Ffoto Cymru

Building on the success of its first edition in 2024, Ffoto Cymru 2026 invites artists to submit projects, works and ideas that explore and utilise photography in new and meaningful ways, for presentation through exhibitions, public sharings and events. The festival theme ‘There’s More to Life’ invites us to question the systems that often shape how we see the world. These include dominant Western viewpoints and structures rooted in capitalism, ableism and patriarchy. By challenging these frameworks, we want to make space for other forms of knowledge and experience, including matriarchal traditions, spiritual perspectives and different ways of understanding the world. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Eligibility: Wales-based artists, or Welsh artists living outside of Wales & not in full-time education. ⏰ Deadline: 23:59, Tuesday 7th April 2026 💰 Fee: £500 + production costs 🔗 Link to apply: in our bio ** Gan adeiladu ar lwyddiant ei argraffiad cyntaf yn 2024, mae Ffoto Cymru 2026 yn gwahodd artistiaid i gyflwyno prosiectau, gweithiau a syniadau sy’n archwilio a defnyddio ffotograffiaeth mewn ffyrdd newydd ac ystyrlon, i’w cyflwyno drwy arddangosfeydd, rhannu cyhoeddus a digwyddiadau. Mae thema’r ŵyl, sef ‘There’s More to Life’, yn ein gwahodd i gwestiynu’r systemau sy’n dylanwadu’n aml ar y ffordd rydym yn gweld y byd. Mae’r rhain yn cynnwys safbwyntiau a strwythurau gorllewinol trechol sydd wedi’u gwreiddio mewn cyfalafiaeth, galluoliaeth a char cyflwyno ein hunain. Drwy herio’r fframweithiau hyn, rydym am wneud lle ar gyfer mathau eraill o wybodaeth a phrofiad, gan gynnwys traddodiadau matriarchaidd, safbwyntiau ysbrydol a ffyrdd gwahanol o ddeall y byd. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cymhwysedd: Artistiaid o Gymru, neu artistiaid o Gymru sy’n byw y tu allan i Gymru, ac nid mewn addysg amser llawn. ⏰ Dyddiad cau: 23:59, nos Mawrth 7 Ebrill 2026 💰 Ffi: £500 + costau cynhyrchu 🔗 Dolen yn y bio Images | Lluniau: 1: Aisha Ajnabi, Officer am I (too far gone), 2024. (@ahklmruuy ) 2. Bruce Eesly, New Farmer, 2024 (@bruceeesly ) 3: Katie Waite, Training Bra, 2024 (@katieangelawaite ) All selected for Ffoto Cymru 2024 | Pawb wedi eu dewis ar gyfer Ffoto Cymru 2024

✨In conversation with | Mewn sgwrs gyda Aisha Ajnabi (@ahklmruuy ) & Rupali Leela Naik (@leelathehealer ) 📍@oriel_y_bont_gallery_usw 📅4/12/24 ⏰6.30pm ✨Free | Am ddim 🎟️Book | Archebwch: /e/in-conversation-with-aisha-ajnabi-umulkhayr-mohamed-tickets-1084013295949 Join us for an in-conversation with Aisha Ajnabi (Umulkhayr Mohamed) that carries on an exchange around the works in Histories, Legacies & Futures, at Oriel y Bont as part of Ffoto Cymru 2024. This event will explore how their body of work began, the process and development, as well as a broader approach to photography and how this body of work continues to develop. Ymunwch â ni am sgwrs â Aisha Ajnabi (Umulkhayr Mohamed) sy’n cynnal cyfnewidfa o amgylch y gweithiau yn Histories, Legacies & Futures, yn Oriel y Bont fel rhan o Ffoto Cymru 2024. ** Bydd y digwyddiad hwn yn edrych ar sut dechreuodd eu corff gwaith, y broses a’r datblygiad, yn ogystal â’r dull ehangach o ffotograffiaeth a sut mae’r casgliad hwn o waith yn parhau i ddatblygu. Image | Llun: @kierancudlip @docphotusw @uswphotography @_ffotocymru

Thanks to @ffotogallery for including my work in #FfotoCyrmu2024, I’ll sign off by saying that my exhibition is continuing on past the festival, and will be running until early Jan 2025, and you should come and catch it while you can! Love and Light, Aisha Ajnabi

That's a wrap on our first Student Roadshow! We had a fantastic day @unisouthwales yesterday. Great to see so many visitors come along and get involved with our programme, which was a part of @_ffotocymru 🎉 Thanks to our wonderful speakers: @aneesaimages , @barrylewisphotography @lensi_photography @ianhippo and @philip_lee_harvey_photographer , our exhibitors @cameracentreuk @3leggedthing @assocphoto @holdannews @mac_group_us and @offlinejournal . With a big thank you to our sponsor @canonuk , who also lent kit to our visitors. Stay tuned to see information about our next event 👀 **** Dyna amlap ar ein Sioe Deithiol Myfyrwyr gyntaf! Cawson ni ddiwrnod gwych @unisouthwales ddoe. Braf gweld cymaint o ymwelwyr yn dod draw i gymryd rhan yn ein rhaglen, oedd yn rhan o @_ffotocymru 🎉 Diolch i'n siaradwyr gwych: @aneesaimages , @barrylewisphotography @lensi_photography @ianhippo a @philip_lee_harvey_photographer , ein harddangoswyr @cameracentreuk @3leggedthing @assocphoto @holdannews @mac_group_us ac @offlinejournal . Gyda diolch yn fawr iawn i'n noddwr @canonuk , sydd hefyd wedi rhoi benthyg cit i'n hymwelwyr. Cadwch draw i weld gwybodaeth am ein digwyddiad nesaf 👀 #event #studentevent #photographerlife #photographystudent #photographylovers #wales #visitwales #cardiff #youngphotographers #emergingphotographers #photographynews

As this is my first art series where I have worked with photography as a medium, and as a self taught artist in general, I tend to work in a way that draws from multi mediums within single artworks. The three ‘frames’ presented in this exhibition are an example of this. Each frame, as much the artwork as the images are, that felt important to include as they further make visible the backdrop of policing, and ancestal honouring that equally hold the works in the series. From the weaving of ‘police do not cross’ tape that sprawls out from behind one of the prints, that I made as a subtle protest to police restrictions on our freedoms. To the cutting from a chain link fence, with colourful Islamic prayer beads tied to it, that speak to how I felt the ancestors presence during my performance, their essence coming out from the cityscape to meet me and witness my honouring of them. To the final frame (pictured above) consisting of 2,179 inked fingerprints printed directly onto the wall surrounding the print, as being a reference to the 2179 black seamen who where registered with the police in Cardiff in 1935, simply for existing/not connected to any crime committed, under the special restriction ‘coloured alien seamen’s’ order of 1925, just one example of this countries history of criminalising Blackness.

It’s been a wonderful experience to get to present some photographs from my series ‘(Officer am I) too far gone‘ as a part of FfotoCymru at Oriel y Bont gallery in Treforest. The series is a ritualist reclamation of space and a response to the racialised policing of black migrant dock workers exploration of their new home in Cardiff. Development of the series is still in progress, and consists of sculptures, sound works, artist loving image, and photographic works, some of which have been included in the exhibition. This work was produced under the alias, Aisha Ajnabi, my ‘art other’, my is this case meaning that the convening of Umulkhayr, the ancestors, and their collaborators, which in this series consisted of photographer Kieran Cudlip, who took and aided in the editing of the photographs, and sculptor Brian Denman who I collaborated with to produce the ceremonial staff ‘Hangool’.

Our final takeover of the festival starts today! We’re delighted to welcome Welsh Somali artist, writer, curator, and educator Aisha Ajnabi (Umulkhayr Mohamed @ahklmruuy ) to the account, whose work is currently on show in the joint exhibition ‘Histories, Legacies & Futures’ until 10 January 2025 at Oriel y Bont. Aisha Ajnabi’s multi-medium series, ‘(Officer am I) too far gone?’, documents a performance which involved walking the length of Newport Road in Cardiff, from 5:30pm, re-enacting a historical event where a Somali seaman was once told by a police officer in the 1920s that he could not do the same. — Mae ein tro olaf i gymryd drosodd yr ŵyl yn dechrau heddiw! Rydym yn falch o groesawu'r artist, ysgrifennwr, churadur, ac addysgwr Gymreig Somali Aisha Ajnabi (Umulkhayr Mohamed) i'r cyfrif, sydd â'i gwaith ar arddangos yn yr arddangosfa gyfun 'Histories, Legacies & Futures' tan 10 Ionawr 2025 yn Oriel y Bont. Mae cyfres amlgyfrwng Aisha Ajnabi ‘(Officer am I) too far gone?’, yn dogfennu perfformiad oedd yn gofyn cerdded o un pen i’r llall ar hyd Ffordd Casnewydd yng Nghaerdydd, o 5:30pm, gan ail-greu digwyddiad hanesyddol lle gwrthododd swyddog heddlu adael i forwr o Somalia gerdded y ffordd honno rywbryd yn yr 1920au.

📣 Last Chance to See! / Y Cyfle Olaf i Weld! 📣 It’s the final few days of Ffoto Cymru 2024 so make sure you check out these exhibitions before they close! All of the above are open up until (and including) 31st October - check our website (link in bio) for venue opening times. — Mae’n y dyddiau olaf o Ffoto Cymru 2024, felly gwnewch yn siŵr eich bod yn edrych ar y arddangosfeydd hyn cyn iddynt gau! Mae’r holl rai uchod ar agor tan (ac yn cynnwys) 31 Hydref - gwiriwch ein gwefan (mae’r ddolen yn y manylion cefndir) am amserau agor y lleoliadau. #ffotocymru #ffotocymru2024

It's the final countdown! There are just 3 days to go until our student roadshow event @unisouthwales with @canonuk ! We're pleased this event is also part of @_ffotocymru ,, with portfolio reviews offered by @ffotogallery Tickets are going fast! So get yours quick via the link in our profile, they're FREE 📷 @aneesaimages **** Dyma'r cyfri olaf! Dim ond 3 diwrnod sydd i fynd tan ein digwyddiad sioe deithiol myfyrwyr @unisouthwales gyda @canonuk ! Rydym yn falch bod y digwyddiad hwn hefyd yn rhan o @_ffotocymru , gydag adolygiadau portffolio yn cael eu cynnig gan @ffotogallery Tocynnau yn mynd yn gyflym! Felly mynnwch eich un chi'n gyflym trwy'r ddolen yn ein proffil, maen nhw AM DDIM 📷 @aneesaimages #studentevent #photography #youngphotographers #photographylovers #photographyinspiration #photographyevent #emergingphotographers #portraitphotography #portrait_shots

I would like to thank the team @ffotogallery and @_ffotocymru for the great great job they are doing with the international photography festival. The popularity of exhibition " what you see is what you get?" In various venues across wales are a proof of all the hard work you've put into this. Tank you for the platform you've given me to share my work.

Tanavoho Tanavoho is one of the many traditional hairstyles of the people of Madagáscar. hairstyle occupies an important place in Malagasy culture, each hairsty has its specificity and a clear meaning according to the ethnic group that wears it. Different hairstyles change to acomodate age, marital status and variouslife circumstances. There are hairstyle for family celebrations, daily life and, hairstyle for mourning. This tradition is followed by both men and women. . . . For these portraits I had the colaboration of a fellow artist, @aderinsola__a

Himba braids The Himba are a people from northwestern Namibia, bordered by Angola to the north and Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Himba have a very string sense of culture and their tradutional hairstyles play a big role in the matter. From puberty, Himba women braid their hair and veneer each one with clay and red ochre made from ferruginous soils, and they use the same mixture in their body paint. A young girl typically has two plaits of braided hair called ozondato, the form being determined by her "oruzo:( the paternal clan she belongs to) If you see a teenage girl with strands hanging over her face, it means she has hit puberty and, therefore, has to hide her face from the men. In similarirty to other African cultures, in the Himba culture, the hair holds great significance as it states: social class, gender, life stage etc.. . . . This portariat is a result of an internacional colaboration between three Bissau Guinean Artists. Myself @melissa_rodrigues_art ,a visual Artist, @lyanakoma , a musician and the " model" in this portrait, and @wasikowskha , the excelente photographer, who took this this photo. PHOTO CREDIT: @WASIKOWSKHA