Ángel Luis González Fernández | Ángel Luis González Fernández

Ángel Luis González Fernández is a designer, artist, and curator supporting engaging visual arts practices, winner of Business to Arts David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards 2011.

His work manifests through PhotoIreland, which he founded in 2010 to stimulate a critical dialogue on Photography. He devises curatorial projects placing conversations in the public realm around visual culture, critical thinking. These include events (PhotoIreland Festival, Halftone Print Fair, arts residency How to Flatten a Mountain, and New Irish Works), a cultural hub (The Library Project: Ireland’s Art bookshop, host to a unique resource library of photobooks and a productive arts programme), publishing projects that distribute inexpensive access to local practices, research projects (Critical Academy: examining contemporary art practices). He works collaboratively with a growing network of organisations, noticeably through ambitious Creative Europe partnerships.

During the Summer 2020 lockdown he launched the critical publication OVER Journal, now distributed globally. He received the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Bursary to deepen research on the broad historical and specific artistic context of Photography in Ireland, to curate an ambitious survey exhibition in PhotoIreland Festival 2022 and to publish a series of publications on the matter. He regularly contributes to publications such as the forthcoming The Routledge Companion to Global Photographies, edited by Lucy Soutter, Duncan Wooldridge.

See some of his Graphic and Web Design work in the 100 Design Archive.

Please note that the list below is not complete and is updated regularly.

FOUNDER

As founder of PhotoIreland, since Oct 2009 I have initiated the following projects:

2010 Jul – PhotoIreland Festival
2011 Feb – PhotoIreland Collection
2011 Jul – Tsundoku Art Book Fair
2013 Jul – New Irish Works
2013 Sep – The Library Project
2014 Dec – Greetings From Ireland
2015 Nov – Halftone Print Fair
2016 May – How To Flatten A Mountain
2017 Jul – TLP Editions
2017 Oct – Critical Academy
2019 Mar – PhotoIreland Wiki
2019 Jul – Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland
2020 Mar – 100 Views of Contemporary Ireland
2020 Jul – OVER Journal
2022 Jul – RADAR: Research and Development Artist Residency
2023 Mar – RELAY: Mentorship Programme

DIRECTOR & EXECUTIVE CURATOR

As Director of PhotoIreland and Executive Curator of PhotoIreland Festival I have overseen 14 curatorial projects:

CURATOR

CO-CURATOR

2024 October – ENERGY: Redistributing Power and Taming Consumption, at PhotoIreland, Dublin (IE), co-curated with Emese Mucsi (Capa Center), Ángel Luis González & Julia Gelezova (PhotoIreland), and Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK) part of FUTURES European Photography Platform.
2024 October – ENERGY: Redistributing Power and Taming Consumption, at FOTODOK, Utrecht (NL), co-curated with Emese Mucsi (Capa Center), Ángel Luis González & Julia Gelezova (PhotoIreland), and Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK) part of FUTURES European Photography Platform.
2023 October – ENERGY: Redistributing Power and Taming Consumption, at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest (HU), co-curated with Emese Mucsi (Capa Center), Ángel Luis González & Julia Gelezova (PhotoIreland), and Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK) part of FUTURES European Photography Platform.
2012 July – PhotoIreland Festival 2012: Migration: Diaspora and Cultural Identity, Ireland
2011 July – PhotoIreland Festival 2011: Collaborative Change, Ireland
2010 July – PhotoIreland Festival 2010: Celebrating Photography, Ireland

PRODUCER & PROJECT MANAGER

2016 Oct – Photobook Week Aarhus 2016. Denmark.
2015 Oct – Photobook Week Aarhus 2015. Denmark.
2014 Oct – Photobook Week Aarhus 2014. Denmark.
2013 May – POPCAP 2013 Prize for Contemporary African Photography 2013 Dublin, Limerick and Cork. Ireland
2013 Feb – Bealtaine Festival, ‘Wandering Methods’, a 5 months participatory craft project for older people, Ireland

ACADEMIC

2024 Aug Essay Towards A New Arts Ecosystem: PhotoIreland’s Strategy in Converging Communities Around Photography for The Routledge Companion to Global Photographies, edited by Lucy Soutter, Duncan Wooldridge (Launched 30 August 2024)
2021 Jun Practice 2020 Nov Istituto Europeo di Design. Madrid, Spain
2014 Mar Practice Griffith College, Dublin, Ireland

EDITOR

2023 Nov – Trigger #5: Energy. Co-editors: Tom Viaene (FOMU), Emese Mucsi (Capa Center), Ángel Luis González & Julia Gelezova (PhotoIreland), and Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK) part of FUTURES European Photography Platform.
2022 Jul – OVER Journal issue 3
2021 Jul – OVER Journal issue 2
2020 Jul – OVER Journal issue 1
2013 Jul – New Irish Works
2011 Jul – Martin Parr’s Best Books of the Decade, PhotoIreland

DESIGNER

2021 Jul – Book: Bite the Hand that Feeds You, PhotoIreland. Ireland
2017-22 – Book: TLP Editions, 66 publications. Ireland
2016-17– Book: New Irish Works II, PhotoIreland. 20 publications. Ireland
2015-24 – Identity: HALFTONE Dublin’s Fresh New Print Fair. Ireland
2015 Mar – Book: Generation ’74 Kaunas Photo Festival, Lithuania
2014 Oct – Identity: Photobook Week Aarhus, Denmark
2014 Jul – Book: The Swallowing Tree, by David Farrell, Latent Image Editions. Ireland
2013 Oct – Book: The Legacy Project, by Miriam O’ Connor. Ireland
2013 Jul – Book: New Irish Works, PhotoIreland. Ireland

TALKS & WORKSHOPS

2015 Aug – Talk on The Value of Photography Festivals. Joined a team of experts to discuss on the subject at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, in August 2015.

2015 May – Flâneur – New Urban Narratives International Conference. Two day conference that constitutes one of the key moments of the European project “Flâneur” – an International art project which encourages photographers and writers to explore the urban territory with a new approach to enable a fresh look on the dynamics of European cities and their geographic and social landscapes.

2015 Feb – Guest at Photobook Melbourne 2015, Australia. Joined a panel discussion on Photobook publishing chaired by Harvey Benge.

On Storytelling” Conference talk followed by a two days workshop on Storytelling Strategies, at the Silkdeer Entertainment Building, Jeddha, Saudi Arabia.

2014 Oct – Photobook Week Aarhus, Denmark.Photobook Week Aarhus, Denmark.

2014 Mar – Presentation at the Europa Re-Imagined Symposium. Presentation on PhotoIreland at the Europa Re-Imagined Symposium, March 2014 in Cardiff, UK. Other speakers included David Drake, Malcolm Dickson, and Marc Prüst.

2014 Mar – Speaker at Europa Re-Imagined Symposium – Cardiff, UK.Speaker at Europa Re-Imagined Symposium – Cardiff, UK. The Europa Re-Imagined symposium brought together lens-based artists and cultural professionals from all over Europe to discuss current trends in European photography and platforms for photographers to share and distribute their work. Christiane Monarchi, editor of Photomonitor chaired the morning panel discussion. The panel speakers were Marc Prüst, photography consultant and curator, Ángel Luis González Fernández, director and founder of PhotoIreland, and Malcolm Dickson, director of Streetlevel Photoworks. During the symposium they discussed current trends in publishing, the landscape of European photography festivals and new opportunities for lens-based artists. European Prospects is a project exploring questions of European identity and experience through contemporary

JURY

2024 Jul – Nominator for Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize Academy
2024 May – Jury for the Portrait of Humanity award by British Journal of Photography
2024 May – Jury for the LensCulture Critics’ Choice Awards
2017 May – Nominator for Premio Revelación PHotoEspaña 2017
2015 Jun – Jury at the Irish Times Amateur Photographer Awards 2015.
2015 Mar – Pre-jury for Grand Prix Images Vevey 2015, Vevey, Switzerland.
2014 Sep – Selector at Uncertain States Open Call 2014. Joined the selector team at Uncertain States Open Call 2014.
2014 May – Member of the Jury at the Fotobookfestival Kassel International Photobook Dummy Award 2014, Kassel, Germany.
2014 May – Member of the Jury POPCAP 2014 – Piclet.org Prize for Contemporary African Photography 2014
2013 May – Member of the Jury POPCAP 2013 – Piclet.org Prize for Contemporary African Photography 2014

REVIEWER

2024 Sep – Portfolio Reviewer at the Portfolio Reviews 2024, Daegu Photo Biennale, Daegu, South Korea
2024 Jul – Portfolio Reviewer at the PhotobookNZ 2024, Wellington, New Zealand
2024 Apr – Portfolio Reviewer for TU Dublin, Ireland
2022 Sep – Portfolio Reviewer at FotoFest Meeting Place Portfolio Reviews, FotoFest, Houston, USA
2021 Sep – Portfolio Reviewer at Descubrimientos PHE21 in PHotoESPAÑA 2021
2021 May – Portfolio Reviewer at ConText Reviews, The Curator Ship. Online.
2021 Mar – FotoFest Meeting Place 2021 Virtual Portfolio Review, FotoFest. Online.
2020 Sep – Landskrona Portfolio Virtual Portfolio Review, Landskrona Foto Fest 2020. Online.
2019 Apr – Capa Center Budapest Portfolio Reviews
2019 Jun – Portfolio Reviewer at Descubrimientos PHE19 in PHotoESPAÑA 2019
2016 Jun – Portfolio Reviewer at Descubrimientos PHE16 in PHotoESPAÑA 2016
2016 Apr – Portfolio Reviewer at FORMAT 16, Derby, UK
2015 Jun – Portfolio Reviewer at Fotobook Kassel 2015. Joined a team of 24 experts in the field of photography to review at the Fotobook Kassel 2015 Portfolio Reviews, June 2015 in Kassel, Germany.
2015 Jun – Portfolio Reviewer at the Hamburg Triennial of Photography. Joined a team of experts in the field of photography to review at the Hamburg Triennial of Photography 2015 Portfolio Reviews, June 2015 in Hamburg, Germany.
2015 May – Get Together 2015 – Visual Artists Ireland. Joined 23 curators for the Speed Curating sessions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in May 15th 2015, part of the Get Together 2015 organised by Visual Artists Ireland.
2015 Apr – Portfolio Reviewer at Alibaba Photo Festival, Murcia, Spain.
2015 Mar – Portfolio Reviewer at FORMAT 15, Derby, UK.
2015 Jan – Speaker at The State of Photography Symposium – Birmingham, UK. The State of Photography event explored, debated and reviewed how photographers and photography practice develops, responds and thrives in the current challenging times. During the Symposium we heard from the perspective of the photographer, curator, festival director, agent and publisher. With a focus on innovation and sustainability speakers conveyed what it takes to not only survive but to expand and thrive. The day explored and celebrated self-initiated projects and entrepreneurialism by hearing from a range of photographic projects that are current and at the cutting edge of photography today.

2014 Nov – Guest at Focus Photographie 2014, Paris, France. Joined a panel of 10 international professionals at the first edition of Focus Photography, a curatorial visit to art centers, instituti

ons, galleries, artists’ studios in Paris and surrounding areas – on the occasion of the 17th Month of Photography in Paris. Organised by the Institut Francais.
2014 Nov – Portfolio Reviewer for GRAIN – Disruptive Media Learning Lab, Coventry University, UK.
2014 Sep – Portfolio Reviewer at Encontros da Imagem 2014, Braga, Portugal.
2014 Jul – Portfolio Reviewer at Les Rencontres d’Arles 2014, Arles, France.
2014 Jun – Portfolio Reviewer at FotoLeggendo 2014 Rome, Italy.
2014 May – Portfolio Reviewer at Riga Photomonth 2014, Riga, Latvia.2014 Mar – Portfolio Reviewer at FORMAT14, Derby, UK

2013 Mar – Portfolio Reviewer at FORMAT13, Derby, UK.
2012 Sep – Portfolio Reviewer at Kaunas Photo Festival 2012, Kaunas, Lithuania.
2012 Aug – Portfolio pre-selection for Kaunas Photo Festival 2012, Kaunas, Lithuania.

GOVERNANCE

Board Member,

HONOURS & AWARDS

2014 – Plus Print won Small Printer of the Year 2014 for ‘The Swallowing Tree’, the book I designed for David Farrell
2014 – PhotoIreland Festival 2014 finalist to the Irish Web Awards 2014 Best Microsite & Best Arts Website
2012 – PhotoIreland Festival 2012 won the Irish Web Awards 2012 Best Microsite
2011 – Winner of Business to Arts David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards 2011

For any corrections or updates, email angel @ photoireland.org.