The Photoworks festival returned to Brighton and Hove this September under the theme ‘Un/Stable: Lands, Anxieties, Dreams,’ challenging traditional gallery boundaries and inviting audiences to view photography as a catalyst for social transformation. Running from October 2 to November 1, the event features a diverse array of emerging and established artists examining the intersections of human identity, memory, and physical environments.
Among the standout works is Dasha Tenditna’s ‘Not Alone’ (2026), which addresses the humanitarian impact of the war in Ukraine. Having fled her homeland in 2022, the Ukrainian-born photographer combines portraiture, documentary, and social anthropology to highlight marginalized experiences. Her images capture the persistent link between individual lives and turbulent social environments, including the trauma of conflict and domestic violence.
Ecological concerns take center stage in several installations, reflecting the festival’s focus on environmental renewal and forest restoration. Halfdan Hallseth’s ‘Monument Chernobyl Series’ (2019) presents a haunting image of a tree growing through the concrete floor of an unfinished cooling tower at the Chernobyl site. The photograph serves as a dual symbol of nature’s resilience and a warning against exceeding ecological limits amid the ongoing climate crisis.
Other artists explore local and global environmental struggles through collaborative and speculative lenses. Holly Birtles’ ‘Fighting Fish,’ developed during the Chennai Photo Biennale X Photoworks Darkroom Residency, draws parallels between the Thames estuary and rivers in India, examining themes of care, dedication, and destruction. Similarly, Gil Mualem Doron’s ‘Sea of Change’ involves young participants from a Sri Lankan fishing village who transformed collected plastic waste into wearable sculptures, linking local coastal precarity to broader ecological issues.
The festival also highlights Indigenous knowledge and community-led healthcare. Johanna Alarcón’s ‘When the Earth Gives Birth’ documents maternal healthcare practices in Ecuador, focusing on stories from Indigenous midwives, apprentices, and patients associated with AMUPAKIN and Partera di Anaku. The project underscores reproductive sovereignty and the preservation of traditional healing methods in the Amazon and Andes regions.
Debmalya Ray Choudhuri’s ‘The Weight of the Earth,’ selected for the International Photography Festivals Association (IPFA) award in 2025, offers a deeply personal narrative. Developed over seven years, the series recounts the artist’s experience as a South Asian immigrant in America, confronting themes of fragility, loss, and his struggle with tuberculosis.
Complementing the main festival is Photo Fringe, which runs from October 2 to 31. Returning to its grassroots roots established in 2003, the fringe emphasizes artist-led participation, experimentation, and community connection. Curators, collectives, and organizers are encouraged to propose exhibitions in unconventional venues, ranging from cafes and seafront spaces to empty shops, celebrating collective creative potential.
Additional features include Sarker Protick’s work on colonial legacies in Bangladesh, Alma Haser’s intricate mixed-media portraits, and Ayobami Ogungbe’s fragmented photographs of his hometown in Nigeria. Together, these works invite viewers to question assumptions and critically engage with the complex relationships between history, technology, and the landscape.
Is the photography actually driving social change, or just aestheticizing these crises? I remain skeptical about the impact.
Love how the festival bridges local Brighton spaces with urgent global issues like Chernobyl and Ukraine. Truly transformative.