University to host landmark conference on future of photography
The University of Salford is partnering up with the international photography research group, The Sustainable Darkroom, to deliver a two-day conference this October on the future of photography and photographic education.
Seeds of Change will take place at the University’s New Adelphi building on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026.
Challenging the form of the traditional academic conference, Seeds of Change will seek to bring international academics, practice-based photographic researchers, artists, students and local educators together for a series of workshops, exhibitions and keynote speeches.
It will coincide with the launch of ‘Burn After Reading: The Afterlife of Images’, a new book from The Sustainable Darkroom which will consist of a number of essays and creative texts which explore the afterlives and futures of photography, containing radical visions of the past, present and future of the medium.
The conference will also be preceded on Wednesday 28 October by OFFSHOOT, a symposium that is the culmination of a partnership between The University of Salford Art Collection, the Royal Horticultural Society, RHS Garden Bridgewater and Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool that has been generously supported by Arts Council England through National Lottery funding.
Dr Caroline Edge, Co-Programme Leader for BA Photography at the University of Salford said: “We need to have a radical conversation about the future of photography and arts-based education. The aim of Seeds of Change is to bring the photographic community together to help us work collaboratively towards a regenerative future for photographic practice, industry and education.
“We will explore sustainable practices, how photographers, artists and academics can influence change in our systems from grassroots contexts to international communities and how we can create transformative educational models for photography.
“Given the University’s existing expertise and embedded practices in sustainability and socially engaged research, we are looking to utilise this and bring people together to change existing systems for the better.”
The conference has launched an open call for academics, artists and educators to submit papers, workshops and art works. The themes for these works include: the garden, the ruins and decay of photography, commons and regenerative photographic pedagogies.
Proposals for the conference must be submitted by Monday 27 April.
For all press office enquiries please email communications@salford.ac.uk.
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