Viewpoints Photography Festival
6.05.25 - 10.05.25

Viewpoints is a new Photography Festival in Manchester showcasing the work of students and staff from BA (Hons) and MA Photography at the School of Digital Arts.

With a series of public exhibitions and events happening across Greater Manchester, with a central hub at All Saints Campus, M15 6BH.

Map Poster Press Release


Oscar Wilkinson
 

Group Exhibitions / From 7th May

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 7th – 10th of May 2025:  

Sonder  | When you are this small… | Loose Ends | Hippocampus \ Tension

download here full list of events and map  

Across Manchester  (open to the public)
   Zine Making   | Marcus Grange  | 6th May, 12:30pm
                                                                               
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. Delivered by 3rd Year Student, Marcus Grange. 10 places available.

Tuesday 6th May, (open to students) to sign up contact: Marcus Grange  / Sign Ups available on BA Photography Moodle | Lowry Building / LW 3.08

How can we work with/in institutions in anti-racist ways? | A Particular Reality (APR) Talk | on 7th May

Join Audrey Albert and Sarah Howe (7th May) 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. 

SODA Cinema LT, Ground floor, School of Digital Arts - 7th May  (open to the public)
Badge Making as Activism Drop-in Workshop | 8th May
Soft activism through collage and badge making.

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.

SODA 1.13 (sign up on Eventbrite here),
(open to the public)
Portfolio Event: Reviews | Showcase \ 9th May


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: From 10am (for 3rd year students).
Showcase: 4-6pm (open to the public)

Righton Building (atrium) |  Manchester School of Art (open to public)
TAP 05 at the Salutation | 9th May, 6pm.

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 by Cian Oba-Smith: 6pm | (tickets on Eventbrite)
Exhibition (Private View): 7pm

The Salutation, Higher Chatham Street, M15 6ED

I need to start a garden | Anna Marsden | All Saints Park | 9th May  


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. Created in the domestic domain from start to finish, this project is a site specific work that explores the home as a trace, a stain itself that holds ghosts of women past.

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?

9th May, (all day) in All Saints Park, Manchester Metropolitan University, (open to the public)



1x1 | Exhibition | Photography Staff & MA Students  | 9th May, 6pm.

Presented throughout The Vertical Gallery (The Lowry Building) are works by SODA's academic Photography staff and MA students.

1x1 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.

Lowry Building 6-9th May 9-5pm (open to public)


End of Year  | 1st Year Showcase | 7th -9th May

1st year students 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.)

On the Screens of SODA Building ( M15 6ED) Ground and 1st floors. (open to the public)

Land Matters | 2nd year and 3rd year

Presented throughout SODA and The Lowry Building are student analogue works in progress developed during the residency Land Matters in Edale during April 2025, led by staff Alan Jones, Jonny Sutton and Sian Macfarlane.

SODA Ground Floor / The Lowry Building
6th-9th May  (open to public)
This festival has been curated by academic staff Sophie Lee and Polly Palmerini, with the aim to gather and connected all photographic and creative activities being presented at SODA in May 2025.