Photography as Relational Practice

In the context of the laboratory, relation is understood as:
A crossing toward the other A voluntary act of stepping into interdisciplinary spaces of exchange and empathy among individuals and communities, where mindfulness and implication are essential. Drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s notion of dissensus, the laboratory understands artistic practice as a way of making visible what dominant narratives tend to hide or exclude.
A risk of openness A willingness to relinquish control and expose one’s work to re-readings, reinterpretations, and unforeseen transitions, rather than offering a single, fixed answer.
Unexpected connections An urge to “connect what cannot be—or is not expected to be—connected,” paraphrasing Hal Foster.
Errantry Following Édouard Glissant, relation is approached as an errant mode of thinking and making—one that shapes, questions, and problematizes diverse experiences rather than resolving them.
Embodied attention An openness to different audiences and media, as well as to a more somatic mode of experience which, as Alexandra Pirici suggests, “leaves space for listening, embodied attention, rhythmic sensibility, and feeling—space, time, life, and movement.”

By self-referencing our shared encounter in Athens, we will explore the common ground, limits, and potential of our collaboration in order to:
Unlearn and re-conceive our individual projects and creative vocabularies, introducing new concepts and forms of theorization.
Address, challenge, imagine, and reenact how our projects can engage with communities and the world beyond themselves.
Invent new modes of project development, collaboration, and audience engagement.
Foreground new systems of activation and purpose for photography today—beyond the boundaries of the photographic community—questioning what is commonly taken for granted as a completed photographic project circulating solely within the photography world.

The laboratory is open to Greek and international artists and photographers with an ongoing project at a mature stage, who are open to rethinking their practice and interested in working with communities. It also welcomes visual artists, practitioners, scholars, and educators working in lens-based culture who share similar interests.
While participants may bring existing projects, the laboratory is not project-driven; it focuses instead on questions surrounding photographic practice, the medium itself, and its modes of engagement with the world.
Language: English.

The program takes place annually during the Athens Photo Festival in June. Schedule: 10:00–20:00
Duration: 4 days
Location: Athens

Apply through the online entry form.
The lab is open to a maximum of 15 participants and places will be allocated based on the quality of submitted projects.
Deadline: June 2026…++

The laboratory laboratory is curated by Natasha Christia and organised by Athens Photo Festival and the Hellenic Center of Photography.