Beyond the Photograph

What happens when the visual identity for a photography festival is built without photographs?

For the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026, dipshop developed a visual identity based on three phenomena that are usually present in photographs but rarely become the subject themselves: depth of field, lens flares and burned film. Rather than treating them as technical side effects, we turned them into the building blocks of the festival’s graphic language. The resulting identity shifts attention away from photographic representation and towards the medium’s overlooked elements—those that shape how we see images, yet often remain invisible. This approach emerged from the curatorial framework’s interest in voices and perspectives that exist outside dominant narratives. By elevating photography’s peripheral phenomena, the identity proposes another way of looking at the medium itself.

The 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026, titled “Alliance, Infinity, Love – in the Face of the Other,” celebrates the creative potential of connection, infinity, and love while also calling for responsibility toward the Other.The festival aims to highlight a broad spectrum of photographic voices—from established to emerging artists, from widely recognized to overlooked perspectives that challenge dominant narratives, bring forgotten stories back into focus, and build bridges across social and cultural divides.

When?
June 5th–September 22th, 2026

Finissage 
September 20th

Visual Identity
dipshop