A Guide to May 2025 Photography Festivals & Exhibitions

Getxophoto, Bieler Fototage, Art Photo BCN, You Mustn’t Go Looking by Emma Spreadborough at Photo Museum Ireland, Photo London, and Hong Kong Photobook Festival are among the photography events to visit next month.

Getxophoto 2025

Getxo, Spain / 29 May - 22 June

Getxophoto returns to the Basque Country exploring the reinvention of visual media arts under the theme REC and questioning the difference between accumulating archives and telling a story, and the future of images and memory in a world of infinite, easily manipulated visuals. The program includes works by international artists such as John Divola, Rosa Lacavalla, Arno Gisinger, Natacha de Mahieu, José Ramón Ais, Annie Hsiao–Ching Wang, Carlos Idun-Tawiah, Anna Bare, Federico Vespignani, and Martín Bollati. Among the exhibitions, a project selected by curator Maria Ptqk will be displayed in a solo show as a prize recipient of the PhMuseum 2025 Photography Grant.

Events include Saturday morning Hamaiketako talks with local artists and cultural agents such as the director of Kutxa Fundazioa exhibition spaces, Ane Abalde, and the architect and photographer, María Azkarate. Additionally, Encerrona vol. 12. is a program designed this time to reflect on our potential immunity to image overload, while MAPS / BFF is a gathering of photography school students, a space to connect, share their work, and build networks of collaboration and exchange. Even remotely, you can experience the festival via the Filmin platform's Getxophoto Channel, featuring Pepa Blanes' view on this edition theme REC, and an eclectic soundtrack curated by Catalan producer, composer and musician Raül Refree.

Find out more about the festival's program on Getxophoto's website.

Bieler Fototage 2025

Biel/Bienne, Switzerland / 3 May - 25 May

Each year during the month of May, venues both familiar and new in the city of Biel/Bienne are taken over by works and projects by some twenty Swiss and international photographers, which can be experienced in the form of a photographic walking tour. The 28th edition explores new horizons and contemporary perspectives on landscape representation – whether structured or fragmented – and the real or imagined connections between humans and their environment. Featured artists include Alexander Jaquemet, Virginie Otth, Anne-Marie Filaire, Julius Schien, Lalie Thébault Maviel, Léonie Rose Marion, Naara Bahler, Sébastien Reuzé, Aline d'Auria, Ahmed Khirelsid, Anastasia Mityukova, Phil Penman, Tshepiso Moropa, and others. The exhibitions are complemented by a rich program of events, including professional meetings, guided tours, talks and performances.

Learn more on Bieler Fototage's website.

Art Photo BCN 2025

Barcelona, Spain / 23 May - 25 May

The 12th edition of the festival will take place at the central hall of Disseny Hub Barcelona. Among the festival highlights, on Saturday 24 May, nine selected artists will participate in a portfolio review session from which several awards will be given. For the first time, this event will be presented in a public session hosted by Carmen Dalmau, who will also deliver an enriching talk as part of the official program of activities open to the public. The extensive festival program includes several workshops as well as the Art Photo BCN Fair, curated by Isabel Lázaro, where galleries and photographers present the best of contemporary photography from around the world. Additionally, the Photobook Market, curated by Ana Benaven, will bring together publishers, authors, and photography book enthusiasts in a space for discovering new voices and trends in editorial photography.

Find out more on their website.

You Mustn’t Go Looking by Emma Spreadborough at Photo Museum Ireland

Dublin, Ireland / 29 April - 29 June

Emma Spreadborough's solo exhibition You Mustn't Go Looking delves into the interplay between ancient Irish traditions and contemporary Northern Irish experience, drawing inspiration from Brian Friel's exploration of the past within the present. Through staged, performative scenes within domestic spaces that evoke a haunted, mythical landscape, Spreadborough uses a seemingly objective photographic style to explore themes of place, belonging, cultural memory, and current socio-political unease, particularly the shifting demographics in Northern Ireland, blurring the lines between fiction and reality to reveal underlying tensions between opposing forces.

Discover more on Photo Museum Ireland's website.

Photo London 2025

London, United Kingdom / 15 May - 18 May

With Sophie Parker as the new director, Photo London returns to Somerset House showcasing a mix of historic and contemporary works, also featuring leading photography dealers and galleries alongside emerging talents in the Discovery section. Beyond the fair, Photo London regularly hosts Pre-Fair Talks engaging with the craft, market and knowledge of photography and acts as a catalyst for London’s dynamic photography community, with major institutions, auction houses, galleries and the burgeoning creative communities in the East End and South London presenting a series of Satellite Events.

Hong Kong Photobook Festival 2025

Hong Kong, Hong Kong / 2 May - 4 May

Founded in 2020 by Lumenvisum and held for the first time at PMQ, Central, the 3rd edition of Hong Kong Photobook Festival will feature a wide number of international exhibitors, connecting photographers, artists and a diverse range of publishers and independent groups from all over the world. A series of programmes will be presented in the Festival, including book market, exhibitions, workshops, masterclasses and talks. Among the exhibiting publishers are Blow Up Press, Imageless, Te editions, Case Publishing / shashasha, Right, there is nothing / sesamespace, Thousandfold, La Maison de Z, Kan Tai Wong, and F5, Muddyisland, Kate Cheung x Kalman Wong Pak-hei, Blue Lotus Gallery / Editions, SpringBao, and more.

Learn more on the festival's website.

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Also open this month:

Liquida Photofestival 2025 / Turin, Italy / 8 May - 11 May

Curated by Laura Tota and hosted for the first time at Polo del '900, the fourth edition of Liquida Photofestival explores a theme both universal and intimate: the connection between photography and memory. Titled The Day I Will Remember, the festival invites reflection on how images have long served as essential tools for preserving the past, transforming personal and collective memories into tangible fragments of experience. The extensive program includes one-on-one sessions and various workshops led by experts such as Erik Kessels, Giulia Brivio (Boîte Editions, Artphilein Editions), Gian Marco Sanna, and Alex Urso.

Les Boutographies 2025 / Montpellier, France / 10 May - 1 June

Throughout the three weeks of the festival, visitors can enjoy a program presented at Pavillon Populaire, one of the most beautiful exhibition spaces in Montpellier. The official selection is enhanced by shows curated within the Parallèle section, as well as off-site events hosted by various cultural institutions dedicated to photography and contemporary art. Walking and cycling tours are available for exploring the exhibitions, with the featured area changing annually. This year's featured artists include Balázs Turós, Federico Estol, Giulio Favotto, Manuela Lorente Cort, Masha Wysocka, Rima Samman, Sasha Velichko, and Tomasz Kawecki.