AN ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL THAT COMBINES THEORY AND PRACTICE IN AN INTENSIVE THREE-MONTH PROGRAM
- Free program running from September to November 2025
- Take place both online and in person in Hanoi
- Six selected photographers will receive a production fee of 6,000,000 VND each and artistic support to develop their projects
THE PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED BY THE BRITISH COUNCIL’S CONNECTIONS THROUGH CULTURE GRANT
Roots & Worlds is an alternative photography school that combines theory and practice in an intensive three-month program. Through an open call, six emerging Vietnamese photographers will be selected to participate, receiving a production fee of 6,000,000 VND each and artistic support to develop their projects.
The inaugural edition in 2023 was co-developed between IC Visual Lab (UK) and Matca (Vietnam) as a mentorship where collaboration takes centre stage. In response to the limited educational and professional opportunities in Vietnam’s photography scene, we set out to create a space where participants can engage with important ideas and approaches in contemporary photography, while participating in hands-on exercises from conceptualization to production, editing, and presentation. It mentored six participants with projects on the theme of Ecological Encounters, and was met with high demand for continuation after the resulting works were showcased in Hanoi, HCMC, and Bristol.
The 2025 edition, titled Elsewhere, Within, is co-led by Eugénie Shinkle (University of Westminster, UK) alongside Hà Đào and Linh Phạm (Matca, Vietnam). The deadline for application submission is Aug 31, 2025(inclusive).
Running from September to November 2025, the program will take place both online and in person. It begins with a series of online lectures, group discussions, and individual tutorials, followed by a 4-day open studio in Hanoi where everyone will gather to collectively edit and present the works to the public.
Roots & Worlds 2025 is supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant.
*The title owes a debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Povinelli’s Routes/Worlds (2022).
about the 2025 edition
In an age where information and opportunities appear to flow freely, where global open calls and online platforms promise equal access, the realities of photography remain uneven. Aiming to address such gaps, Roots & Worlds offers a structure to support emerging Vietnamese practitioners in refining their voices and situating their photographic practice, as both a way of seeing the world and making sense of their place within it.
The title Elsewhere, Within is not meant to dictate the content of participants’ works, but to encourage an awareness of photography’s shifting role within today’s social, cultural, and political climate.
As noted in The Routledge Companion to Global Photographies, “Ecological and decolonial discourses around photography reveal the medium’s global entanglements: images produced on one side of the globe are the result of labors which span its full surface. At the same time, the multiplicity of approaches and understandings of the photograph reveal that, even though it might seem like a universal language, we utilize its tools to radically different ends.” Rather than imparting knowledge from a so-called centre of photographic production to the periphery, Roots & Worlds takes shape in a spirit of inquiry, one that holds space for ongoing reflection on intention and meaning.
eligibility & how to apply
This program is intended for six early-career Vietnamese image-makers who wish to develop their visual language and produce socially conscious stories. We highly encourage applicants from outside Hanoi and HCMC, and those who have had limited opportunity to make and show works. There are no restrictions on age, educational background and professional experience, but basic communication skills in English are a prerequisite.
The application should include a portfolio, CV, and a statement of no more than 500 words outlining your photographic practice, motivation for applying, and a project or topic you wish to develop within the framework of the program. While all topics and photographic approaches are welcome, priority will be given to proposals that are both feasible and closely aligned with the applicant’s goals. Chosen participants are expected to actively contribute to the sessions and be committed to making work.
Please refer to the FAQs below and contact us at hello@matca.vn if you have any other questions about the application process.
participants’ benefits
- Free of charge 3-month program, artistic support throughout the program period, and access to learning materials
- Production fee of 6,000,000 VND per participant
- Travel and accommodation expenses to Hanoi for the 4-day Editing & Open Studio
- Resulting works will be showcased at Matca Space for Photography and online
- Professional network development in Vietnam and the UK
key dates
| Aug 4 | Launching of the project website and open call |
| Aug 31 | Application deadline |
| Sep 7 | Announcement of participants |
| Sep-Nov | Phase 01 – Online lectures, group discussions, and individual tutorials Key topics in contemporary photography will be covered, including: • Research for Practice • Expanded Documentary photography • Feeling, Thinking and Meaning: How Photographs Move Us • Situated Photography Weekly exercises will encourage participants to experiment with various approaches while gradually developing their own projects. |
| Nov 20-23 | Phase 02 – Open Studio in Hanoi The whole group will gather at Matca Space for Photography to collectively edit and present their works for a public Open Studio event. |
mentoring team
HA DAO 🇻🇳
is an artist working with photography and moving image based in Hanoi. Inspired by the quiet drama of everyday life, her work explores how personal fates intersect with larger histories and reflects on the notion of distance, with the camera as both witness and intermediary. She is the recipient of several grants and awards, including the Seed Award by the Prince Claus Fund, the 38th Higashikawa Award, and the Dogma Prize.
LINH PHAM 🇻🇳
is a Vietnamese photographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. His work focuses on the experiences of underrecognized communities in the Lower Mekong region, examining the often overlooked impacts of climate crises, social transformations, rapid economic growth, and geopolitical tensions. Informed by his background in modern art and design, Linh employs deliberate visual strategies to explore these critical issues.
Both of them have co-designed and led multiple educational initiatives, including Roots & Worlds (2023), Visualising Climate Crisis with NOOR (2023), and Future Ancestors with RMIT University (2023).
EUGÉNIE SHINKLE 🇬🇧
Eugénie Shinkle is a photographer and writer whose work explores the sensory, material, and political dimensions of photography. With a background in civil engineering, she brings an interdisciplinary approach that draws on art history, philosophy, landscape studies, and fashion theory.
Eugénie’s photographic practice engages with landscape in expanded and experimental terms, exploring themes of temporality, abstraction, and nonhuman agency. It has been widely exhibited and published internationally. She is the editor of C4 Journal, a platform for critical writing on the photobook, and a committed advocate for emerging voices in photography. Eugénie is particularly interested in supporting photographers working with unconventional processes, narrative experimentation, and critical engagement with materiality, identity, and space.
