The “Report on Photography festivals in Catalonia: state of the art and proposals for improvement” shows that the most photography festivals in Catalonia work with a low budget, just over 50,000 euros on average and to a large extent dependent on public administration financing: 94% of the town councils, 77% of the Generalitat of Catalonia and 71% of the provincial councils. In Catalonia there are 35 active photography festivals.
Festival management teams are small with 70% having less than 10 people, and in most cases they are maintained by enthusiasm that is, by vocational work that is often unpaid or not sufficiently paid.
In reference to the fee of the photographers and artists participating in the festivals, the study reveals that a 75% have received participation proposals in which there was no financial remuneration for the job requested, while only one 9% claim to have received fair financial compensation for your participation.
The report shows differences in the assessment made by the management teams and that given by the photographers regarding the exercise of good practices in Catalan festivals especially in matters such as the formalization of contracts or the payment of production expenses.
In conclusion, the report proposes short and medium term actions such as creating a formula to ensure that festivals that receive public funding pay fees to artists; a line of aid intended for the production of work; the approval of a Catalan patronage law; encourage hiring of photographers or report bad practices, among others.
The report “Photography festivals in Catalonia: state of the art and proposals for improvement” has been prepared by the journalist Wayra Ficapal commissioned by the Photographic Social Vision Foundation starting from a meeting to debate the issue with more than 50 participants including photographers, cultural managers, festival directors and representatives of the Administration, and complemented by surveys addressed to the directors of festivals and participating artists, as well as with interviews to other professionals in the sector.
The study was born with the objective of obtaining a updated x-ray of the sector of photography festivals in Catalonia to promote the reflectionabout the state of the matter and the necessary actions and changes for the exercise of good professional practices and the eradication of precariousness.
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE complete “Photography festivals in Catalonia: state of the art and proposals for improvement”
