Herefordshire Council's Museum and Art Gallery is again playing host to part of the Hereford Photography Festival.
The UK's longest running annual celebration of the photographic image is now in its 18th year and will be holding an exciting range of exhibitions in Hereford this June.
This year's festival, which is funded and sponsored by the Arts Council and Herefordshire Council, develops from last year's focus on international work from South Africa but is also linked to work that looks at life in and around Herefordshire itself.
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery in Broad Street has exhibitions from Saturday, May 17 until Sunday, June 15 as part of the festival. These are:
Shadow Chamber by Roger Ballen who has lived and worked in Johannesburg for some 30 years, photographing the inhabitants of isolated rural communities, focusing on the strong social statements he found in the people, animals and objects. In this exhibition, Ballen moves into a surreal, metaphorical realm, away from the pictorial confines of documentary photography, described as "the underbelly" or "shadow chamber of existence".
Black Empowerment by Per-Anders Pettersson includes images from Johannesburg which show a new and emerging South Africa which, despite its racially divided past, begins to provide opportunities for its people despite their race and ethnic background.
Beyond the Rainbow by Andrew Jackson examines the Born Free
Generation, the group of young people who, free from the ideologies
of the past, are the first group of South Africans who are
seemingly able to construct their identities at will. The
images
Examine the separation from the generation before them as well as
the burdens that befall them as they become torch bearers for a
nation where half the population is under 21.
Other exhibitions are being held at The Courtyard Centre for the Arts, The Cider Museum and King Offa Distillery and Hereford College of Arts.
For further details about all the exhibitions and events at the festival contact the festival office on 01432 351964, email enquiries@photofest.org or log onto the website http://www.photofest.org/
Hereford Museum & Art Gallery is open from:
10 - 5 Tuesday to Saturday.
10 - 4 Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday, May 26
Admission is FREE
Access for visitors with disabilities