MOMENTUM

MWSPE Regional Conference

- Columbus, Ohio   |   October 15 - October 17, 2026

Call for Proposals due by August 7th APPLY Momentum is not only about speed or progress. It is what carries us forward, what stays with us as we move, and what resists or redirects our motion. It builds through repetition, collaboration, and sustained attention. Momentum can mean moving forward while looking back, building from history while questioning it. It emerges from pressure, collective effort, and the slow accumulation of work over time. Momentum is not only shaped by what precedes it, but also by what it makes possible ahead, how present actions shape what comes next. The Midwest Chapter of the Society for Photographic Education invites artists, educators, students, and scholars to submit proposals for its 2026 Regional Conference, Momentum, in Columbus, Ohio. Photography is shaped by movement and change, but also by persistence. Images circulate rapidly, technologies evolve, and ideas build upon one another. At the same time, histories, institutions, and habits continue to shape how and why we make work. Momentum exists in this tension—between acceleration and pause, between being pulled forward and pushing against. This conference offers an opportunity to consider how momentum appears in your practice, teaching, and community. Where does energy build in your work? Where does it slow, shift, or redirect? What are you responding to, and what are you trying to carry forward? We welcome proposals in the following categories: • State of the Medium • Collaboration and Community Engagement • Technology and Strategies • AI • Client-Facing Practices • Fine Art • Photography and the Classroom • Social Justice • Identity and Representation We welcome a range of formats, including image-maker presentations, panel discussions, workshops, lectures, student presentations, and experimental approaches. We encourage submissions that reflect diverse perspectives and experiences, and that thoughtfully engage with the role of photography in a changing world. Join us in Columbus to share work, exchange ideas, and consider how we build, sustain, and challenge momentum in photography today! Provide a 500-700 word proposal. Proposals due by August 7th Within your proposal, please include the following: Topic or theme: which broad category and specific topic does your proposal address? Duration: what time block best suits your needs? Panels and presentations run on 30- and 60-minute blocks, while workshops may need up to 3 hours. What is the ideal amount of time for your topic? We will do our best to honor timing requests.  Presenters: how many presenters or panelists? If you are proposing a panel, do you have specific panelists in mind, or would you like Midwest SPE to invite appropriate parties to participate in this discussion? Audience: will your talk or workshop be open to all members, or is it aligned more with a specific group, such as college students, high school educators, or young professionals? For workshop proposals, please add: Participants: how many participants would you ideally invite to attend?  Spatial needs: will you need access to anything specific – computers, sinks, the outdoors, etc.? Will you need to operate within multiple spaces (i.e. classroom and the outdoors)? Material needs: what supplies will you need to host this workshop? Will participants need to bring anything with them (i.e. a certain file type, a camera, appropriate clothing)? Support needs: do you need an assistant or additional set of hands? If so, do you have someone specific in mind or would you like Midwest SPE to aid in matching you with an assistant?  APPLY

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Visual Currents

2026 SPESC Photography Conference

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock - Little Rock, Arkansas   |   October 23 - October 24, 2026

We're thrilled to announce that the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host the 2026 SPE South Central Chapter Conference! Join us for two days of talks, exhibitions, and community events celebrating photography and education in the region. This year's conference will feature acclaimed photographer Todd Hido as keynote speaker, along with an exhibition of his work and that of Angela Strassheim, plus a juried members and student exhibition at UA Little Rock. 2026 Honored Educator: Call for Nominations Visual Currents: Call for Proposals

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2026 SPE West Chapter Conference

Sacramento

Sacramento State University - Sacramento, CA   |   November 05 - November 08, 2026

Shared (Un)realities: Photography, Truth, and Meaning in 2026 In 2026, photography exists within a fractured public sphere. Artificial intelligence generates images at scale. Politicians and public figures circulate demonstrably false visual and verbal narratives. Social media platforms algorithmically shape perception. Audiences inhabit parallel information ecosystems with few shared reference points. The 2026 SPE West Fall Conference invites artists, educators, scholars, and technologists to examine photography's evolving relationship to truth, meaning, and quality in this environment. How do photographs construct meaning today? How do they function amid algorithmic feeds and attention economies? What does photographic "truth" mean at a time when images are shared endlessly, easily generated? What constitutes quality—formally, ethically, politically—when belief itself appears polarized? This conference brings together critical discourse and technical engagement. One day will focus on hands-on workshops addressing contemporary tools and processes—from alternative photographic methods to AI workflows and hybrid video practices. A second day will foreground presentations, panels, and discussions that interrogate photography's epistemological, political, and aesthetic stakes today. Call for Proposals: Papers, Panels, and Presentations Submission Deadline: Sunday, July 12, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.Presentation Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026 Photography has long claimed proximity to truth. Today, that claim is unstable. Generative AI produces plausible fictions. Political discourse normalizes visible falsehoods. Social media platforms distribute images through opaque algorithmic systems. Audiences increasingly inhabit distinct visual and informational environments, with diminishing shared reference points. What is the status of photographic truth? How do images construct, distort, or stabilize meaning? What formal strategies encourage sustained looking in an age of accelerated consumption? What constitutes quality in a field saturated with images? How do we teach critical literacy when belief itself is polarized? How do photographers critique fractured publics while participating in them? We welcome proposals that engage these questions historically, theoretically, pedagogically, or through studio practice. Possible areas of inquiry include: Photography and post-truth politics Attention, duration, and resistance to scroll culture The place of physical exhibitions in a digital world Image verification, authorship, and authenticity Algorithmic feeds and the fragmentation of public discourse Photography and the disappearance of shared cultural channels The definition and relevance of "quality" in contemporary photographic practice Pedagogical models for critical visual literacy Documentary ethics in the age of AI Possible formats: 20–40-minute presentations 60–90 minute panels (3–4 presenters) Roundtable discussions Interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged! Proposal Guidelines Individual Presentations: Title Abstract (300–500 words) 5–10 images Brief bio (150 words max) Panels: Panel title 500-word overview Individual abstracts (250 words each) Short bios for all participants We will look for conceptual rigor, clarity of argument, and relevance to the conference theme. Submit here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUjuS5_p-Qz1YN7dCa5RSJHGIt3zE2ELiTqYQFFGBbmFMe_A/viewform

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