Summit Photo returns to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) for the second time this summer to celebrate the power of environmental and humanitarian photography and filmmaking. Running from Friday 17 – Sunday 19 July, the three-day event in London and online will bring together some of the world’s leading photojournalists, filmmakers and explorers, along with artists and humanitarians, to explore how photography and film can drive positive change and confront the defining ecological and human challenges of our time.
Open to all photography lovers, curious about the environment or climate-conscious, the event aims to be an antidote to eco-anxiety. The packed programme of talks, panels discussions, artist presentations, film screenings and Q&A sessions with guests, including Mandy Barker, Simon Townsley and Shahidul Alam, will offer visitors the opportunity to hear inspiring stories from around the world, join the conversation and discover first-hand how visual media is making a positive difference in the world today.
Topics to be explored include efforts to combat biodiversity and habitat loss, the link between conservation and Indigenous knowledge, the climate crisis, migration, global health, and more. You’ll enjoy a unique chance to hear stories of change at global and local levels, get an inside look at the process behind speakers’ work, reflect on the challenges of translating documentation into tangible action, ask questions and leave feeling empowered and inspired to make a difference. The full programme can be viewed here.
Speakers at Summit Photo 2026 include National Geographic Explorers Bertie Gregory and Ciril Jazbec, 2025 Earth Photo Prize winner Lorenzo Poli, Director of the Photography Ethics Centre Savannah Dodd, photographers and artists like Rhiannon Adam and Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo, as well as advocates like Greenpeace UK co-leader Areeba Hamid and OnePlanet.com founder Pooran Desai.
Summit Photo will also invite artists to reflect on the history of geographic photography and spotlight narratives historically ignored in records. Artists Jermaine Francis and Deborah Ireland will share their ongoing interpretive work using the Society’s Collections – which hold over two million photographs and artefacts – to document the continuation of the trade of enslaved people following its abolition in Britain.
Albanian-Italian photographer Erdiola Kanda Mutsafaj will also present the work in her ongoing Hidden Narratives residency, a collaboration between the RGS, Photoworks and the Italian Cultural Institute in London. In this year-long project, Mustafaj is immersing herself in the Society’s photographic archive and bringing it into conversation with her work meditating on memory, displacement, diaspora and the politics of image-making.
Other highlights of Summit Photo 2026 include a discussion with six-time World Press Photo Award winner Gideon Mendel and screening of his documentary ASH, shot in the aftermath of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Key event details
- Summit Photo takes place on 17, 18 and 19 July at the RGS in London
- Day passes (in-person and online) for Summit Photo are £15 for RGS, Royal Photographic Society and Photoworks members and £25 for non-members
- Refreshments throughout the day, including barista-made hot drinks, as well as pizza and salad for lunch are included with a Day Pass, plus weekend access to the 2026 Earth Photo exhibition in the RGS Pavilion
- Tickets are on sale now and can be booked here
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