Polly Irungu

Polly Irungu curates a selection of work from Black Women Photographers members, bringing the organization's global community into the festival space to create a dedicated exhibition that introduces attendees to voices they may not yet know.

Past grant recipients and judges from the Flickr x Black Women Photographers program gather to reflect on the work the grant has supported and what sustained investment in underrepresented voices looks like in practice. A candid conversation about community, visibility, and the long-term impact of intentional funding in photography.

Polly built Black Women Photographers in direct response to the excuses she kept hearing from editors and brands about why they weren't hiring more diversely.Polly built Black Women Photographers in direct response to the excuses she kept hearing from editors and brands about why they weren't hiring more diversely. Drawing from her experience on both sides of that conversation, as a working photographer and as a photo editor, she gives attendees a practical framework for navigating the industry, marketing themselves across markets, and building the kind of visibility that leads to real work.

For nearly three years, Polly Irungu served as the first official photo editor for Vice President Kamala Harris, helping to capture and curate the visual narrative of a historic administration. She walks through what it means to document power at the highest level, from the editorial decisions that shape public memory to the unseen moments that never made the feed.

A panel with photographers who have documented history as it's being made. Drawing on academic work exploring how images drive social movements, the moderator guides panelists through questions about access, ethics, and the power of the image to shape collective memory.

From the darkroom to the director's chair, women have long been shaping the visual language of our world. This panel brings together four artists who are doing exactly that, each in her own way.