PhotoVogue Festival 2026

During Milan's fashion month, PhotoVogue once again becomes a focal point for photography, culture and critical dialogue within the Vogue network.

Overview

The PhotoVogue Festival celebrates its 10th edition with a powerful reflection on representation, authorship and the female gaze. Returning during fashion month, it continues to affirms its role as a cultural cornerstone within the Vogue ecosystem, bringing together photography, fashion and social discourse in a shared space for dialogue and change.

This year's theme, Women by Women, moves beyond visibility to question who tells stories, how they are constructed and through which lens. At its core is a decisive shift: reclaiming representation as an act of agency. The festival explores how women portray themselves and one another, dismantling inherited narratives and opening space for complex, layered and self-determined identities. It is an invitation to look at women not as subjects shaped by external gazes, but as authors of their own visual language.

This commitment takes tangible from through Women by Women: The Shortlist, the result of PhotoVogue's most ambitious Global Open Call to date. Selected from over 9,500 applicants across 149 countries, 150 women photographers and video makers emerge as key voices shaping the future of image-making. Their work offers an intimate and multifaced reflection on womanhood, revealing the breadth of experiences, aesthetics and cultural contexts that define the contemporary female gaze.

Hosted at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in Milan, the festival unfolds as a meeting point between history and contemporary thought. Over four days, exhibitions, talks, panels and digital showcases will investigate themes of gender, power, intimacy, resistance and solidarity, while embracing a non-binary and intersectional perspective that reflects today's visual culture.

Rooted in PhotoVogue's ongoing commitment to ethics, diversity and inclusion, the event aligns with Vogue's broader mission to amplify underrepresented voices and foster meaningful cultural progress. As with previous editions, the festival functions not only as an exhibition platform but as a catalyst for critical conversations - where photography becomes both testimony and tool for transformation.

The program brings together artists, editors, curators and thinkers from around the world, creating a dynamic exchange of ideas and practices. Panel discussions and lectures will address the politics of representation, the power of images in shaping collective consciousness, and the responsibility of visual creators in today's media landscape. Alongside these conversations, curated projections and screenings will expand the dialogue into digital and experimental spaces, including works by photographers selected through the PhMuseum 2025 Women Photography Grant.

Central to the festival are its exhibitions, shaped through global and regional open calls that highlight the richness and diversity of women's perspectives worldwide. The selected works move fluidly between documentary, fashion, conceptual photography and personal narratives, revealing how lived experience, cultural background and creative vision intersect. Together, they form a collective portrait of contemporary womanhood.

As PhotoVogue marks a decade of championing new voices and ethical image-making, Women by Women stands as both a celebration and a call to action. It invites audiences to rethink authorship, challenge ingrained viewpoints and engage with images that do not simply represent women, but are created by them, on their own terms.