2024 SPE Annual Conference Overview

New Realities

When March 21-23, 2024
Where Marriott St. Louis Grand, St. Louis, Missouri

The photographic arts are increasingly diverse and dynamic fields, encompassing everything from traditional film to cutting-edge digital technologies, including: immersive virtual reality, image recognition, text-to-image artificial intelligence, and more. With the widespread availability of digital cameras and smartphones, photography has become more accessible and democratized than ever before, allowing people from all walks of life to capture, edit, and share images with ease.

Rapid changes in technology have always played a significant role in shaping how photographs are made, consumed, and understood. Today, advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning are bringing new tools and techniques to photographers, while introducing myriad ethical questions regarding truth, authorship, the potential for misinformation, and the nature of artmaking itself. At the same time, there is a growing resurgence in the medium's use for addressing social and
environmental issues, as photographers make images to raise awareness and bring attention to important causes. The future of photography is being shaped simultaneously by technological innovation and a rekindled desire for a more personal and authentic approach to making pictures.

SPE invites members and non-members to submit proposals that interrogate our New Realities; the evolving social, political, and technological circumstances that confront us in our daily photographic and pedagogical practices. Successful proposals will embrace the expanding diversity of the photographic medium,
including: immersive visual storytelling, interdisciplinary research, intersectional thinking, and novel experimental practices. We encourage proposals that push the boundaries of our traditional sessions and invite audience participation, including process workshops, teaching demonstrations, and writing seminars. We
are eager to see proposals that expand, re-define, and challenge our notions of lens-based media, and how they are practiced, taught, and learned.

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Call for Proposals*

• Immersive Experiences/ Workshops: a 90–120 minute
session for hands-on or writing workshops.
Examples include alternative processes or AI or VR
software/hardware workshops.

• Panel: a 90-minute presentation by up to three panelists
and a moderator.

• Lecture: a 40-minute presentation on a historical topic,
theoretical concern, or another artist's work.

• Imagemaker: a 40-minute presentation by the artist about
their work. Some Imagemaker proposals will be selected to
be paired together for a Dialogic session of 2 artists giving
20-minute talks.

• Photo Frames: Great ideas in 18 minutes or less (think,
Ted Talk) Share your great idea with an interested audience.
Spark imagination, embrace creativity in new and exciting
ways. Keep it short and to the point. Make us think.

• Professional Development/Career Mentorship: a 40–90
minute session to assist members with career advancement
or creative practice expansion. Examples include: How to
Prepare a Teaching Dossier, How to Approach Galleries, etc.

• Student Proposals: a 20-minute presentation on the
student-artist's work, with a brief introduction to their
educational program. Open to students 16+.

*Only one proposal may be submitted per person.

Eligibility:

Current SPE membership is required for all participants of accepted
proposals. All presenters, co-presenters, panelists, and moderators
will have 10 days to join SPE or renew their membership once
acceptance notifications are sent out.

How to Submit:
SPE conference proposal submissions are conducted using
SlideRoom, an online review system. Applicants must register and
submit all required proposal materials on the SlideRoom website
using SPE's portal. Visit spenational.slideroom.com for details.

Selection Process:
All submissions are reviewed by a peer review panel recruited from
SPE Caucuses and Chapters on a rotating basis, as well as at-large
members, in a manner meant to ensure representation of all the
major disciplines and demographics of SPE. The 2024 Conference
Proposal Call for Entry will be open from April 1 to June 1, 2023.
Submission Deadline: June 1, 2023, 11:59 PM EDT .