Photography Ethics Symposium 2026

Description

Organised the 2026 Photography Ethics Symposium at Queen's University Belfast, in partnership with the Photographies academic journal and with funding from the ESRC. VII Foundation partnered to live-streamed two online panels.

Photography ethics is a topic which has gained momentum in recent years. From questions of consent, representation, and manipulation to the impacts of social media, artificial intelligence, and fake news, image-makers and image-users are facing complex challenges emerging from technological, environmental, and political change. This renewed attention to ethics has contributed to a growing polarisation within the photography industry. Firm lines are being drawn between those who are experimenting with AI, and those who shun it; those who engage in collaborative practice, and those who place higher value on the artist’s perspective; those who prioritize creative freedom, and those who prioritize social responsibility.

The 2026 Photography Ethics Symposium brought together photographers, curators, archivists, and researchers from a range of institutions and practices to facilitate critical conversation on the challenges shaping photography today. Speakers were selected following an abstract submissions process which took place in autumn 2025.

Rather than seeking to delineate any universal ethical truths, we were instead interested in exploring the messiness of ethical decision-making. How are photographers and other image-based practitioners are negotiating the ethical decisions they encounter? Who is implicated or involved in these decisions, and who or what is at stake?

As part of the conference programme, Savannah developed partnerships with the Ulster Museum, Belfast Exposed, Source Magazine, and the Belfast Photo Festival for off-site visits.

Conference outputs include:
- a special issue of the Photographies journal (forthcoming in 2027),
- recordings of the two online panels through VII Foundation,
- a series of podcast episodes through The Photo Ethics Podcast,
- a conference video, and
- a series of "vox pop" style videos of conference presenters.

Period	03 Jun 2026 → 04 Jun 2026
Event type	Conference
Conference number	6
Location	Belfast, United KingdomShow on map