If you haven’t yet had the chance to visit the Bristol Photo Festival, then there’s still time, but you’ll need to be quick!

The majority of this year’s festival officially comes to an end this Sunday, 15th November, meaning there are only two more days to explore much of what’s on offer.

The good news is that not everything disappears on Sunday. I was pleased to see that several exhibitions will continue further than this Sunday, some even until February 2027, giving you a little longer to enjoy some fantastic photographic work. 

As a Bristol photographer myself, I wanted to give the festival a mention and encourage people to get out there, take a look and support what is happening in our city’s creative community. I mention the incredible and much missed Martin Parr below, but I’d definitely encourage you to also visit some of the exhibitions from less well known artists.

Two exhibitions which run longer than the official end date

Celebrating photography in Bristol

Bristol has been my main place of work for over twenty years as a professional photographer, and it’s an incredible city to work in.

One of the things I’ve always loved about Bristol is its creativity. There’s something about Bristol that encourages people to think differently, experiment, try new things and express themselves… whether that’s photography, art, music, theatre, film or any of the many other creative disciplines, there’s always something happening.

It’s a city with a huge amount of artistic talent, and I think it’s important that we recognise and support the organisations, individuals and venues that help make Bristol such a vibrant place.

That’s one of the reasons I wanted to highlight the Bristol Photo Festival. It’s a fantastic opportunity to see photography being celebrated across the city, bringing together photographers and artists from different backgrounds and showcasing work that makes you stop, look and perhaps see the world a little differently.

This year’s festival is entitled Time Machine, exploring the relationship between past, present and future through photography. The programme has brought together a whole range of exhibitions across Bristol, using some of the city’s best-known cultural venues as well as some rather more unusual locations.

Two more days to explore the festival

The main festival programme finishes on Sunday 15th November, so if you’ve been meaning to visit, now is the time to make the trip.

There are exhibitions at various locations around Bristol, with work covering a wide range of photographic styles, subjects and approaches.

The exhibition entitled People of Clay being held at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery until February 2027 looks particularly interesting: ‘Along the Brahmaputra, Akshay Mahajan traces stories that cross the boundaries of official maps. Photography, collage and found material connect folklore with lived memory, allowing inherited tales to change shape in the present.”.

The creator Akshay Mahajan speaks about their work on the see:zeen website:

“Photography, for me, is a ritual—an act of remembering and forgetting. I take pictures to converse with time, to draw out the ghosts that inhabit the streets and structures we pass without thought. It’s a way of making sense of the incompleteness, of bearing witness to the fragments we inherit. I photograph to listen—to the whispers of places, to the gestures that reveal the weight of forgotten futures, and to capture the delicate intersections where myth meets the mundane.” Akshay Mahajan

Some of the other highlights include:

Common Sense – Martin Parr: Festival Tribute – A celebration of the work of one of Britain’s best-known documentary photographers. His death was a real blow personally, and his work has been and will always be genuinely inspiring to me and many people I know.

HEAT – Magnum Foundation – An exhibition bringing together photographic perspectives through the Magnum Foundation. As you may know, Martin Parr was heavily involved with Magnum. I feel like I could enjoy writing a whole blog post on Martin Parr, as there’s so much to talk about. Something to come back to!

Photo Kegham – Kegham Djeghalian Jr. – A fascinating photographic archive exploring the history of Gaza through the work of a family photography studio.

Inherited – Kelly O’Brien and Yuko Edwards – An exhibition exploring photography and its relationship with personal histories.

There are plenty of other exhibitions to discover too, so it’s well worth looking through the full programme before heading out.

Still time to visit in 2027!

As mentioned above, if you can’t make it over the next couple of days, there is still some good news, there are several exhibitions which are staying open until into next year. Here’s some more info about two of them:

Joy Gregory: Catching Flies with Honey

This major exhibition brings together more than 150 works spanning four decades of Joy Gregory’s career. Combining photography, film, installation and textiles, it explores themes including identity, history, race and beauty.

It’s a substantial exhibition and a wonderful opportunity to experience the work of an artist who has continually explored and challenged the possibilities of photography.

The Prison Mobile Library

Also continuing at Arnolfini is The Prison Mobile Library, which runs until 7th February 2027. Another interesting addition to the programme, offering a different perspective on photography, stories and the experiences of others.

There are also another festival exhibition at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery: Persistence Studies by Sheida Soleimani, continuing into February 2027.

So, even if you miss the main festival closing date, there’s still plenty of opportunity to enjoy some of the work.

Supporting Bristol’s creative community

I suppose the main reason for writing this article is that I genuinely believe Bristol has something rather special going on.

Having worked as a professional photographer in and around Bristol for more than two decades, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some incredibly talented people, work in some fantastic locations and experience just a glimpse of what this city has to offer.

It’s easy to take these things for granted when they’re on your doorstep, but Bristol has a thriving arts and creative scene, and events such as the Bristol Photo Festival are an important part of that. They give photographers and artists a platform, bring interesting work to a wider audience and give the rest of us a reason to explore our own city.

I’d really encourage anyone with an interest in photography, art or simply discovering something different to take a look.

So, if you’re in Bristol this weekend, why not make a little time to visit an exhibition or two?

And if you can’t make it before Sunday, remember that there are still exhibitions running on longer.

Find out more and plan your visit here: https://bristolphotofestival.org

It’s well worth supporting, and it’s well worth celebrating.