Each year as part of Graduate Photography Online we ask a number of professionals from the world of photography to review all the work submitted and choose their favourites. We chat to Siân Addicott, Director, Ffotogallery Wales and Selector for the BA phase of Graduate Photography Online 2025.
Siân Addicott
Director, Ffotogallery Wales
Tell us about your job, what does your core role at Ffotogallery involve? Can you tell us about any forthcoming or future projects coming to the gallery?
My role is very varied, which I love. As Director I work alongside our board of trustees on the overall vision and strategic direction of Ffotogallery. I oversee all of Ffotogallery’s activities from programming, fundraising and engagement to partnership work and collaboration. I lead a (small!) but highly talented team on the day to day running of the gallery, making sure that our creative direction is in line with our mission and values.
At the end of May we’ll be exhibiting our third edition of Ffocws, which showcases emerging talent in Wales. The selected artists also receive bespoke mentoring and support to develop their careers. Over the summer we’ll be exhibiting Nationhood: Memory and Hope, a collaborative project with Impressions Gallery in Bradford. To celebrate Bradford as UK City of Culture 2025, and in the spirit of partnership and collaboration, Ffotogallery was invited along with Streetlevel Photoworks (Glasgow) and Belfast Exposed (Belfast) to bring the exhibition to each of the four nations. The exhibition features a major new series of works by renowned Egyptian photographer Aïda Muluneh, taken at each of the four locations (Bradford, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast), alongside portraits of local ‘unsung heroes’. Part of the project was also to commission emerging local photographers in each of the four locations, and their work is also included in the show. Developing partnerships is a key part of my role, across the UK and internationally. It’s really important on many levels, for sharing and developing ideas, for resilience and creating large scale opportunities.
We’re also about to start re-confirguring our main gallery to create a second exhibition space. We’re really keen to find ways to offer more exhibition opportunities for emerging artists, community groups, or, for example, mid-career artists to show ‘work in progress’. Having an additional space will give us more flexibility in our programming and create a new, more dynamic space which can respond to exhibitions in the main gallery.
n 2024 Ffotogallery delivered the first Ffoto Cymru: Wales International Festival of Photography, which ran throughout the month of October. What was it like for you and the team work on a programme of this scale and diversity? Were you surprised by the public response to any of the events in particular?
It was great to see how well Ffoto Cymru was received. The theme of the festival, ‘What You See is What You Get’, aimed to highlight the overlooked contributions of women in society. We started by looking into Ffotogallery’s own archive, and noticed a large imbalance between the number of male artists with solo shows compared to female. Once we started taking an intersectional perspective on this, it became very apparent that our archive was dominated by a white, cis-male gaze. We had loads of positive feedback from our partners and visitors. It was definitely challenging, making it work with such a small team, but we had really great volunteers and interns, and we collaborated closely with partners across Wales to deliver the programme. We had a brilliant response to Marian Delyth’s survey show at Ffotogallery, it was the most visited exhibition at our space since Ffotogallery moved there in 2019. Holly Davey’s work, In Plain Sight (Miss Jenkins? - after Richard Wilson) which was commissioned for the festival is still on display at the National Museum of Wales (and we’re hoping it might be on display permanently). We also had a really positive review from The Guardian, it’s rare for London journalists to make it this far down the M4! Having festivals like this in Wales is really important for bringing photography to a bigger and wider audience. Part of Ffotogallery’s mission is to raise awareness of the importance of visual literacy. Our world and the way we communicate is increasingly more visual, being able to understand images is essential for being an active citizen, having agency and fully participating in society.
Working within an organisation like Ffotogallery I guess implies a conviction about the validity of perspectives rooted in the regional, both as a way of looking inward and outward - the current Audrey Albert show is a pertinent example of that. Can you talk a little about your own relationship to the regional, was it something that has always been part of your make-up?
To me the term ‘regional’ has often been used just to refer anything made outside of London! Growing up in Wales it was always evident that the national (UK) media consistently sidelined Welsh voices and stories. Things are a bit better these days, but in the UK most of us are terribly ignorant of our own history, British history. Particularly in terms of the empire and colonialism. Wales is often (self) described as England’s first colony, but the conversation has moved on to a more complex one, of Wales being both colonised and coloniser. I am interested in ‘local’ stories perhaps more than the term ‘regional’ and how these are connected to a wider, global perspective. For example, the deprivation and poverty experienced at a local level in the South Wales valleys has its origins in imperialism, the expansion of empire, the drive for wealth, industrialisation, exploitation of the natural landscape etc. That’s why the stories of the Chagossian community (so beautifully documented by Audrey Albert in our current show) are so important. The Chagos has been described as ‘Britain’s last colony’, but the inter-generational impact is the lived experience of the displaced community today. Visual archives play an important role in supporting knowledge gathered through texts and documents, and impact on how we understand and learn from the past.
Your career so far has spanned the public art, education and commercial sectors - having previously worked within Academia for nine years and prior to that working as editor for a major photo agency. On the one hand these three distinct sectors are all plugged into a broader ecosystem of photography-related activity. Equally though it's easy to imagine that there are antagonisms between these various sectors, particularly where a difference in ethos in one sector results in pressures and distortions of value in another. Where do you see the main fault-lines between these sectors as occurring? How well do you think they are able to feed into each other in a genuinely productive and progressive way?
There is so much to talk about it’s a bit difficult to go into much depth within the scope of this interview. There are huge differences between these sectors, but I think the overlaps between could provide some interesting opportunities for some very much needed discussion in the sector. I think it’s been really useful having worked in these different areas and it’s definitely given me a broader view on how people connect with photography in different ways. I think the more commercial aspects of photography are looked down upon a bit in academic circles. Art schools are naturally (and quite rightly!) spaces which lean towards experimentation and anti-capitalist thinking and critique. But for most people who can’t rely on family wealth or a partner to support their practice, making a liveable, regular income from photography is really tough. One thing I noticed from my experience in the editorial/commercial sector was a definite lack of care. For example, early on in my career I was exposed to some very graphic, violent imagery from the Chechen-Russia conflict and Syria war zones without any training or support. These were images which were far too graphic to ever be shown in any news outlets but were sent in directly from photojournalists and citizen journalists. The commercial sector can be more pragmatic in some ways, in my experience academics can end up just talking to each other in a bit of an echo chamber. Having said that, academic environments provide great opportunities to interrogate ideas and share knowledge. In terms of visual literacy, and as a society becoming more visually literate, it feels like there’s a real need for each of the sectors to have more conversations and do more work with each other.
How did you first make your way into the career you're now in? At what point did photography start to feature significantly in that path? What advice would you have for someone interested in working in your field?
I think it’s important to be open minded about opportunities that come your way. It might not be your dream job but it might be a stepping stone in the right direction, and earn you valuable skills, experience and contacts. This has definitely been my experience. I was always interested in art when I was younger, but I didn’t know anyone who worked in the art sector and was never encouraged to pursue it. My parents were passionate about education, they are both from working class families in the South Wales valleys and were the first in their families to go to university or college. When I finished my A levels I went straight on to study a degree in French and History at the University of Birmingham. I loved history because it could be so many things, sociology, anthropology, politics, popular culture... When I graduated I returned to Swansea and worked in hospitality and retail to save up to travel to South America (I was inspired to visit after reading too many magical realism books, Isabelle Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez etc). In Peru a friend lent me a Minolta 35mm SLR camera for a day, and I was hooked! When I returned to Swansea a year or so later I signed up to do another BA degree in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography. I feel incredibly lucky to have had a second opportunity at uni, I went back before the huge hike in tuition fees. When I graduated with the photography degree I started to look for jobs. I didn’t really know any artists, curators or professional photographers, there was pressure to find a salaried job. A friend of a friend had heard about the BAPLA website, which advertised jobs at picture libraries and agencies. I applied for a job as a ‘captioner & keyworder’ at Camera Press and it went from there. Six months after arriving in London I also started a part time MA in Visual Culture at the University of Westminster. I had some amazing tutors and we learned a lot about representation and accessibility in museums and galleries. That was in 2005/6 and I think the course was really progressive for its time. I was in London for almost nine years, working in different roles at Camera Press, then a very brief stint at News UK. I resigned from that and moved back to Swansea, and got some part-time hours teaching through my old tutors on the course. Eventually I got a permanent job and was later appointed head of the photography department. From there I joined Ffotogallery in April 2022.
Volunteering is also a great way to network, to get experience and show employers what you can do. It might not seem like it at the time, but employers are often assessing volunteers as potential employees. Making a good impression as a volunteer can be helpful further down the line when applying for a job. It’s also important to be humble and to be kind, not just to those working above you but those next to you or below you on the professional ladder! Working as a photographer/artist can be lonely and daunting at times. Finding like-minded people to collaborate with is really important, for resilience and for developing your ideas once you leave university.
When approaching new work, how do you decide on what makes an interesting photograph or photographic project?
I'm drawn to new perspectives and work that pushes back against traditional power structures, whether that’s in photography itself or in society more broadly. I care about the photographer’s intent and how their work will resonate with audiences. I want to know why they are making the work? What impact do they want the work to have? I am interested in work that is not extractive, a genuine collaboration with the subject is really important. There is also a big issue of trust when working with a photographer, it’s important for me that their practice is authentic and ethical.
As regards the photographer's statement, what are the most important things for you to know about the work? When it comes to showing their work outside of University, have you any tips on how graduates should prepare their work and the supporting material that accompanies it?
I can really only respond to this from my own point of view, I don’t think there’s a definitive answer and it can vary in terms of the project. But essentially I do like to read about what inspired the work and why it’s important to the artist, something to convince me why I should care about it too. Often students get caught up trying to use overly flowery pseudo-academic language which can ultimately end up making the work look amateur-ish. I personally prefer statements that are straightforward and clearly written. I get sent so many projects and portfolios that I need to be able to clearly see what the project is about - a simple pdf can work well or a well-designed website. Instagram is a useful tool for making connections and keeping your work visible, but I think it also helps having a website where you can get more in-depth information about projects. Some evidence that a project has been thoroughly researched is important also.
In your view, aside from specifically technical skills, what are the kind of qualities that completing a degree course in photography should endow an individual with?
I think the most valuable thing students can learn at university is critical thinking. Being able to research independently, people skills, working collaboratively and being a team player are all also really important. And a constant curiosity about the world is also so important!
What are the particular challenges you see facing graduates from photography degree courses as they make their way into the world at this particular point in time?
Basically the arts/creative sector is massively underfunded. It has been reported that Wales has the second lowest spend per head on culture out of all European nations. The UK also lags behind most of Europe, we just don’t value it as much as many other countries. There is so much talent here in Wales, the hardest part of my job is turning people down and not being able to support as many artists as we’d like to. Having said that there are some great, grassroots, creative communities in Wales. In times like these, with the climate crisis, the rise of the far right, misogynist and transphobic views becoming mainstream, art and creatives are needed more than ever to share stories and experiences and bring communities together.
Images: (Top) From FFOCWS 2025 by Lucy Beckett / (Bottom) William; green magician, protector of mama later (mother earth) in the Chagos Refugee Group’s garden in Pointe aux Sables, Mauritius © Audrey Albert, 2025.