Irish Photo Network Symposium

Exploring photography in the digital age, this event will bring together artists, curators and photography organisations from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and will address some of the most urgent questions facing the medium today, from AI, disinformation and post-truth image cultures to ethics, identity, and representation.

Part of the Irish Photo Network’s 2026 cross-border programme ‘Altered Images:  Photography & Truth in the Digital Age’, the symposium reflects a shared commitment to strengthening North-South collaboration, supporting artists’ development and creating space for critical conversation around photography’s changing role in society.

Across three panel discussions, contributors from Belfast Exposed, Belfast Photo Festival, Source Magazine and Photo Museum Ireland will be joined by invited artists and practitioners to consider how photography shapes, distorts and challenges our understanding of reality. The programme will also look at the pressures facing artists working in an image-saturated culture, the social and psychological impact of visual media, and the possibilities for a more ethical and inclusive photographic practice across the island of Ireland.

This event forms part of a wider Irish Photo Network programme that includes a cross-border artist commission, mentoring, strategic planning and research into artists’ needs and wellbeing.

Belfast Exposed Panellists

Deirdre Boyle-Robb

Deirdre Robb is Director of Belfast Exposed and a leading advocate for the use of photography as a tool for social change, wellbeing and recovery. With more than 25 years of experience in the arts and cultural sector, she has championed programmes that place creativity at the heart of community engagement, peacebuilding and mental health support. Under her leadership, Belfast Exposed has developed one of the most extensive therapeutic photography programmes in the UK and Ireland, working with individuals affected by trauma, isolation, mental ill-health, disability and social exclusion. Deirdre completed specialist training in Therapeutic Photography with internationally recognised practitioner Neil Gibson and has overseen the delivery of hundreds of projects supporting thousands of participants. Her work demonstrates how photography can provide a safe and accessible means of self-expression, reflection and connection, empowering people to tell their stories, build resilience and improve wellbeing through creative practice.

Mervyn Smyth

Mervyn Smyth is Engagement Manager at Belfast Exposed and leads the organisation’s award-winning therapeutic photography programmes. Working closely with Deirdre Robb, he has played a central role in developing and delivering innovative projects that use photography to support mental health, recovery and social connection. With extensive experience in community arts, facilitation and wellbeing-focused practice, Mervyn has worked with people affected by trauma, addiction, bereavement, disability, social isolation and poor mental health. His approach is rooted in the belief that photography can create opportunities for reflection, dialogue and personal growth, enabling participants to explore their experiences in a safe and creative environment. Through partnerships with health trusts, community organisations and specialist support services across Northern Ireland, Mervyn has helped hundreds of individuals build confidence, strengthen relationships and discover new pathways to recovery through photography.

Julia Healy

Julia Healy is a visual artist whose practice explores systemic power dynamics, memory and psychological healing. Drawing on her background in photojournalism, her current work uses therapeutic photography methodologies to navigate and document her own mental health recovery. Her latest project employs artificial intelligence as a forensic tool to reconstruct evidence of past events, combining archival material, personal reflection and contemporary perspectives to create a visual dialogue between the 1980s and the present day. Through this process, she examines how society has evolved—and at times failed to evolve—in its relationship with power, accountability and personal agency.

Julia is a graduate of Belfast Exposed’s Train the Trainers: Intensive in Therapeutic Photography programme, led by Mervyn Smyth, Sam Robb and C,O’Brien . Reflecting on the experience, she describes it as transformative:

“Train the Trainers was, and continues to be, a transformative experience that has helped guide me on my journey of reconnecting with photography. My life has radically changed as a direct result of participating in the course. I am so grateful and so supported.”

Her experience demonstrates the profound impact that therapeutic photography can have, not only as a creative practice, but as a catalyst for personal healing, self-discovery and renewed connection with the world.