About the East Bank Academy
East Bank is continuing its work with A New Direction, operators of the Good Growth Hub - an award-winning charity generating opportunities for children and young people to develop their creativity through the East Bank Academy.
For the Festival, the East Bank Academy will create 16 commissioned roles, 10 of which are live now and a further 6 to be announced across the summer, connecting local young people to paid opportunities and employment within the cultural sector and creative industries. These roles will feature Social Media and Marketing, Photography, Content Creation, Event Production and Sound & Lighting related roles.
The festival is supported by the Mayor of London and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Festival from East Bank is an annual cultural programme hosted at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, bringing together East Bank's founding partners - BBC Music Studios, London College of Fashion, UAL, Sadler’s Wells East, V&A East and UCL East.
In 2026, the headline theme is The Music is Black, anchored by V&A's landmark exhibition 'The Music is Black: A British Story'. The festival extends this theme across live music, dance, talks, workshops and community events programmed by East Bank partners and associated collaborators throughout the Park.
About the role
We’re looking for a confident, creative Junior Freelance Photographer to capture authentic, high‑energy visuals across four festival weekends as part of The Music is Black Festival at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
This role is all about people, personality and culture. You’ll be on the ground, engaging festival‑goers and artists to capture unpolished, joyful, in‑the‑moment reactions that feel native to social media and potentially for print campaigns.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Capturing high-quality, candid photography that reflects the energy, diversity and spirit of the festival
- Photographing festival-goers, performers, DJs and artists in a respectful, engaging way
- Shooting dynamic crowd moments, behind‑the‑scenes interactions and expressive details
- Capturing pre‑ and post‑performance reactions
- Producing portrait-style images and documentary-style shots that feel unpolished and authentic
- Creating images optimised for social media (particularly Instagram)
- Delivering a curated set of edited images per festival weekend for digital and promotional use
- Responding intuitively to live moments, light changes and fast‑paced environments
- Working closely with the East Bank Social Media Manager to ensure imagery aligns with campaign themes, tone and key festival moments