Belfast Photo Festival 2026 Explores Horizons of Future Photography
Scheduled for 4–30 June 2026, the Belfast photo festival will once again be the largest photography event in the UK and Ireland, taking place at various locations throughout the city. This year's theme, Horizons: Visions of Futures Unknown, delves into the realms of technology, environment, geopolitics, and automated AI. Notable projects featured include Laura Pannack's The Journey Home, Evanna Devine's Exploring Antrim and Newtownabbey, and Toby Smith's Camera Obsolete?. Other contributions come from artists such as Florence Goupil, Lean Lui, and Paul McCambridge, showcasing works like Luis Díaz, The White Barracks, and MSC Napoli, among others.
Key facts
- Belfast photo festival is the largest annual photography festival in the UK and Ireland
- Festival runs from 4–30 June 2026 at venues across Belfast
- Central theme is Horizons: Visions of Futures Unknown
- Laura Pannack's The Journey Home documents Cape Town's Cape Flats
- Florence Goupil's project features Luis Díaz, a protection agent for the Mashco-Piro people in Peru
- Evanna Devine's project includes a public photography competition launching in August 2026
- Toby Smith's Camera Obsolete? is a participatory installation
- Lean Lui's The White Barracks imagines a fictional island of girl cadets
- Louise Desnos' Acedia explores laziness and introspection
- Sabine Hess and Nicolas Polli's project began after they moved in together in 2023
- Belfast Buildings Trust and Joe Laverty's Still Standing is part of Creative Belfast
- Valentina Sinis' The Last Butterflies follows female Kurdish guerrillas in mountains between Iraq and Iran
- Thomas Holton's The Lams of Ludlow Street spans over two decades in Manhattan's Chinatown
- Thaddé Comar's How Was Your Dream? documents Hong Kong protests from June to October 2019
- Vahram Aghasyan's Modality shows unfinished Soviet buildings in Armenia photographed in 2008
- Paul McCambridge's MSC Napoli covers the 2007 beaching of the container ship in Lyme Bay
- Alice Poyzer's Other Joys is rooted in her experience as an autistic woman
Entities
Artists
- Laura Pannack
- Florence Goupil
- Evanna Devine
- Toby Smith
- Lean Lui
- Louise Desnos
- Sabine Hess
- Nicolas Polli
- Joe Laverty
- Valentina Sinis
- Thomas Holton
- Thaddé Comar
- Vahram Aghasyan
- Paul McCambridge
- Alice Poyzer
- Luis Díaz
Institutions
- Belfast photo festival
- Belfast Buildings Trust
- Creative Belfast
- Peruvian ministry of culture
- Kurdistan Free Life party
- Women's Protection Forces
Locations
- Belfast
- Northern Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Cape Town
- Cape Flats
- South Africa
- Peru
- Alto Madre de Dios river
- Amazon
- Antrim
- Newtownabbey
- Ticino
- Switzerland
- Iraq
- Iran
- Kurdish regions
- Manhattan
- Chinatown
- New York City
- United States
- Hong Kong
- Armenia
- Soviet Union
- Lyme Bay
- Channel