Truth Decay - Photography exhibition scheduled for 2026.

We invite photographers and photographic artists to submit work for ‘Truth Decay’. An exhibition that interrogates the erosion of truth in contemporary society.

The media environment we live in is driven by algorithmic bias and the commodification of attention. News outlets prioritise spectacle and outrage over verification, while our once dependable form of evidence, photography, has become yet another tool of misinformation.

With the democratisation of AI tools, the ever-increasing demand for clicks, and the weaponisation of emotion, does photography still hold the capacity to disclose truth? Can the photographic image still communicate critical insight?

We seek submissions that offer provocative and poetic interpretations of how truth is seen, staged, manipulated, lost, and rediscovered in the contemporary world.

We welcome submissions that engage with themes such as:

• the role of media and propaganda
• tribalism, community and ideology as identity
• perception and deception
• digital alteration and authenticity
• surveillance, censorship and visibility
• personal vs collective truths
• memory, myth and the reliability of images

Truth Decay will be hosted at 44AD Gallery in Bath in October 2026.

 

Eligibility

Open to emerging and established photographers worldwide. All genres and styles are welcome — documentary, fine art, conceptual, staged, experimental, photography/music/poetry collaborations, and beyond.

 

Where and how…

Please send any image submissions to: exhibitions@photobath.co.uk

We will have a ‘work in progress’ page on our website for the project.
Final submissions will need to be submitted by 30th May, 2026.

Please submit images at the approximate size of 1920 X 1080.

A small paragraph about the image, title, and name of photographer should accompany the image.

 

This triptych centres on Deborah, a homeless woman I came to know through regular conversations and photographs on the streets of Bath. She was an unforgettable character—spirited, witty, and always eager to strike a pose, insisting on presenting herself as though she were on a fashion shoot rather than living rough.

Across these three images, themes of homelessness, mental health, gender expression, and personal identity converge. In Deborah, the tension between appearance and reality—between how we see people and how they wish to be seen—becomes sharply visible. These contradictions mirror the wider notion of truth decay: the erosion of nuance and complexity in how society interprets human lives.

My strongest connection is to the shot of her curled in a doorway—legs bruised, skin marked, dirt embedded from another night outside—yet completely focused on her makeup. It wasn’t vanity. It was survival. A moment of control in a life that offered none. These photographs are not tidy, and neither was she.

– Daz Smith