Newsletter 02/26
Hello again
February is looking busy!
This Newsletter features some updates and audio from last weekend's events at The Turner House gallery, and other news on exhibition events coming up - including Sebastián Bruno's very fine TA-RA exhibition opening tomorrow (Thursday) 12 February at Ffotogallery, as well as new books, a new Kickstarter, and photography talks.
For a comprehensive overview of exhibitions and events ongoing and announced to date, check Offline's regularly updated full EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS listings page. If you are aware of other photography shows or events in or relating to Wales, feel free to send me some info via the contact page.
Brian
TA-RA
Photographer Sebastián Bruno has the first showing of his TA-RA exhibition here in the UK in Ffotogallery, with a launch event 6-8pm tomorrow evening - Thursday 12 February 2026.
His TA-RA body of work, made between 2013 and 2022 across South Wales, was published as a 122-page hardcover photobook in 2023.
Cover and spread from 'TA-RA' by Sebastián Bruno
Go along to the opening tomorrow evening at 6pm...
TA-RA
Sebastián Bruno
6 - 8pm, Thursday 12 February. (Show runs 12 February - 4 April 2026)
Ffotogallery, Cardiff CF24 4EH
www.ffotogallery.org
SHEDS TALKS
With the 'SHEDS AND OBJECTS OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE' exhibition surrounding us on the walls, attendees at last weekend's two afternoons of talks in the Turner House Gallery in Penarth were treated to three enjoyable talks on architecture, photography, illustration and the visual arts.
(l-r) Jon Pountney, Stella Grace Lyons, and Lee John Phillips
Saturday 7 February had Jon Pountney and illustrator Lee John Phillips talk with Art historian Stella Grace Lyons on their work featured in the joint SHEDS AND OBJECTS OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE exhibition open now until 22 February 2026.
SHEDS AND OBJECTS OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE
Jon Pountney and Lee John Phillips
15 January - 22 February 2026
The Turner House, Penarth, Cardiff CF64 3DH
www.turnerhouse.wales
Paul Davies and Julie Cook (click to enlarge) Images by Neil Davis
Sunday 8 February saw the Turner House host the third of Offline Journal's SIGNATURES events, with architecture academic Paul Davies delivering an enjoyable illustrated talk on the Shed as a foundational form of structure in architectural history, followed by photographer Julie Cook talk about her impressive 'SOME LAS VEGAS STRIP CLUBS' photobook - a collaboration with parter Paul and shot over a period of five years.
Images from and © Julie Cook's 'SOME LAS VEGAS STRIP CLUBS' project (click to enlarge)
Recently republished, copies of SOME LAS VEGAS STRIP CLUBS are now available directly from Julie via her website www.juliecookphotography.com
SOME LAS VEGAS STRIP CLUBS
Photographs by Julie Cook
Essay by Paul Davies
New edition published February 2026
First edition 2008.
"The exteriors landscapes are all photographed in daylight and the interiors with the lights up. Some of the interiors are fantastic in their use of ‘luxury’ materials and design, some are not, but they are all public fantasy spaces. They invite fantasies of what might take place when the lights are down but at the same time reveal the illusion that construct them. Not unlike photography and its relationship to desire. The work represents over five years of work on this subject. A tribute to Ed Ruscha and his work on popular culture".
170 x 170 mm
108 pages inclusive of soft cover
full colour, perfect binding
Published by Invisible Ynysybwl International
ISBN: 978-0-9562579-6-3
£15.00 + p&p
email [email protected] to purchase a copy
The audio recording of Julie's fascinating talk is available to Subscriber Plus supporters of Offline Journal towards the end of this Newsletter.
Pete Davis discussing his 'Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales' (click to enlarge)
After a short comfort break, photographer Pete Davis spoke with Offline's Brian Carroll on his 'GREAT LITTLE TIN SHEDS OF WALES' series of images, exhibitions, catalogs and his recent adoption of self-publishing to bring work out of his extensive archive and into affordable books.
Images from and © Pete Davis' 'Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales' project.
There are very few remaining copies of Pete's 'GREAT LITTLE TIN SHEDS OF WALES: redux' catalog available directly from the photographer or Offline Journal's online store.
catalog 002 - GREAT LITTLE TIN SHEDS OF WALES
Photographs by PETE DAVIS
Published June 2023 in collaboration with Pete Davis and Ffotogaleri y Gofeb to coincide with the exhibition of photographs in:
Ffotogalery y Gofeb, Machynlleth / 6 Oct - 22 Dec 2023
This unique and updated catalog includes a facsimile of the photographer's original show catalog from the 1980's that toured many galleries around the UK. A classic packed with fantastic images of a long-recognised form of post-war architecture!
210 x 210 mm
56 pages inclusive of cover
full colour, staple binding
£10.00
The audio recording of Pete's talk will be available to Subscriber Plus supporters of Offline Journal in the next Newsletter.
CITY STORIES by Pete Davis
Pete Davis has self-published his CITY STORIES: Photographs of Cardiff 1969-1977 as a new softcover book.
A selection of the photographs were published back in April 2022 by Café Royal Books to accompany an exhibition of the work in FOUND Gallery in Brecon, but at the larger size of 210 x 210mm and increased 52-pages, this new book joins Pete's other books of his work available to purchase directly from his online store.
The black and white photographs of Cardiff in the late 1960's and early '70's document the city in transition and the people who lived there. It offers a sympathetic and now nostalgic look back on a changed environment and its people.
Spreads from the new CITY STORIES softcover book by Pete Davis (click to enlarge)
The new book is available direct from the photographer, currently priced £10.00
www.pete-davis-photography.com
READING PHOTOGRAPHS
Cwmbran-based Owen Pritchard has launched a new website for his photography projects and musings.
With a background in architecture, editing and marketing, his creative photography is complimented by his writing skills, as demonstrated by a recent section added to his site on 'Reading Photographs' – a topic I've long been interested in.
There are twenty of Pritchard's readings/interpretations posted as writing alongside a photograph thus far, with the images both old and new, from Wales and further afield.
"Each piece examines what I see, why a particular image stays with me, and what I think it reveals about the world it was made in".
– Owen Pritchard
I look forward to following the series as it develops. I encourage you to read a few and perhaps compare your own interpretation of the featured images...
CATCHING THE TIDE - Kickstarter
Photojournalist and documentary photographer Colin McPherson has a new Kickstarter campaign running with publisher Dewi Lewis for his upcoming 'CATCHING THE TIDE: Salmon Net Fishing in Scotland' photobook.
If funded, the book will be printed in Italy, and is described as...
"...Catching the Tide will be released by Dewi Lewis Publishing in summer 2026. The proposed format of the book is 300mm x 245mm, with 120 pages and 97 tri-tone monochrome images from the project".
Find out more about the book and the available pledge tiers on the project's Kickstarter page
A founding member of the Document Scotland collective and the 6by6 photography events team in Liverpool, Colin made time for a contribution to Ffoton's popular One Image series of stories behind photographs whilst visiting Cardiff in early 2016 for a joint exhibition by the Document Scotland and A Fine Beginning photographer collectives.
(Look out for a whole new series of One Image stories by guest photographers coming on the Ffoton YouTube channel in coming weeks).
Here is Colin's One Image story again, with a migrant theme, still as relevant, ten years on...
Explore more of Colin's work on his website www.colinmcpherson.com
COMING UP...
Here are some events coming up to get you out of the house, mixing with others and offering some visual stimulation for your own photography!
TALK ON NEWPORT MARKET DAYS
As a special supplement to the NEWPORT MARKET DAYS exhibition currently showing in Cwtch Gallery, local historian Monty Dart will give a talk on the history of Newport Indoor Market on Saturday 14th February between 2-3 pm in Cwtsh.
Monty Dart is renowned for her talks on Newport's history and this current exhibition is an ideal accompaniment to one of her most popular topics.
Tea/coffee plus a traditional Tunnock's biscuit will be served after her talk.
Cwtsh, located at 226 Stow Hill, Newport, is accessible and welcomes visitors of all ages.
NEWPORT MARKET DAYS
Talk on the history of Newport Indoor Market by Monty Dart
2-3pm, Saturday 14 February 2026
Cwtsh Community & Arts Centre, Newport NP20 4HA
www.cwtsh.org
REFRAMING THE LANDSCAPE TALK
To round off his Cwm Eigiau: Y Wal Heb Sylfaen / The Wall Without Foundation exhibition showing in Machynlleth's Fotogaleri y Gofeb, photographer Aled Rhys Hughes will discuss his photographic approach to making the work during a special 'in conversation' event titled 'REFRAMING THE LANDSCAPE' in early March.
The conversation will look at the way he has been able to apply his technical mastery of large format photography, a technology going back almost 200 years, combined with modern-day drone photography, to issues relevant to contemporary Wales.
Spreads from the 32-page exhibition catalog 006 that accompanies the exhibition (click to enlarge)
REFRAMING THE LANDSCAPE / Cwm Eigiau: Y Wal Heb Sylfaen
In conversation with photographer Aled Rhys Hughes
11.30am - 1pm, Saturday 7 March 2026
Ffotogaleri y Gofeb, Machynlleth SY20 8AJ
www.ffotogaleriygofeb.co.uk
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