Without the people on stage, Photo+Adventure would just be a fair. It is the speakers who turn equipment and destinations into stories that stay with you. In 2026, around 45 photographers, travel professionals and filmmakers are on the programme, and some of them are taking part for the first time. We would like to introduce these new speakers for 2026 to you here.
Some bring images from the rainforest of Borneo or the Badain Jaran desert, others show you how to keep customers instead of constantly looking for new ones, or how to turn your raw footage into a reel. You will find all speakers in the speaker overview, and with the “New speakers 2026” switch you only see the new faces.
Nature and wildlife
Bernhard Schubert
Biologist and nature photographer from Wiener Neustadt, with awards including Wildlife Photographer of the Year and four overall wins at the Austrian Nature Photographer of the Year. In the seminar Blitzeinsatz in der Makrofotografie he explains how to get artificial light right at close range, and puts it straight into practice in the hands-on workshop. Even before the fair, he takes you to the Hohe Wand im Herbst for two days, among the mist and the ibex.
Manfred Hesch
Wildlife photographer, hunter and falconer from Bergheim near Salzburg, out and about with his camera for more than 40 years and winner of the 2023 Austrian national award for professional photography in the nature and animal photo category. In the seminar Abenteuer Wildtierfotografie he takes you stalking foxes, red deer, capercaillie and birds of prey with the camera and shows you how to read tracks and behaviour.
Julia Altpfart
She taught herself photography with a borrowed camera. Today she takes pictures from Iceland to the Maldives, on land and underwater, most recently with the media fellowship of the Austrian national parks. Her talk Fotografie, die mehr kann is about how images can contribute to species conservation.
Rupert Kogler
Nature and wildlife photographer from Linz, self-taught and uncompromising: he only photographs in the wild, without baiting, lures or captive animals. In The Beauty Beyond he talks about beauty as a sign and abstraction as a risk in nature photography.
Marion Payr
Travel and documentary photographer from Vienna and founder of Prints for Wildlife, a fundraiser that has raised more than 2.5 million US dollars for animal welfare with over 380 photographers. She shows you the Expedition Borneo and, in the seminar Reisefotografie als Beruf, explains how to earn money with your travel photos.
Travel and foreign cultures
Bernd Pfleger
Biologist, safari guide and nature photographer, founder of the tour operator Experience Wilderness. In The Great African Journey he takes you on the most exciting safari in the world, on both days of the fair.
Kai Wolfermann
Founder of TerraVista Erlebnisreisen, specialising in individual trips through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. In Durch den Süden Afrikas he shows how you can experience southern Africa on your own or in a very small group.
Julia Mild
She leads the Africa and Asia team at Weltweitwandern in Graz and studied in Klagenfurt, Seoul and Rome before joining the travel industry. Her talk Kirgistan tells of encounters, mountains and traditions.
Carlos Crespo
Photographer, filmmaker and expedition leader from Zurich. Between 2009 and 2012 he travelled to the Badain Jaran desert in Inner Mongolia several times, which resulted in an award-winning photo book. At the fair he presents Badain Jaran, the highest dunes in the world.
People, business and content
Magdalena Schicho
For her, photography is about encounters. With a background in education and psychology, she makes people visible instead of staging them. Her seminars Fotografieren mit Kindern and Fotografieren mit Menschen ask the question: you can take photos, but can you also do it with people? She also speaks at the conference day for professional photography.
Manuel Spors
After more than 200 weddings as a photographer, he stopped chasing new customers and built a system that turns existing ones into regulars. Today he advises self-employed people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. His talk Die Loyalitätsformel shows how to make more revenue with the customers you already have.
Valentin Macke
Documentary filmmaker for channels such as fern and Simplicissimus, with reports from Ethiopia, Fiji and Afghanistan that reach an audience of millions. In the workshop Vom Rohmaterial zum Reel you learn how to edit your footage into a video for social media with DaVinci Resolve.
Conference day for professional photography
On Saturday 14 November, the Vienna and Upper Austria guilds of professional photographers are holding the Konferenztag der Berufsfotografie as part of Photo+Adventure. Four talks, one industry: colleagues show how they win commissions, how they calculate their prices and what is currently shifting in their fields. Alongside Magdalena Schicho, three more new faces are taking part.
Ness Rubey
Conceptual photographer from Austria with colourful, precisely constructed images about feminism, violence, loneliness or self-love. In 2019 she was selected for Sky Arte’s Master of Photography by a jury that included Oliviero Toscani, and she has exhibited at the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, among other places.
Simon Puschmann
Advertising photographer and director who creates images for Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Lego, Leica or Lufthansa that rarely show what you expect. He started in 1987 with a Hasselblad 503CX, and today he works with a Phase One XF.
UNKITSCHIG – Sophie & Max
The Viennese photographer couple has been photographing weddings, couples and families since 2017, leaving out everything that looks posed. Timeless, honest, unconventional is how they describe their work, and their clients remember them more as guests than as photographers.
Read more
Many of the new speakers run seminars and workshops with limited places. You can see what you can book in the post on the 2026 seminar and workshop programme. And we explain how to find your way through the programme with the Journeys in the post on the new website.
