2026 Click! 120 Photography Experience
Saturday, October 3, 2026 10:00am - 6:00pm Sunday, October 4, 2026, 10:00am - 6:00pm
To further enhance the opening weekend experience, for the third year Click! has invited a specially curated group of exhibitors to showcase their products and services. Plans include product demonstrations, panel discussions, exhibits and more!
The Expo will take place October 3rd & 4th at the Downtown Durham Convention Center.
The Click! 120 Photography Experience is made possible by the generous support of Freestyle Photo and Imaging Supplies.
2026 Click! Photography Festival Keynote Speaker
Elizabeth Opalenik
Obsessions, Inspirations, and the Creative Process
Sunday, October 4, 2026 6:00pm Meeting room a2
In this artist talk, Elizabeth Opalenik explores the deeply personal and evolving nature of photographic practice. Through selected bodies of work and portfolio presentations, she examines questions at the heart of creative expression: Who are you as a photographer? Where does inspiration come from? Why do artists move through different themes, subjects, and visual languages over time?
Sharing work from across her career — including her celebrated mastery of alternative photographic processes and the haunting, transformative technique of mordançage — Opalenik offers insight into the creative process from intuition and obsession to image-making and meaning. Her photographs become self-portraits in another form, revealing emotional responses to the world, layered histories, and stories left behind within an image.
The lecture reflects on memory, curiosity, and artistic evolution, while inviting audiences into the tactile and experimental dimensions of photographic practice. Through personal reflections and visual storytelling, Opalenik discusses what continues to captivate her attention and how photography serves as a way of understanding both self and subject.
At the end of the lecture there will be time for questions and Elizabeth will share original photographs from various processes she will be discussing.
Elizabeth Opalenik is a photographic artist and mordançeuse known for her evocative, intimate imagery and use of alternative processes such as carbon and platinum printing. She is recognized for her masterful use of mordançage—often incorporating delicate veils of lifted emulsion where her work blends technical innovation with emotional depth. Opalenik also works extensively with infrared photography, creating sensual images with water, flowers, and the human figure. Her photographic works on Japanese papers are characterized by distortion, reflection, and an atmosphere that invites contemplation.
Over the course of her 45 year career, Opalenik has taught, lectured, and exhibited on six continents, sharing her expertise with students and professionals alike. She has been a longtime instructor at Maine Media Workshops and the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and has led figure workshops and specialized programs for women with cancer at the F Holland Day Center for Creativity and Healing, where art becomes a tool for resilience and expression. Beyond the studio, Opalenik has engaged in humanitarian efforts with eye doctors working in South America and along the Amazon emphasizing photography’s power to connect, heal, and reveal.
She is the author of two books, Poetic Grace: Elizabeth Opalenik photographs 1979-2007 and Workshop Stories: changed through photography, which document her artistic journey and teaching philosophy, further solidifying her legacy as both an artist and educator.
Saturday, October 3, 2026
(Scheduled times to be announced)
Caleb “Bad Flashes” Knueven
3rd Annual (Mostly) Film Photo Walk
“Bad Flashes” will return to lead a film-centric photo walk around downtown Durham. Caleb is a passionate film photographer who’s dedicated his life to promoting the joys of film photography. Check out his YouTube channel HERE.
The walk will will begin at the Durham Convention Center at 10:00am on Saturday, October 3rd. Rain or Shine!
The walk is made possible by the generous support of Freestyle Photo Imaging and Supplies. It is free and open to the public but registration is required.
Registration opening August 1st!
Don’t own a film camera? No Worries! All are welcome.