We're in the frame

The festival, launched on 1 October, runs until 30 October and can be visited by prospective and current students at the university’s galleries at Edward Street, Dorset Place and Grand Parade. The work of university students is also on show at Jubilee Square, Brighton. 

The gallery is the venue for two shows:

• The Dandy Lion project, featuring global expressions of the Black Dandy phenomenon against the backdrop of contemporary life. The exhibition is curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis (b. 1978), a U.S. based curator and researcher who travels internationally researching Diasporic aesthetics, spirituality and the survival and nuances of Transnational African Diasporan communities.
• Into the Outside, a major, multi-partner heritage-learning project with local young people, re-examining the city’s rich LGBTQ+ past and creating a new archive of queer youth experiences. The exhibition charts the progress of the project and includes creative writing, photography and archive material.
• Reimagine, a Photoworks/FOCUS Festival Mumbai co-commission in partnership with the University of Brighton. Olivia Arthur (UK) and Bharat Sikka (India) have collaborated for the first time to explore private and public presentation of self-image in relation to the body, gender, sexuality and fantasy. Working with communities in both Mumbai and Brighton, cities with sharply contrasting politics of gender and sexuality, the photographers have collaborated with their participants to produce a new documentary project.

At Edward Street you’ll find the European Premiere of The Dandy Lion Project. Exploring global expressions of the Black Dandy phenomenon against the backdrop of contemporary life, the exhibition presents more than 150 images from over thirty photographers and filmmakers and is curated from an international open call by US curator, Shantrelle P. Lewis.

Also at Edward Street British photographer Nigel Shafran create a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ combining unexpected images and objects that provide an alternative and visually-rich view into notions of beauty as circulated by the fashion photography industry. A digital display of The 2016 LensCulture Street Photography Awards presents the top 100 entries, finalists and winners. Nearby at Dorset Place is an exhibition of works published in the latest issue of Photoworks Annual including a short ‘herstory’ of fashion photography selected by Magdalene Keaney.

The Biennial is accompanied by a jam-packed programme of talks, workshops and screenings.

Entrance to all the exhibitions is free. You can find out more about photography courses at the University of Brighton.