Belfast Photo Festival - The Verge

This edition of Belfast Photo Festival, we explore untold stories, under-represented narratives and perspectives on the world that too often go unseen. Celebrating photography that pushes against dominant social, cultural, historical and visual frameworks, this year’s festival features the work of artists who find themselves—both conceptually and aesthetically—on the verge of new territories.

Examining photography’s ability to shine light on hidden subject matter, a number of projects provide an inside look at the most pressing events of our era. From Covid and the climate crisis, to global conflicts and the mass displacement and migration of people, photographers working on the front line capture a personal and nuanced glimpse of the events that define our times, and the realities not always portrayed in the media.

Others turn their lens to the past, utilising the archive in their work; repurposing, reframing, and reimagining existing photographic images in order to challenge, critique or reexamine historical events. From feminist and queer revisions of the photographic canon, to surrealist mash-ups, these projects craft new images from old ones in order to dispute the ‘truth’ or sanctity of photography and the stories it purports to tell.

Whatever the subject matter, throughout this year’s festival we look to emergent forms of image making, exploring how artists are pushing the limits of the photographic medium, and questioning what constitutes photographic practice in the modern age.

Forcing a shift in focus, the works in this year’s festival de-centre and move us beyond what is known and understood, ultimately bringing forth new perspectives on the world we live in, the pasts we inherit, and leading us to the verge of something altogether new.