The exhibition celebrates 50 years of one of Wales’s most prominent photographers, part of the FfotoCymru festival’s focus on female photographers in Wales
Credit: Jade Burrell
Ffotogallery in Cathays is celebrating 50 years of Marian Delyth, one of Wales’s most prominent photographers with a major solo exhibition.
Additionally, the exhibition is part of the broader FfotoCymru 2024 festival, which aims to put a spotlight on female photographers.
Delyth’s exhibition is open to the public until December 14. It is curated from 50 years of her photographic archive of social movements and activism in Wales.
“I spent months digging into my archive—it sometimes felt like an archaeological dig,” she says.
The main focus of the exhibition and festival is the role of women in the male-dominated industry of photography.
Delyth, who is a founding member of the first Ffotogallery on Charles Street in 1978, reflects on her time as a photographer in this male-centric profession.
She says: “When I started, I was often the only woman in the room. Now there’s a growing recognition of female photographers. It’s wonderful to see this being reflected in events like Ffotocymru.”
The exhibition marks a milestone in Delyth’s career, with an archive spanning five decades as well as coinciding with her 70th birthday.
Credit: Ffotogallery
Bob Gelsthorpe, creative producer at Ffotogallery, explains that the festival and exhibition aim to address the gender imbalance in photography.
Gelsthorpe says that the commission for Marian Delyth is a prime example of their goals.
“She has had very few major public exhibitions,” he says.
“A lot of men in similar career positions have been celebrated all over the world.”
The exhibition at Ffotogallery features over 100 images. However, as Gelsthorpe notes, it’s only around 5% of what Delyth originally wanted to include.
He adds that over the next year, the gallery will be looking to rectify the male to female balance in their exhibitions with a better focus on female and non-binary artists.