The Fourth International Conference on Visual Methodswas hosted by the University of Brighton in September2015. It brought together many imaginative andhugely productive collaborations between academics,practitioners and community groups from various citiesand regions of the UK, Europe and beyond. Like mostconferences, our programme consisted of presentationsand keynote speeches, but we also included screenings,exhibitions and workshops. Much of this took place inthe University but we extended our reach by openingthe doors of the University to the local community andholding screenings and exhibitions in public spacesacross the city. This special edition of Visual Methodologiesstrives to capture the richness and diversity of theprogramme; it offers some detailed first hand accountsof projects and papers presented at the conference, aswell as exploring the wider role of visual methods incontemporary research practice. Our cover features oneof Ray Gibson’s iconic pebble faces taken on BrightonBeach and used as part of the Great Pebble Dash, one ofthe projects which took conference delegates out of theUniversity and into the city
