The Photoworks Festival conference explore the 2026 theme: Un/Stable: Lands, Anxieties, Dreams

Morning address: University of Brighton, 154 Edward Street, BN2 0JG

Afternoon address: University of Brighton, 58–67 Grand Parade, BN2 0JY

Tickets: Standard: £15 / Concession £10 / Supporter £25 / Photoworks Friends £0

Photoworks and the Photography Research Group at the University of Brighton have co-produced a conference in response to the festival theme Un/Stable: Lands, Anxieties, Dreams which explores geographical, psychological and metaphysical currents within photography.

A dynamic programme of papers and panels will share responses to the fragile states of personal and collective geographies, addressing anxieties and fractured realities, opening speculative spaces of care, resistance, and reimagining. The event aims to support the development of new research locating photography within various fields of study. These include ecological entanglements and cosmotechnics, geological and technological anxieties, looking at how histories, identities, futures and place are interconnected.

Doors open at 9:30am for a 10am start. Find out more about the day's schedule.

Speakers: Holly Birtles, Annebella Pollen, Duncan Wooldridge, Aindreas Scholz, Zoe Childerly, Diane Smyth, Feiyi Wen, Eugénie Shinkle, Tsz Wai Pun,Coşkun Güçlü, Nieves Mingueza, Rachel Gillies, Mireia Ludevid, Jermaine Francis, Deborah Ireland, Jane Robb, Fergus Heron, Liza Faktor, Aliki Braine, Julia Winkler, Stephen Bull

Tickets are free for Photoworks Friends. If you’re already a Photoworks Friend, you can email friends@photoworks.org.uk to book your place.

Three bursary tickets are also available for those who may not be able to afford a ticket. Please email rsvp@photoworks.org.uk for more information.

Description supplied by the event organiser.