Little Man Coffee Co brings yet another splash of the arts to Cardiff. What is Ffoton and who are the photographers on display this October?
With so many photographers engaging with #portraitcymru, not all of them can be featured on the Little Man wall
Little Man Coffee Co is a hub for talent as this month’s art display gives Wales’s photographers recognition.
Host to a number of installations throughout the year, the coffee shop has teamed up with Ffoton Wales and is currently showing work from the company’s #portraitcymru tag on Instagram.
Ffoton is platform and community for photographers.
With the exhibition running until 11 November, Little Man and Ffoton are giving photographers in Wales the opportunity to share work that could otherwise go unseen.
It’s a good way to showcase people’s talents to their friends and family, said Little Man owner Rob Cooper.
He explained: “It’s more important for Little Man to support those who might be doing their first show, or exhibition.
“We like to help the underdog, the start up, the student, the random.”
In addition to the original Bridge Street space, Little Man is displaying images from #portraitcymru at their new Garage branch on Tudor Lane.
These “distinct spaces”, as Rob describes them, allow for multiple ongoing installations.
Little Man’s minimalist Bridge Street space
Between them, the company is maximising on Cardiff’s creative abilities.
When asked about working with Little Man, Brian Carroll, co-founder of Ffoton, explained they had liked Rob’s aim to support independent artists and groups.
Ffoton supports both the experienced and aspiring independent photographer.
Putting out the #urbanwales tag last year and #portraitcymru now, Ffoton continues to uncover aspiring Welsh photographers.
“Arts Council and publicly-funded organisations tend to focus on a narrow genre of art photography but there’s so much more out there,” said Brian, explaining why Ffoton started.
He specified that Ffoton is looking for photographers working, “in any genre.”
#portraitcymru embodies this, and has drawn in a mixed bag of Instagram’s creative users.
It is Ffoton’s third photography exhibition at Little Man Coffee, according to Brian.