The annual FLASH photographic festival began in 2014 with an idea to help promote Manitoba Photographers and engage with citizens through the concentration of shows over one whole month.

Our mission is to promote professional and amateur photographic artists in Manitoba, to educate about photographic history and share photographic processes past and present (film and digital).

Before the pandemic, the Festival was held for thirty one days each October.  Dozens of venues held photographic displays around Winnipeg in coffee shops, restaurants, book stores, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Buhler Gallery, la Maison des Artistes and improvised locations such as bus stops and sidewalk recycling bins.

FLASH’s vision is to greatly increase the number of artists working in the photographic arts in Manitoba, to increase the public’s appreciation of these art forms, and to educate both artists and the public in techniques and philosophies of photography. In the past, the minority of artists exhibiting photography have been Indigenous, female, BIPOC and LGBTQ. Now, FLASH aims to support these communities much more.

Over the years, FLASH has hosted hundreds of photographic shows in hundreds of locations inside and outside Winnipeg.  This Festival exposes countless thousands of people to art that otherwise might not have been in unusual or accessible locations. Public events such as artist talks, cyanotype demonstrations, studio lighting seminars and panel discussions continue to contribute to the culture of artistic photography in Manitoba.