The third edition of Bristol Photo Festival, the international biennial of contemporary photography, will open this week with the theme “Time Machine.” The second edition successfully drew over 115,000 visitors, and this latest festival is expected to attract still more visitors.
Exhibitions and events will be staged across Bristol’s major visual arts institutions, as well as independent and unconventional spaces. Alongside the programme, the festival will deliver a series of long-term engagement and education projects, working with local communities to explore overlooked aspects of the city’s story.
Is time linear?
Entitled Time Machine, the third edition explores time as interwoven, where past, present, and future fold into one another. Rooted in these understandings of time, the festival considers our present as a porous convergence — threaded by memories, imagination, and anticipation.
In this context, photography becomes more than documentation; it is an active entanglement with time itself. Images are spaces where memory and possibility coexist, and where time accumulates, loops and returns.
As Alejandro Acín, Festival Director, explains, “This edition of the Festival explores how photography unsettles the idea of time as a single line. By bringing together international and local artists, the programme offers a constellation of fresh and thoughtful practices that engage with history, memory, and dreams of the future in layered and unexpected ways”.
He adds: “at a moment when the arts and cultural sector is facing significant challenges across the UK, this edition required new ways of thinking, working and collaborating. We are especially excited to partner with outstanding local and international cultural organisations whose shared commitment and support make the Festival possible.”
Embracing Bristol
Bristol Photo Festival is shaped by the movements, ideas, and histories of Bristol. The festival includes exhibitions, talks and workshops, bringing together leading international photographic voices in dialogue with the city’s many communities.
The opening week of Bristol Photo Festival will take place from 14 to 18 October 2026, with a wide range of talks and events organised across the city. All exhibitions will be open until 15 November 2026, with presentations in the main partner institutions continuing beyond this date. Full details are on the Bristol Photo Festival website.
The main cultural partners are: Arnolfini, Bristol Museums, Martin Parr Foundation, Watershed, the University of the West of England, Brigstow Institute, and the University of Bristol, alongside independent art and community organisations.
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