According to Vilma Samulionytė, the head of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Union organizing the symposium, the event taking place in Nida from September 14-20 has been the largest photography event in the country for several years and holds an important place on the European map.
“This year marks the 200th anniversary of photography as a medium worldwide. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured the first photograph, and around the same time, this invention was patented in France. We will pay special attention to this unique anniversary – various lectures will explore the history of photography in the world and Lithuania. Of course, photography enthusiasts will also look forward to artist presentations, lectures, and exhibitions in various spaces in Nida,” says V. Samulionytė.
Focus on the 200th anniversary of the invention of photography
One of the guests of the photography symposium – Florian Ebner, who heads the Photography Department at the Pompidou Center in Paris, will examine the impact of artificial intelligence and raise questions about the future of photography. His lecture will be based on a research project conducted by artist Hito Steyerl.
Independent art critic and exhibition curator Monika Krikštopaitytė will present an analysis of various historical texts and articles about photography in the lecture “Changed gaze: additions and problems in the history of photography”.
The first steps of photography in Lithuania (1839-1855) will be reviewed by photography historian, Doctor of Humanities (Art Studies) Dainius Junevičius. The invention of photography reached Lithuania shortly after Louis Daguerre improved and presented N. Niépce’s method in Paris in 1839. In the autumn of that year, photography was already being done in Verkiai using Daguerre’s apparatus.
A lecture dedicated to the history of photography will also be given by Guinevere Ras, curator of the Netherlands Photo Museum in Rotterdam. She will talk about the cyanotype process, which lies on the margins of the photography medium.
Recognized guests from abroad
As every year, prominent figures from the world of photography will come to the Nida symposium. One of the most anticipated guests is Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov, known for his candid, often provocative photographs of everyday life in Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine.
Oleksandr Hliadelov is also expected to arrive; since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he has been photographing this war and its consequences. His photographs have been used by international organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Global Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations AIDS program (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
A unique technique – direct scratching on the surface of photographs – will be presented by Raphaëlle Peria, laureate of the prestigious 2025 “BMW Art Makers” program and an artist working in Paris.
Paulien Olheten from the Netherlands will also come to the Nida symposium; she travels by bicycle along the Iron Curtain routes – through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, and Hungary, all the way to the Black Sea. Alternately holding bicycle handlebars and a film camera, she captures details of life. In 2018, P. Olheten won the New Discoveries Award at the Arles Photography Festival “Rencontres d’Arles”.
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Three exhibitions – in different locations in Nida
Traditionally, “NIDA. Meeting Photography” will be greeted by several exhibitions displayed in different locations in Nida. On the steps of the writer Thomas Mann Memorial Museum, the exhibition “Notes by the Sea” by symposium resident, documentary photographer Simon Chang, who lives in Ljubljana, will be presented. It is a kind of diary of life in Nida – a collection of people, emotions, and quiet discoveries.
At the Curonian Spit History Museum, a series of photographic works “White Trees” by Andrius Repšys, laureate of the 2025 Neringa Mayor’s Award, will be exhibited, reflecting on the relationship between birds and humans living in the Curonian Spit. A. Repšys was one of the first in Lithuania to systematically develop drone photography mastery.
At the Mizgiriai Artists’ House, the exhibition “From the Seminar Archives” will open – a summary of works by women photographers preserved in the archives of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Union.
Artist presentations and creative workshops
More than ten artists from various countries will present their work at the international photography symposium. Besides the already mentioned R. Peria, P. Olheten, and O. Hliadelov, personal works and insights will be shared by Marge Monko from Tallinn, Diana Tamane, who won the prestigious “Rencontres d’Arles” award and lives and works between Estonia, Latvia, and Portugal, Lithuanian photography legend Violeta Bubelytė, Snieguolė Michelkevičiūtė, Czech Libuše Jarcovjáková, and Latvian Inta Ruka.
In the artist presentation program, artist Visvaldas Morkevičius, working in an expanded visual field combining photography with installation, video art, CGI, and sculptural methods, will invite attendees to explore his creative investigations. His work is experimental – he uses various media as tools for cognition rather than fixed forms.
Traditionally, during the first days of the photographers’ symposium, three creative workshops for photography professionals will take place. One of them will be led by symposium resident S. Chang, who will invite participants to reflect on their photography practice based on the idea of personal space, understood as the intimate distance between the photographer, the photographed object, and the narrative itself.
Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize laureate Gintautas Trimakas will introduce the world of alternative photography – photography without a camera. He will offer several historical photographic processes: cyanotype, gum bichromate, and chromatype. In the third workshop, independent curator and founder and art director of AVARIE publishing house Giuliana Prucca will focus on book design and publishing. The number of participants in all workshops is very limited.
The international photography symposium “NIDA. Meeting Photography” will take place from September 14-20 in Nida.
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