CENTRAL is Birmingham’s annual photobook festival.
The event brings together a wide ranging group of publishers, talks and exhibits all centred around the photobook.



























INFO
23-24 October 2026


EH Smith Design Centre
312 – 314 Bradford St, 
Birmingham, B5 6ET

Friday 10-7pm
Saturday 10-5pm

Friday Afterparty:
[Readings by Borough Inc. & Music by Alex Astbury]

PUBLISHERS

Antiphone Editions
Borough Inc.
Besides Press
First Fold Books
Gulf Photo Plus
No Go press 
Out of place books 
Overlapse 
Oval Press
Photomafia 
Raft
Stanley/Barker 
Shire Press
Silvergrass press
SODA (MMU)
Yang Zhou  
Village 
GRAIN
Emmerson Press
Birmingham Architects Assoc.
TALKS 

World of Mirrors: Photographs, texts and time travel
Lillian Wilkie 

The Blindest Man 
Emily Graham 

Photobook Practice 
Jermaine Francis

Photobooks: community and collaboration 
Hark1karan X Raj Dhunna 

Errare:  The photobook as art object 
Chris Neophytou with Flora Jay (BIFA) 

Stutter: fragments from 
a history of British photography 
John Spinks 

Paradise Place 
Stuart Whipps 

EXHIBITS

Island Studies: photobooks from cyprus
Curated by Gamze Sanli

Stutter: fragments from a history 
of British photography
Curated by John Spinks

Future Photobook Award
Curated by Matt Johnston 
All talks & exhibits are FREE
No booking required 

INSTA ←


UPCOMING EVENTS -

CENTRAL Photobook Club. 
A regular informal event which will host guest speakers delving into some of their favourite photobooks Coming soon






CENTRAL is an event that is not just about buying and selling photobooks but more about sharing, learning and engaging with the photobook; centring a community of makers, collectors, researchers & new audiences.





PUBLISHERSCENTRAL brings together nationally and internationally recognised photobook publishers from across the UK and beyond alongside local and regional publishers and makers.

The photobook fair showcases a diverse range of publishing practices, from high-production, cloth-bound books to experimental book objects, as well as the handmade, the stapled, the photocopied —and everything in between.





TALKS
Our programme of talks focuses on the photobook, highlighting the intersections of photography, print, design and materials. Talks cover individual photobooks, Publishing Practice and photobook Histories.


 



EXHIBITS
Through our curated photobook exhibitions, we aim to situate the photobook within an art-historical context, highlighting its important role in art history and opening up new avenues for engagement and academic inquiry.

Each year our programme includes displays that look at Birmingham and the wider Midlands region, drawing attention to local historical and contemporary practices.













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