Midwest Chapter Conference Overview

MOMENTUM

When October 15-17, 2026
Where Online Event

Call for Proposals due by August 7th

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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? 

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