Ffotogallery

Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in Wales, established in 1978 and currently based in Cathays, Cardiff. As Wales's first gallery dedicated to photography, it has played a central role in developing contemporary photographic culture in Wales through exhibitions, commissions, touring programmes, and international festivals. The organisation receives regular funding from the Arts Council of Wales and is currently directed by Siân Addicott.

Ffotogallery was founded in 1978 as a gallery for photography in Wales. For its first 25 years, it operated from various locations, including 41 Charles Street in Cardiff, where documentation from April 1982 survives in the archive. In 2003, the organisation acquired Turner House Gallery in Penarth from the National Museum of Wales, converting it into a venue for photography-based exhibitions, while administration and education remained at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. David Drake became director in 2009, succeeding Chris Coppock, who had held the post for 19 years. In 2016, Penarth town council indicated plans to convert Turner House into a food outlet, prompting Ffotogallery to seek new premises. In June 2019, the organisation relocated to The Old Sunday School on Fanny Street in Cathays, Cardiff, where it established a permanent base with a dedicated gallery, library, bookshop, and workshop facilities.

Ffotogallery's programme extends across photographic practice in its broadest sense, encompassing film and video, digital media, and installation. Its scope is national and international: it presents work by Wales-based and international artists, organises touring exhibitions nationally and internationally, and pursues collaborations with other organisations and galleries. The organisation maintains an important photographic archive accumulated over four decades, comprising commissions such as The Valleys Project, numerous books, artefacts, and documents. Its library and archive provides access for artists, curators, students, academic researchers, and community members to multimedia resources, books, and archival material reflecting national and international engagement, Cardiff and Wales's evolving photographic history, and developments in contemporary practice.

Major commissions made in and about Wales over the last three decades include The Valleys Project, A470, and Barrage. These have been accompanied by significant single-artist projects featuring Keith Arnatt, Josef Koudelka, Peter Finnemore, Willie Doherty, Peter Fraser, Wendy McMurdo, John Davies, Catherine Yass, and Bedwyr Williams. Some of these works have entered national collections in Wales or were acquired by the British Council and the Arts Council of Wales. At Turner House, notable exhibitions included Urban Dreams by John Davies (2004), Niagara by Alec Soth (2008), Cockroach Diary and Other Stories by Anna Fox (2009), Lost for Words by Peter Fraser (2010), Villes/Cities by Raymond Depardon (2010), Believing is Seeing by seven Korean artists (2011), Early Photographic Works by Daniel Meadows (2013), Stasis by Trine Søndergaard (2013-2014), and Clear of People by Michal Iwanowski (2014). Ffotogallery also organises Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography, a biannual festival held in 2013 (focusing on Europe), 2015 (Looking for America), 2017 (Revolution), and 2019 (Sound + Vision). In 2023, it ran a graduate support scheme with MADE Cardiff.

Since June 2019, Ffotogallery has been based at The Old Sunday School on Fanny Street in Cathays, Cardiff. This location provides a permanent base with a dedicated gallery, library, bookshop, and workshop facilities. The move from Turner House Gallery in Penarth, which had served as the organisation's gallery from 2003 to 2019, allowed Ffotogallery to consolidate its operations and strengthen community links in a central Cardiff neighbourhood.

Ffotogallery is located in Cathays, Cardiff, Wales, and is accessible via its website at www.ffotogallery.org. The organisation is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, receiving £198,688 in 2015/16 and a similar amount in 2016/2017. Its current director is Siân Addicott. The gallery presents an ongoing programme of temporary exhibitions, events, and projects, with upcoming shows including the Jerwood/Photoworks Awards 5 (May-August 2026) and Jack Moyse: A Sorry State (June-August 2026). As it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2028, Ffotogallery continues to support photography communities in Wales through creative excellence, innovation, and partnership.