Bath Photography Festival
Founded in 2018, the Bath Photography Festival was established as a cultural project exploring how photographic imagery is created, viewed, and consumed in an increasingly overwhelming digital world. Its foundations lay in developing community-led initiatives that sought to promote and encourage creative photography, while engaging critically with photography’s role in shaping perception, memory, and evidence.
Bath has a rich photographic heritage and was formerly home to the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). When the RPS left the city, it created a cultural void and became a key driver in the development of the festival. Running from 2018 to 2023, the project worked closely with Fringe Arts Bath and a range of local venues. Across its editions, the festival presented work by both emerging and established artists, offering space for documentary, conceptual, environmental, and participatory practices.
Festival themes included Real/Unreal (2018), which questioned authenticity and manipulation in photographic imagery; Bath City of Change (2018–2020), a public call inviting residents to share images and memories documenting the city’s evolving landscape; and Evidence (2021–2022), a two-part festival responding to photography as proof, testimony, and narrative.
The Bath Photography Festival is currently paused (website offline). However, the project remains open to new conversations, partnerships, and possibilities. If you are interested in supporting, collaborating, or helping to re-start the festival in the future, please get in touch.
Simon Taylor
Founder and Project Director
A big thank you to FaB for their support in setting up events, and to everyone who generously volunteered their time—especially Irene Llorca, our video creator. Finally, a huge thank you to all the amazing artists who submitted their work.
