FORMAT International Photography Festival was established in 2004 and is the UK’s leading international contemporary festival of photography and related media. Curated and led by the team at Derby QUAD we organise a year-round programme of exhibitions, commissions, open calls, residencies, talks and collaborations in the UK and internationally and welcome over 100,000 visitors from all over the world to our biennale.
The festival and related year-round programming celebrate the wealth of contemporary photographic practice featuring major conceptual works, participatory projects, documentary photography, digital lens imagery, archival works and all that falls between. We are concerned with reflecting and contributing to the contemporary photography world, showcasing and supporting artists, curators and academic thought.
FORMAT is the place to engage with an incredible range of work from new and emerging photographers alongside that of some of the best-known practitioners in the world. We continue to be focused on developing opportunities for audiences to see, debate, develop, contribute and participate in the best of what photography is and can be, through our comprehensive professional practice programmes and a yearly international photography portfolio review.
Since its beginning FORMAT has strived to develop and respond to new ideas in photography and has given each festival a distinct and stimulating theme to reflect these ideas.
The biennale edition incorporates many of Derby’s most beautiful buildings and key landmarks including: QUAD, University of Derby, Derby Museum & Art Gallery, and the Market Place, alongside activating disused city spaces and buildings as temporary galleries. FORMAT’s friends and partners collaborate to offer a fringe of related activities across Derby, as well as satellite venues in Leicester, Nottingham and beyond.
FORMAT International Photography Festival is curated, organised and led by QUAD, with strategic partnership support from the University of Derby. QUAD is funded and supported by Arts Council England, BFI, and Derby City Council, with additional support from a range of national and international partners.
FORMAT was founded by Louise Fedotov-Clements and Mike Brown.