TALENTS 2026, an exhibition showcasing five of Ireland’s most exciting emerging photographic artists.

Sigma Talents Artist Awards
Ronan Callahan
Inés Pesado Catrufo
Ewan Power

Irish Photo Network Artist Commission
Laura Dunwoody

Photo Museum Ireland Diversity Residency
James Mahon, in collaboration with Antoinette Foley

Supported by our encompassing artists’ residencies and commissions, including the Sigma Talents Artist Awards, TALENTS 2026 brings together ambitious perspectives by new talent and underrepresented voices.

Moving between personal narratives and wider social concerns, their projects explore youth and community, masculinity and institutional memory, queer identity and belonging, grief and loss, and the realities of addiction and recovery.

Join us from 6.00pm on Thursday 22 October and explore TALENTS 2026, a compelling view of the perspectives and approaches shaping contemporary photography in Ireland today.

The works in TALENTS 2026 have been developed through Photo Museum Ireland’s artist residencies and commissions, which provide tailored support at key stages in an artist’s practice. This year’s exhibition brings together artists supported through the Sigma Talents Artist Awards, PMI’s Diversity Residency, and Irish Photo Network Residency, delivered with Belfast Photo Festival, Belfast Exposed, and Source Magazine, supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. Through mentoring, training, curatorial engagement, and specialised production assistance, these programmes give artists the resources and space to develop ambitious new work while supporting new talent and underrepresented voices.

Developed as part of Sigma’s ongoing global commitment to supporting creative excellence, the three recent graduates selected for the Sigma Talents Artist Awards each received a €2,000 development bursary, exhibition support, access to professional-grade Sigma equipment, and monthly curatorial mentoring from PMI, the Sigma team, and international photography experts.

James Mahon, in collaboration with Antoinette Foley
Moving between personal narratives and wider social concerns, their projects explore youth and community, masculinity and institutional memory, queer identity and belonging, grief and loss, and the realities of addiction and recovery. Working across documentary, portraiture, analogue practice, and collaborative approaches, the artists examine how lived experience is shaped by family, place, community, and wider social structures. Together, their work demonstrates the breadth of approaches emerging within Irish photography and its capacity to engage meaningfully with contemporary life.