This special issue of PhotoResearcher aims to inspire scholars, curators, and artists to reflect on photography festivals in an academic context and to investigate them as a phenomenon; a particular mode of presentation, circulation, and production of images.
Although photography festivals are not yet an established field of research in the history or theory of photography, readers of PhotoResearcher No. 43 will encounter a combination of international voices positioning festivals in a variety of socio-cultural settings: As engines of collaboration with local museums, as contributors to the visibility of the climate crisis, as engines of artistic production, etc. The inspiration behind this publication stems from the desire to honour the legacy of Belfast Photo Festival, which was founded back in 2009, and to take stock of how it changed the ecosystem which gave rise to it. Also, this collaborative publication expands BPF’s experiences through the journal’s authors and their unique perspectives in order to learn from them and to keep this unique form of experiencing photography alive and thriving.
PhotoResearcher No. 43
"Photography & Festivals: 15 Years Belfast Photo Festival"
Guest-editor: Michael Weir, CEO Belfast Photo Festival
Editor-in-chief: Dr. Hanin Hannouch, President of the European Society for the History of Photography
Graphic Design: Bernhard Schorner
Image Editing: Robert Vanis
The journal’s editorial is open-access and can be downloaded here.
To order this special issue of PhotoResearcher:
UK Residents order here or you can also visit Belfast Photo Festival's Photobook library in Botanic Gardens, Belfast from 5-30th June to buy a copy.
EU + Rest of the World Residents order here
Hannah Crowdy
New Resonances in Museum Collections: The Ulster Museum and Belfast Photo Festival
Vivienne Gamble
Vital Exchanges and Encounters: Photography Festivals and the City
Michael Weir in Conversation with Pål Otnes
Elective Affinities
Mafalda Ruão & Krzysztof Candrowicz
A Photography Festival Cosmology: On Social and Environmental Responsibility and Visual Activism
Toby Smith
Festivals as Climate Protest: An Opportunity?
Tom Seymour
The Future of Photography Festivals: A British-Irish Perspective
Founder Michael Weir in Conversation with Sebah Chaudhry
Looking Forward and Looking Back: 15 Years of Belfast Photo Festival
Louise Fedotov-Clements
Afterword
