Newsletter 04/26
Hello again
There's far too much content in this latest Newsletter already, without me blabbing on at the start - so dive in and enjoy!
Due to the length of this Nesletter, your email provider may chop off the latter section - so you may find it easier to read in full by viewing it on the offline.wales website.
Check out Offline's regularly updated full EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS listings page for shows and events. If you are aware of others in or relating to Wales, feel free to send me some info via the contact page.
Brian
EYE FESTIVAL TICKETS & EXHIBITIONS
The EYE International Photography Festival has now added a link on their website for weekend tickets, available now. They've also confirmed an exhibition of photographs, made in Newport, by Paul Reas.
Recognised as a key member of new wave of colour documentary photography in Britain that emerged in the mid-1980s, Paul Reas and his contemporaries – Paul Graham, Anna Fox, and Martin Parr, captured post-industrial decline in the UK and the rise of consumerism.
Fables of Faubus: Made in Newport
Photographs by PAUL REAS
'Fables of Faubus: Made in Newport' is a small selection of images from Paul Reas’ retrospective exhibition and book, published in 2017 by Gost. The exhibition is currently in Nantes at Center Claude Cahun as a part of the exhibition's tour of France.
The book and exhibition represents Reas’ photographic career, spanning almost forty years. This was a career which started in Newport when Reas became a student on the Documentary Photography course there in 1982. His involvement with the course extended way beyond his two years as a student however. He was the course technician for many years and then a visiting tutor before returning full time in 2007 and eventually becoming the DocPhot course leader. Throughout this time Paul Reas was committed to making his own work, alongside his many assignments for leading magazines. His personal projects were published as books and included in exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, the most recent being the Tate Britain exhibition, ‘The 80’s: Photographing Britain' in 2024/25. Many of the photographs made for these books and exhibitions over the years were made in Wales.
The exhibition, Fables of Faubus: Made in Newport is a selection of photographs from the book and touring exhibition that were all made in Newport. These include pictures from his days as a student up to more contemporary images included in the Tate show and beyond.
“The exhibition title is quite literally about the photographs I have made in Newport over the years but it also refers to how Newport has made me as a photographer over this period of time”. – Paul Reas
Fables of Faubus: Made in Newport
Paul Reas
10 May - 5 June 2026 (Part of The EYE Festival 2026)
gallery 57, Unit 9, Chartist Tower, Newport NP20 1DX
www.facebook.com/Galllery57/
patterns
Photographs by DAVID HURN
The opening exhibition for the EYE Festival will be David Hurn's 'patterns' - a selection of photographs on the theme, drawn from the archive of the founder of the Newport Documentary Course.
patterns opens on the evening on Friday 15 May at CLWB FFOTO in Newport Arcade, opposite Newport Market.
The EYE Festival runs through the following two days of the weekend 16-17 May, starting with the Speaker Day on Saturday in The Riverfront Arts centre, and then Sunday in venues around Newport. The festival is supported by Newport City Council.
The four guests for the professional speakers day are (below clockwise from top left): Siân Trenberth, Paul Stuart, Jaap Buitendijk, and Emily Garthwaite.
Offline Journal can share the festival Programme for Sunday 17 May - see below - but check the EYE Festival website for the full Programme and any developments.
Sunday Programme – 17 May
Clwb Ffoto / Newport Arcade
• Photozine meetup – explore the 'Box of Zines' collection of photozines from around Wales, managed by Offline Journal and the DocPhot Course.
Bring your own to share and discuss with like-minded people. 10.30 – 12.00pm
• Meet the photographers – Sian Trenberth (guest speaker) and Rob Norman, Wales Media Awards winner.
Ask questions in a relaxed environment 10.00 – 11.45am
gallery 57
• Meet the photographers with their exhibitions.
Paul Reas and Neil Bennett
10.00 –11.45am
• Portfolio Crits
Ask for advice from the best (if you're brave enough)
(book a slot via The EYE website)
The Space
• Cyanotype workshop Go back in time and create your own cyanotype print. Runs throughout the day
• Fun souvenir portraits with photographer Si Jubb 10.00 – 12.00pm
• Meet the photographers, guest speakers Paul Stuart and Jaap Buitendijk 10.15 – 12.00pm
• Mike Taylor – The Beautiful Game. A talk on photographing football fans in pubs.
12.15 – 1.15pm
• Portfolio Crits
Ask for advice from the best (if you're brave enough)
(book a slot via The EYE website)
• John Crerar – Photobook sale Throughout the day
EYE Festival Exhibitions
(Some on and some beyond the festival weekend)
David Hurn: Patterns in Clwb Ffoto
Paul Reas: Fables of Faubus: Made in Newport in Gallery 57
Neil Bennett: Australia Coast from the sky in Gallery 57
Si Jubb: Documentary photography in The Place
The Market Arcade Collection
This Newport landmark arcade has been turned into a photography gallery for the Festival using unused shops and windows to show the work of several photographers.
Rob Norman: Welsh Politics
Eleri Griffiths: North Wales Portraits
Ron McCormick: Newport Streets, an ongoing project
(with more to be announced on the EYE website)
Keep an eye on the EYE Festival Instagram feed and website for news and updates on the festival programme.
The Eye International Photography Festival
Festival programme (so far) on website
Friday 15 - Sunday 17 May 2026
Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre, and various venues around Newport
www.theeyefestival.com
@theeyefestival
CHAOTIC ONLINE DISCUSSION #4
After three very enjoyable online discussions with six of the seven photographers who participated in the first CHAOTIC collaboration project and resulting publication, the fourth and last online session will take place at 8pm this Sunday 12 April 2026 with photographer Bartosz Nowicki.
The first cohort of CHAOTIC project photographers are Marc Arkless, Nate Davies, Mohamed Hassan, David Mayne, Bartosz Nowicki, Owen Pritchard, and Tamsin Stirling.
CHAOTIC #1 spreads by Bartosz Nowicki
Audience invitations have been emailed to Offline Journal Subscriber Plus supporters with an active subscription to the printed bundle of this first CHAOTIC #1 publication (sent to them last September) and the next Offline Journal issue #015 (coming their way in May). Invites have also gone to those who purchased a copy of CHAOTIC #1 from the Offline online store
Recordings of previous online discussion sessions are available for those who purchased a copy of the CHAOTIC publication.
We hope you can join us this Sunday evening with some feedback, questions and discussion!
A4 full colour with 48-pages plus 28-page mono text inserts, CHAOTIC #1 has thread-sewn binding and forms one half of the CHAOTIC project; with live online discussion sessions with the seven photographers forming the concluding half.
Sales go towards production costs of the next CHAOTIC issue, to be published in late 2026 with work by a new cohort of photographers.
New projects in-progress by
seven photographers, shared in print and then discussed with audiences online
A4, 48-pages plus 28-page mono text inserts
Buy CHAOTIC #1A handful of copies of CHAOTIC #1 have been held back for any last minute Subscriber Plus subscriptions before 15 may 2026. A copy of CHAOTIC #1 will ship along with a copy of the new Offline Journal #015 in mid-May. The Subscriber Plus bundle also includes access to Offline Journal Newsletters with additional member and website content.
Only one set remaining!
There is just one set of this limited 3-catalog bundle remaining!
Get these three special exhibition catalogs for just £16.00 for anyone who missed out on any of the following...
catalog 002: Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales by Pete Davis
catalog 005: Port Talbot UFO Investigation Club by Roo Lewis
catalog 006: Cwm Eigiau: The Wall Without Foundation by Aled Rhys Hughes
With three more catalog publications coming from Offline Journal in 2026, the three in this offer would make a great start to your collection of these unique photography catalogs, produced to accompany smaller exhibitions of photographs around Wales, and save £12 + P&P if purchased individually! (Also available as singles on the Offline Journal online store).
Use the button below to bag yourself a bargain at just £16 + £3 P&P.
First come, first served for this last set of three catalogs via the special offer button link below!
Spreads from the latest 32-page exhibition catalog 006 that accompanied the Cwm Eigiau exhibition (click to enlarge)
NEW DAVID HURN BOOK
Following on from his 'Photographs 1955-2022' and 'On Reading' with RRB Photobooks, David Hurn and the publisher will be launching a new title in May.
'New York and the American Flag' has photographs spanning more than 50-years and depict the ubiquitous symbol of the American flag as encountered on the streets of New York. The previously unpublished photographs by David Hurn were taken across three visits to the US in 1962, 2007 and 2017 and show the potent symbol of American identity both revered and reduced to the mundane.
Images from 'NEW YORK AND THE AMERICAN FLAG' © David Hurn / Magnum Photos
The softcover book has 80 pages with photographs in black and white, and colour.
Images from 'NEW YORK AND THE AMERICAN FLAG' © David Hurn / Magnum Photos
NEW YORK AND THE AMERICAN FLAG by David Hurn is available now, signed, for a pre-order price of £28.00 from the RRB Photobooks website. A Special Edition is also available with a signed colour and signed black & white pigment print.
MANDELA IN GLASGOW – Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert
Glasgow-based photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert (a popular guest speaker at The EYE Festival in 2022) has added a new title to his ongoing series on self-published photozines.
MANDELA, IN GLASGOW is the fourteenth photozine with photographs drawn from his substantial archive of photojournalism and documentary projects.
He comments on the work:
"Nelson Mandela visited Glasgow on two occasions.
The first, in October 1993 when he came to accept the Freedom of the City, an award which had been bestowed upon him years previously in 1981, when he was still imprisoned in Robben Island, South Africa.
Mandela came once again, in June 2002, this time visiting Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who, convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, was then serving a prison sentence in HMP Barlinnie.
I was fortunate to photograph Nelson Mandela on both these occasions, and the images here document in part those visits."
MANDELA, IN GLASGOW is A5 in size with 44 pages, and available now from the Books & Prints section of Jeremy's website for just £8.00
FFASIWN AT MUSEUM CARDIFF
National Museum Cardiff have announced FFASIWN - an exhibition of photographs by Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James, the duo also known as Bleak Fabulous – "who began a decade-long community-rooted collaboration with young people across the Valleys to create co-authored images, films and publications with proudly anti-fashion ethos".
In addition to the almost year-long exhibition, there will be a related event at the titled 'An Evening with Bleak Fabulous' on Friday 16 October 2026 in the Museum's main hall (see the Offline Exhibitions & Events page for ticket link).
FFASIWN
Clémentine Schneidermann and Charlotte James
23 May 2026 - 4 April 2027
Museum Cardiff, Cardiff CF10 3NP
www.museum.wales
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