THE SCHOOL PROJECT OF THE FESTIVAL LA GACILLY-BADEN PHOTO 2026

The United Kingdom has always been fertile ground for artistic boldness and revolutionary cultural movements. From the -Swinging Sixties to the psychedelic heyday of the 1970s and on to Pop Art, the British have brought a colorful, whimsical energy to the world of art and design. The theme for 2026 is therefore POP NATURE.

Pop Nature embraces this joyful aesthetic and reimagines the natural landscape as an almost surreal world – one in which green is no longer simply green but fluoresces, where flowers dance under neon lights, and reality is shaped by a gentle sense of eccentricity. Pop Nature is conceived as a free, carefree, psychedelic, rhythmic, and vibrant perspective on nature as seen by students. The focus is on bright colors and a sparkling, lively, worry-free, and positive world.

This project is a partnership between the Government of Lower Austria, the Foto Festival Baden association, and the Lower Austrian Guild of Professional Photography. The students are guided by professional photographers from Lower Austria. Their works are exhibited alongside those of schools from Morbihan in Brittany.

BG/BRG Baden Biondekgasse
BG/BRG Baden Frauengasse
BG Tullnerbach
Mittelschule Winzendorf
Musik- und Kreativmittelschule NÖMS Stift Zwettl
NÖMS Alland
NÖMS Felixdorf
NÖMS Guntramsdorf
NÖMS Klosterneuburg
NÖMS Mistelbach II
NÖMS Raabs/Thaya
NÖMS St. Valentin
NÖMS St. Veit an der Gölsen
NÖMS Burgplatz Wiener Neustadt
NÖMS Wieselburg
NÖMS Zistersdorf.

Accompanying photographers: Lukas Aigelsreiter, Thomas Gobauer, Josef Henk, Heidemarie Lahofer, Naemi Russ, Gregor Schörg, Alois Spandl, Silvia Vogg, Michaela Vondruska, Marco Zehetgruber, Wolfgang Zoder.

In addition, the festival hosts its annual Photo Academy each year, supported by BG and BRG Baden Frauengasse, Leica, Hahnemühle und Fotoatelier Schörg.