Irish Photo Network Symposium

Join Belfast Photo Festival and the Irish Photo Network partners for a free afternoon symposium exploring photography in the digital age. Bringing together artists, curators and photography organisations from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the event will address some of the most urgent questions facing the medium today, from AI, disinformation and post-truth image cultures to ethics, identity, and representation.

Part of the Irish Photo Network’s 2026 cross-border programme ‘Altered Images: Photography & Truth in the Digital Age’, the symposium reflects a shared commitment to strengthening North-South collaboration, supporting artists’ development and creating space for critical conversation around photography’s changing role in society.

Across three panel discussions, contributors from Belfast Exposed, Belfast Photo Festival, Source Magazine and Photo Museum Ireland will be joined by invited artists and practitioners to consider how photography shapes, distorts and challenges our understanding of reality. The programme will also look at the pressures facing artists working in an image-saturated culture, the social and psychological impact of visual media, and the possibilities for a more ethical and inclusive photographic practice across the island of Ireland.

This event forms part of a wider Irish Photo Network programme that includes a cross-border artist commission, mentoring, strategic planning and research into artists’ needs and wellbeing.

Image credit: Yvette Monahan

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