Founded in 1990, the Hereford Photography Festival has presented a broad range of international photography for fifteen consecutive years. The UK’s only annual photography festival, it has never lacked ambition or serious intent. Its mission is to promote Hereford as a centre of excellence in photography through an annual festival, supported by a year round programme of events, that engages and inspires local and national audiences and promotes photography as a critical cultural practice.

It is based on the belief that photography is an enjoyable, intelligent, and accessible way of visually approaching and understanding the world. By combining exhibitions and commissions from contemporary photographers, workshops, innovative community projects and opportunities for debate on current issues, the festival aims to promote photography which comments on and raises questions about cultural and social issues.

The festival realises the educational development opportunities which exist in photography and seeks to show the work of international, national and regional photographers, including students and amateurs, in a way that is accessible to audiences from all walks of life. It also brings works from all over the world and from various cultures to Hereford - which, although rapidly changing, is comparatively monocultural.

The festival works closely with local communities and educational organisations to provide opportunities that allow people to experience photography both as a powerful form of communication and as a means of highlighting regional issues. The aim is also to support the development of locally produced work to be shown alongside images from photographers from a wide range of countries and cultural backgrounds, and also some of the world’s most acclaimed photographers.