Viewpoints Photography Festival 2025
Venues across Manchester & the Central Hub: School of Digital Arts & All Saints Campus
6-10 May 2025
FREE
Viewpoints Photography Festival returns to Manchester from May 6-10, showcasing the work of students and staff from BA (Hons) and MA Photography at the School of Digital Arts (SODA). The festival features a series of public exhibitions and events happening across Greater Manchester, with a central hub at SODA & the All Saints Campus.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Group Exhibitions: 7-10 May – Various Venues
We present a series of student group exhibitions that aim to challenge the traditional boundaries of
photography. Second Year Photography Students have been tasked with exploring new materials,
processes, and technologies to push the limits of the medium. Through their work, they question
photography’s form, context, and potential. Join us at various locations across Greater Manchester from
7 – 10 of May 2025: Sonder | When you are this small… | Loose Ends | Hippocampus \ Tension
Portfolio Event: Reviews | Showcase: 9 May – Righton Building (atrium)
Take a first look at the exciting work from our soon-to-be graduates. This event provides a sneak peek into the diverse and innovative projects of our Third Year BA Hons Photography students ahead of their
Degree Show in June. Explore their physical and digital portfolios, and experience the materiality of their
boxes, books, prints, and more. Reviews will start from 10:30am (for 3rd year students). Showcase of all the portfolios will be from 4-6pm (open to the public).
TAP 05: 9th May- The Salutation (upstairs gallery)
A display celebrating the photographic community at Manchester Metropolitan University – students,
graduates, and staff—along with the fifth instalment of the student gallery, ‘TAP.’ Turn the Tap On is a
student-led initiative providing a platform for students and graduates across disciplines. TAP has hosted
a successful series of events and exhibitions at the Salutation in Manchester on the last Friday of each
month. Artist Talk (speaker tbc): 6pm – Exhibition (Private View): 7pm
1×1 Exhibition – Photography Staff & MA Students: May 6-9 – Lowry Building (Vertical Gallery)
Presented throughout The Vertical Gallery (The Lowry Building) are works by SODA’s academic
Photography staff and MA students. 1×1 sparks conversations by highlighting one piece from each artist,
exploring their work in relation to others. With works at different stages of development, the exhibition
showcases a broad spectrum of staff and student research and expertise.
I need to start a garden by Anna Marsden: 9 May – All Saints Park
Anna Marsden’s current and ongoing installation project, I need to start a garden, is a study of stains,
feminine identity and the haunted nature of houses. Her experimental and material photographic practice is rooted within the analogue and haptic as it explores bruises, marks and soulstuff. Tangible and bodily, Marsden’s process weaves relics with souvenirs, echoes and the world on the side of shadows. By making herself into a texture to be felt between finger and thumb, Marsden’s installation brings the privacy of home into the public sphere, playing with the relationship between the camera and the self. Are we at the mercy of photography? Where does the self end and the process begin? As the work yields to the home and the stains seep on the washing line, is the domestic a trap or are we spared?
End of Year 1st Year Showcase: 7-9 May – SODA Ground floor & First floor
1st year students at will be showcasing the work from their recent module s exploring creative making
(archives, science/art, darkroom / landscapes, AI & the city) and digital media technologies (such as
photogrammetry, 3D printing and video making.)
Zine Making with Marcus Grange: 6 May – Lowry Building 3.08
Join us on 6 May at 12:30pm for a zine making workshop delivered by 3rd Year Student, Marcus Grange. In this workshop, participants will explore pareidolia and audience interaction in zine making. Marcus will
introduce the concept of pareidolia, guiding participants on how to incorporate shapes and forms to
engage viewers in their work.
(open to students) to sign up contact: Marcus Grange / Sign Ups available on BA
Photography Moodle
How can we work with/in institutions in anti-racist ways? | A Particular Reality (APR) Talk: 7 May – SODA Cinema
Join Audrey Albert and Sarah Howe in an informal conversation around ways in which to work
with and in institutions in ant-racist ways. They will be drawing on their own practices and work within APR to share experiences, statistics, good practice and open discussion to help unpick and think through your questions and concerns.
Badge Making as Activism Drop-in Workshop: 8 May – SODA 1.13
This workshop will explore the concept of soft activism to describe daily forms of activism which sit inside
our work as artists. It allows us to recognise our roles and responsibilities as artists in the global political
landscape, avoid burnout, and survive as artists who engage with activism. This workshop will be
facilitated by APR Members from Kingston University Students and artist JJ Chang.
Sign up on Eventbrite.
