grassroots photography festival

photoILKLEY is a grassroots celebration of photography’s unique power to connect, to question, and to see the world anew. ​

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HUMAN:NATURE can be interpreted in many ways: as a conversation between humans and nature, as an exploration of how we live within the more-than-human world, and as a reflection on human nature itself. The theme opens space to think about connection, dependence, tension, care, and contradiction.

From street corners to riverbanks and kitchen windowsills, we invite work that traces how people, places, animals, objects, and environments shape one another. We welcome projects that look at care, conflict, coexistence, and repair — asking how our choices affect ecosystems, communities, and everyday life, and how those worlds, in turn, affect us.

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Documentary, portrait, experimental, and participatory projects are all welcome, including reworked archives and family albums. Presented across everyday spaces in Ilkley, these images will open up conversations about belonging, responsibility, and what it means to live well with place, with each other, and with the earth.

 

We are also committed to making space for younger voices. Our Young Photographer Competition invites children and young people to share their own visions of Ilkley and the wider world, offering an important platform for emerging talent and fresh perspectives.