Your Town My Town – a snap shot in time - The Sidmouth Folk Festival

In association with Sidmouth School of Art we were thrilled to welcome JJ Waller as Artist Photographer in Residence during the 2024 Sidmouth Folk Festival.

During JJ’s Sidmouth Residency he captured a set of images that conjure a sense of place when the town plays host for our week of music, dance and song, in his inimitable style of street photography. This was JJ’s personalised snapshot in time – Your Town – and it was only the start of the project!

Following the festival there was an open call for images to be submitted to form the My Town part of the project. Visitors were invited to to submit a single photograph to create a body of work for the Your Town My Town exhibition. No experience, expertise, or special camera equipment was required! The deadline for submission was 23rd August 2024. In the autumn, JJ will return to Sidmouth to review and select images for the exhibition. A variety of sites will feature the images including bus shelters, telephone boxes and the Wallspace billboard by the Ham. A photo book will be created for the town as a legacy of the project.

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From Street Performer to Street Photographer

Photographer JJ Waller will visit Sidmouth and the Folk Festival for the very first time in August 2024. His journey here has been eclectic and exciting, beginning during his years performing on the cobbles of London’s Covent Garden and spots as a regular at the newly established clubs in the early days of Alternative comedy. JJ won an Edinburgh Perrier Award with comedy pioneers Pookiesnackenburger (The originators of STOMP) before joining the groundbreaking Anarchic French Cirque Archaos. Whilst at Archaos he once again partnered with ringmaster the late Ian Smith, an early influence on Sidmouth Festival’s collaborator David Shrigley. Whilst touring with the circus JJ began his very first photo documentation project, which led to him being offered a place on a new editorial photography degree course that was being set up by Magnum photographer Mark Power. JJ has produced over ten photography books and sold over 14,000 books. He is currently working on a new book of his Benidorm work. In May 2025 he will be partnering with photographer Martin Parr on a major public show.

JJ’s images regularly appear internationally in print and online publications, billboards, books,tour posters and programmes. See some of his work in these videos: Lockdown film and Seafront show.

JJ’s residency at Sidmouth Folk Festival is in collaboration with Sidmouth School of Art a visual arts charity whose aim is to make Sidmouth the artwork. Through a kaleidoscope of creative opportunities SSA is inspiring new artworks, creative confidence and new collaborations.