Signal Film and Media

West Coast Photo Festival

The first summer showcase will feature exhibitions online and in public spaces, as well as an open call competition.

We’re delighted to be able to relaunch the first major festival of photography and digital art in this part of the UK, a stretch of 100 miles of industrial and coastal towns lining the edge of Cumbria – England’s second largest county. Its wealthier and more ‘picturesque’ neighbour might be The Lake District, however the West Coast boasts starkly beautiful natural and striking man-made landscapes surrounding industrial coastal towns. Remnants of coal mines and the alien tombs of Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant contrast with Scafell Pike, only miles away.

This exciting new festival reveals and celebrates the unique identity of this ‘hidden’ area and the character of its people through the work of leading international and regional artists using photography and digital art to articulate local, national and international identities.

West Coast Photo provides opportunities to see world class exhibitions and exciting new commissions in this part of the region at a time when the pandemic has fuelled further isolation of this often-overlooked area of Cumbria.