinsop, Pat Brassington, Bruno Barbey, Zesopol Carlito Caminha, Chien-Chi Chang, Jean Chung, Marta Daho, Viviane Dalles, David Dare Parker, Kapil Das, Peter Eve, Alasdair Foster, Kyla McFarlane, Zhang Guotian, Joy Horwood Cooke, Sohrab Hura, Carrie Levy, Jon Levy, Martine Perret, Robert McFarlane, Mark McPherson, Claire Martin (photo above), Stacy Mehrfar, Jack Pam, Max Pam, Simon Obarzanek, Eugene Richards, Brad Rimmer, Aaron Rose, Magda Stanova, Amy Stein, Annet van der Voort, Zhao Yongsheng.

FotoFreo 2010 is on from 20 March – 18 April
www.fotofreo.com

Sohrab Hura

David Dare Parker

David Dare Parker