John Farrell
b. Bellshill, Lanarkshire 1990
Education
First Class BA(Hons) Fine Art Photography with Distinction, Glasgow School of Art
Select Exhibitions
FLOW Photofest at 525 Gallery Edinburgh, Scotland 2020
Traces and Edges at FLOW Photofest Inverness, Scotland 2019
Coal, Steel and Earth, Summerlee Museum Coatbridge, Scotland 2018
(INTER)TWINE at Supernormal, Singapore 2018
Fòcas India: Document at The National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India 2017
Fòcas India: Document at Trongate 103 Glasgow, Scotland 2017
An Interval of Time - New Photographers Guild at Trongate 103 Glasgow, Scotland 2017
RSA New Contemporaries at Royal Scottish Academy Galleries Edinburgh, Scotland 2016
Home is Somewhere Else at The Old Hairdressers Glasgow, Scotland 2014
Hattonrigg Pit Disaster 1910 at Bellshill Cultural Centre Bellshill, Scotland 2014
Public Talks and Seminars
Pecha Kucha REVOLUTION Night, North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, October 2023
FLOW Photofest 2019 Artist Talk, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness September 2019
Coal, Steel and Earth Artist Talk, Summerlee Museum Coatbridge, May 2018
The GSA Public Lecture Series: Don't Blink - Robert Frank with Torsten Laucshmann, The Glasgow School of Art, May 2017
An Interval of Time Artist Talk, Trongate 103, Glasgow May 2017
Making Something Happen: Performativity in the work of Richard Learoyd, Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, February 2016
Hattonrigg Pit Disaster 1910 Artist Talk, Bellshill Cultural Centre, February 2014
Festivals
Traces and Edges at Just another Photography Festival 2017 Kolkata, India
Traces and Edges at Indian Photography Festival 2017, Hyderabad, India
Traces and Edges at Purvai Festival 2017, An Lanntair, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
Points of Conflict at The Skinny Showcase, Hill St Design Studios, Edinburgh Art Festival 2015
Awards & Residencies
Richard and Siobhan Coward Analogue Photography Grant, June 2023
VACMA Award North Lanarkshire, Culture NL, 2019
Artist in Residence at Little Sparta, Dunsyre, Scotland, 2018
New Photographers Guild Selected Artist, 2017
Hope Scott Trust Visual Arts Award, April 2016
RSA New Contemporaries Selected Artist, March 2016
Artist in Residence, Kettleton Byer Bothy Darkroom, Environmental Art Festival Scotland, Durisdeer, Scotland, 2015
Select Curatorial Projects
Hold Still, Keep Going: 45 Years of Fine Art Photography, Reid Gallery, Glasgow (2027)
Ian Hamilton Finlay - War and Pieces of a Garden, The Garnethill Gallery, Glasgow (2025)
Victoria Morton - Switch Track, Reid Gallery, Glasgow (2025)*
Bet Low - An Island On Your Doorstep, Reid Gallery, Glasgow & Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney (2025)*
Sandra George - Glasgow International 2024, 5 Florence Street, Glasgow (2024)*
Oscar Marzaroli, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow (2019)*
Street Level Open 2019, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow (2019)*
*Assistant Curator
Select Cultural Programming
Film Und Foto Klub, Bi-Monthly Film Screening in collaboration with Agitate (Edinburgh), 2023 - Present
Aqsa Arif – Artist Talk and Film Screening, Reid Lecture Theatre, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, 2025
A Balkan Journey Revised - Chris Leslie Book Launch and Q+A, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2023
From the Gallery: David Gordon - Fishing the Minch (Online talk), Dunoon Burgh Hall, Dunoon, 2021
From the Gallery: Victoria Clare Bernie - Slow Water (Online talk), Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, 2021
From the Gallery: Coulson & Tennant - After It’s Gone (Online talk), Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, 2021
Lewis Elegies - Mhairi Law & Calum Angus McKay (Online talk), Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock, 2021
In Focus Artist Talks Series (Online), Street Level Photoworks, 2020 - 2021
Beyond the Americans: The Photobooks of Robert Frank, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2019
Roger Palmer - SPOOR Book Launch and Q+A, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2019
Glasgow Photobook Club, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2019 - 2023
Glasgow Zine Fest Programme Coordinator, April 2017
TalkSeePhotography Programme Assistant, CCA,Glasgow, 2016 - 2018
Published Critical Writing
Knowing the Territory: Roger Palmer & Pictures from the Near Field, Essay (Forthcoming, 2026)
Homecomings - James Pfaff, Exhibition minigraph, Glasgow Cathedral, COP26, Glasgow (2021)
Fragments of Living - Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947-2019, Steidl (2020)
30th Anniversary of Street Level Photoworks in Studies in Photography (2019)
Looking for the Edges: Ambit Photographies from Scotland 2019, Review (2019)
About Common Ground: The Photographs of Mads Holm - NOTES Autumn - Winter 2018
About Common Ground: The Photographs of Mads Holm - Exhibition text, Select Artist’ Works at SWG3, Glasgow (2018)
Fragments of Living - Robert Frank: Books and Films, 1947–2017 (Japanese) Steidl (2017)
Frank McElhinney: Mediating History - Studies in Photography (2017)
Fragments of Living: The Poetry of Robert Frank's Visual Diaries - NOTES Autumn - Winter 2016
Parade, Hoboken New Jersey - The Americans List II, Red Hook Editions (2016)