2025, FORMAT25 Conference, International Photography Festival, Derby, UK

Format25 Conference at the Quad in Derby, UK., with the theme Conflicted.

FORMAT is organised by and is a partnership between QUAD and the University of Derby. The festival is supported by Arts Council England, Derby City Council and UK and international partners. The FORMAT25 Open Call is supported by our generous partners including Picter, Spectrum Photographic, Genesis Imaging, Lishui International Photography Festival and the British Journal of Photography.

Linda Alterwitz will discuss her project in which she intended to address the politically charged global medical crisis of COVID-19. The project involved the use of a high-resolution thermal camera to photograph the arms of participants after vaccination. This has resulted in images over 130 participants, each image documenting and creating a visual trace of each person’s reaction to the vaccine. Rather than providing a simple scientific record, the ethereal images serve as evocative statements about individuality and our collective humanity. The presentation will discuss how the project was intended to avoid being a polemic statement, but rather to cause pause for thought, to ignite conversation, and promote a mutual consideration for the actions and feeling of others, during a period when the health and wellbeing for all of us was such a contentious and divisive issue.