A trip to the future: the best of Belfast photo festival – in pictures

The Belfast Photo Festival returns for 2026 as the largest annual photography festival in the UK and Ireland, running from 4–30 June at venues across the city. This year's theme, 'Horizons: Visions of Futures Unknown,' challenges photographers and audiences to explore technological, environmental, geopolitical, and AI-driven boundaries in the medium. Featured works include Laura Pannack's 'The Journey Home,' Florence Goupil's documentation of a Peruvian protection agent, Toby Smith's participatory installation confronting the collapse of mechanical photography, and Lean Lui's allegorical 'The White Barracks' examining power and patriarchy.

“We are passing the Pillars of Hercules”. The artist Luca Vitone sends us the logbook of his sailing voyage to Saint Helena

“Stiamo superando le Colonne d’Ercole”. L’artista Luca Vitone ci manda il diario di bordo del suo viaggio a vela verso Sant’Elena

Italian artist Luca Vitone has embarked on a sailing voyage from the port of La Línea, near Gibraltar, toward the island of Saint Helena, as part of his project "Pro Tempore." After six years of preparation, Vitone and his crew—including commander Pier Bruno Morelli, sound engineer Alessandro Daniele, navigator Pietro Bertozzi, cinematographer Elvio Manuzzi, and writer Carlo Antonelli—set sail on the cutter Adriatica. The journey is supported by the Italian Council program, promoted by the Ministry of Culture's Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea, and by the Fondazione Oelle in Catania, led by president Ornella Laneri.

Saudi artists explore faith in Hajj exhibit held in car showroom

A car showroom in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was transformed into a Hajj-themed art gallery for the exhibition "Where the Journey Begins," held from May 4 to 14. Organized by Genesis Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Co. and the Darb Al-Fann foundation, the show featured over 25 artworks selected from more than 100 entries by a committee of well-known Saudi artists. The works, created by modern and contemporary Saudi artists including Sultan Othman, Mohammed Jamal, and Majed Baswad, explore the spiritual stages of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, from Makkah through ritual sites to Madinah.