There was a time when I thought that Third Floor Gallery will cease to exist... We simply had not enough time, money and energy that could keep the organisation going.
We made it even semi official, the exhibition and a talk by Jacob Aue Sobol meant to be the last. But something happened during the time Jacob was in Cardiff. Claire Kern, clearly mobilised by this very successful period in the gallery's life, decided to fight for TFG. She said 'we will not stop without the fight'. And hell, she didn't stop.
Last weekend I felt that there is still a heart bit in TFG and that it is a strong one. Joni Karanka mentioned on Facebook that the gallery is established enough for him to 'retire' and give it 'away' to the new management team. I'm confident that under this new team TFG will continue to bring great photography to our beloved Welsh capital.
New website is also up and running. It is so much better than the old one and I felt really nostalgic flicking through past exhibitions and events we organised in the past.
For me personally the most important show was Mi Vida Loca by Joseph Rodriguez. It is simply because it was the first exhibition for which I was fully responsible. From proposing the show to Joni and Macej Dakowicz to contacting the photographer and curating the whole thing. East Side Stories the book that this exhibition was (in great part) based on, is the most influential photobook for my photographic practice. It opened my eyes on documentary photography and I remember as it was yesterday how astonished I was by the fact that one can tell such extraordinary stories simply by using a camera.
Anyway. Third Floor Gallery is alive! It makes me very happy.
