Documenting an International Conference on Religion, Migration, and Conflict

17 days ago

This summer, I had the chance to photograph my first fully paid event assignment – and it was something close to my heart. The international conference “Religion, Migration, and Conflicts in Polarised Societies” was held at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Kaunas, Lithuania – which also happens to be my alma mater, so it felt extra special to be there again, this time as a working photographer.

The conference was co-organized by the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR), COST Action COREnet, and Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute at VMU. Scholars from around the world gathered to explore how religion intersects with global migration, social polarization, and geopolitical tensions – a very timely and relevant topic. I would’ve loved to attend as a participant (especially as someone with a background in sociology of religion), but this time, I was invited to photograph the event instead.

It was my first time photographing an indoor academic conference, and I quickly discovered how different it is from outdoor events. Each lecture, panel, or discussion session required a careful and respectful presence – especially since everything was happening in quiet spaces. I mostly used silent shooting mode on my camera to avoid disrupting the speakers or audience, but that brought a new challenge: flickering artificial lights created banding in some images, depending on the shutter speed. It took a lot of trial and error to find the right settings on the spot – and in some cases, I had to switch to regular shooting with sound to avoid technical issues.

Another difficulty was dealing with mixed lighting – from overhead bulbs to daylight coming through windows to brightly lit screens – making white balance a constant struggle. In the smaller classrooms where only 10 or so participants were gathered, I felt extra visible, which made me nervous at times. But I reminded myself that growth comes through discomfort – and I was here to learn.

In the Great Hall, it felt easier to move around since the space was large and more dynamic. Still, the lighting was dim on purpose to create a more intimate mood – which meant high ISO and longer exposures, and in some shots, I had to pull up shadows in post-processing, resulting in some visible noise. I avoided using a flash to stay respectful of the space and the speakers, though I’m aware I’ll need to become more confident with flash in the future if I want to photograph more indoor events.

Despite all these challenges, it was a really valuable and exciting experience – one of those scary-but-necessary firsts that push you forward. I’m grateful for the opportunity and proud that I managed to get through it, even when it felt overwhelming. As I often remind myself: opportunities show up only when you're ready for them – otherwise, they wouldn’t appear. :)

I’ll be sharing photos from the event in separate parts below:

📍 Part I – Great Hall (Day 1)