Latin America: Two From 100
ALASDAIR FOSTER was invited by the Colombian website Fototazo to write about two Latin American artists of his choice for their series ‘LatAm f100’. He chose the Peruvian artist Cecelia Cecilia Paredes and Antonio Briceño from Venezuela. Fototazo asked fifty curators, gallery owners, blog writers, photographers, academics and others actively engaged with Latin American photography … Continue reading
Questioning the Image
“When approached with an open mind and heart, art can catalyse empathy and respect between people who, on the surface, seem immiscible’ Question the Image: A View from Two Poles of the World IN APRIL, the online magazine LensCulture published an interview with Alasdair Foster, who was to be one of the panel of judges for their … Continue reading
DMZ: Demilitarised Zone of Korea
>> ALASDAIR FOSTER wrote the introductory essay to ‘DMZ: Demilitarised Zone of Korea’, a book published by the renowned German publisher Gerhard Steidl . >> The book features imagery by Jongwoo Park, the first civilian photographer allowed to record the DMZ since the signing of the Armistice. The essay explores the complex multiple meanings that … Continue reading
COLOMBIA: Fotográfica Bogotá
States of Being: the invisible territories of Asia TERRITORY DOES NOT SIMPLY DESCRIBE A TRACT OF LAND, but a jurisdiction. Indeed, territory need not describe geographic space at all – it might as easily describe a field of knowledge or professional privilege. In May 2017, Alasdair Foster gave a keynote paper entitled ‘States of Being: … Continue reading
BELARUS: Minsk Month of Photography
IN SEPTEMBER 2016, the work of four Australian artists featured as a centre piece to the Month of Photography in Minsk. The artists were Hoda Afshar, Ray Cook, Simon Harsent and Owen Leong. Entitled ‘Fables of Change’ the exhibition explored diverse understandings of change: personal, social, cultural and environmental. Each artist approached the subject through … Continue reading
BRAZIL: FestFoto
IN MAY 2016, Alasdair Foster attended FestFoto in Porto Alegre. As the Australian delegate, he undertook portfolio reviews and interviewed the festival director. He also interviewed the three directors of Houston FotoFest, who were attending the Brazilian event. Both interviews were later published in the Chinese magazine PhotoWorld. Subsequently, Alasdair Foster was invited to join … Continue reading
Art and Industry
On Being Industrious CHINA: on 23 April 2016 Alasdair Foster delivered a short speech on behalf of the international delegates attending the grand opening of the Shenyang Festival of Industrial Photography. Below is an extract from that speech setting a wider philosophical frame for considering the many diverse works in the festival. FOR MORE THAN … Continue reading
DUBAI: World Photography Exhibition
DESCRIBED by Lens Culture as “the latest – and perhaps most ambitious – international photography showcase to step onto the world stage”, the Dubai Photo Exhibition: Global Perspectives was presented under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and staged in a custom-built museum in the new Dubai Design … Continue reading
Australian Photography Showcased in Dubai
ALASDAIR FOSTER IS THE CURATOR of the Australian exhibit presented in Dubai this March as part of Dubai Photo Exhibition 2016. The Australian work will sit alongside presentations from 23 countries prepared by 18 leading curators from around the world, headed by London-based curator and editor, Zelda Cheatle. This major event is staged under the Patronage of … Continue reading
Australian Photobook of the Year Awards
IT WAS MY HONOUR to chair the judging panel for the self-published category of this year’s Australian Photobook of The Year Awards. The winner was Jordan Madge for his book ‘Red Herring’, which he both photographed and designed. Jordan Madge is a 21-year-old artist with a Bachelor of Photography from Photography Studies College, Melbourne. His book … Continue reading
GUATEMALA: GuatePhoto
> IN 2015, Alasdair Foster was invited by the organisers of GuatePhoto festival to create an exhibition introducing some examples of Asian art photography to the country. The resulting exhibition, ‘To Seem and to Be’ was an exploration of the challenges of how photography, as an art of surfaces, might lead viewers to seek deeper … Continue reading
To Seem and to Be
IN 2015, Alasdair Foster was invited by the organisers of GuatePhoto festival to create an exhibition introducing some examples of Asian art photography to the country. The resulting exhibition, ‘To Seem and to Be’ was an exploration of the challenges of how photography, as an art of surfaces, might lead viewers to seek deeper insights … Continue reading
A Conversation of Memories
: :: Patricia Casey :: Erika Diettes :: Tomoko Hayashi :: Paula Luttringer :: :: Suk Kuhn Oh :: Wendy Sacks :: Diana Thorneycroft :: ~ :: curator and writer: Alasdair Foster :: : This is the catalogue to an exhibition presented at the 2015 PhotoVisa photography festival, Krasnodar, Russia. The exhibition brings together artists from Argentina, … Continue reading
The Art of Connection
IN 2015, VIVAPHOTO was ten years old. Based in Krasnodar in southern Russia, this collective of photographers organises, among other things, the annual PhotoVisa festival in the city. To celebrate their anniversary, VivaPhoto published a book looking back over the preceding decade. They asked Alasdair Foster to write a short text to include within the … Continue reading
RUSSIA: PhotoVisa 2015
Conversation of Memories > Patricia Casey (Australia) Erika Diettes (Colombia) Tomoko Hayashi (Japan) Paula Luttringer (Argentina) Suk Kuhn Oh (Republic of Korea) Wendy Sacks (USA) Diana Thorneycroft (Canada) IN 2015, Alasdair Foster was commissioned by PhotoVisa festival to create an exhibition for the Krasnodar Institute of Contemporary Art (КИСИ) exploring the festival theme of … Continue reading
Dream Home
:: Dream Home :: Sian Bonnell :: Magdalena Bors :: Hillerbrand+Magsamen :: Suk Kuhn Oh :: Viktoria Sorochinski :: curator and writer: Alasdair Foster :: This is the catalogue to an exhibition presented at the 2015 Pingyao International Photography Festival, China’s largest and longest-running festival of photomedia arts. Here four artists and one artistic partnership explore that most … Continue reading
Victoriana. Pleasure Garden
Not-So-Simple Pleasures On Saturday 29 August, it was my great pleasure to open an exhibition by the talented Melbourne duo Gerard O’Connor and Marc Wasiak. To introduce their work here are some shots of the installation and event, along with the text of my opening speech… :: In 1861 Albert, the Prince Consort, died. Queen … Continue reading
Dream Home, China
:: DREAM HOME This year, CDC will present the work of four artists and one artistic partnership at China’s largest and longest-running photo festival, the Pingyao International Photograph Festival. Each explores the psychological dislocations between the consumerist ‘dream’, domestic convention and the complex, sometimes dissonant, interior life of the individual. Hailing from four continents, they … Continue reading
POOL GRANT 2015
~ Congratulations to Lyndal Irons winner of the 2015 Pool Grant The grant provides $10,000 to an emerging artist to enable them to create a body of photographs to be exhibited twelve months later at the next award ceremony. The award is organised and presented by the Pool Collective, a group of eminent Australian photographers who put their … Continue reading
‘Compulsion’ Tours Spain
~ MAGDALENA BORS EXHIBITION TOURS IN SPAIN ‘The Art of Domestic Compulsion’, an exhibition of work by the Melbourne-based artist Magdalena Bors, curated by Alasdair Foster, will tour Spain for the next ten months. Commissioned by Galleri Image and now forming part of its permanent collection, the exhibition received rave reviews in Denmark before touring … Continue reading
Cultural Development Consulting 