A Guide to November 2023 Photography Festivals

PhotoVogue Festival, Paris Photo, Head On Photo Festival, Polycopies, OFF Bratislava, Offprint, Indian Photo Festival and Review Santa Fe are among the festivals we selected this month.

PhotoVogue Festival 2023

Milan, Italy / 16 November - 19 November

Directed by Alessia Glaviano and co-curated by Francesca Marani, Daniel Rodríguez Gordillo and Caterina De Biasio, PhotoVogue Festival returns for its eighth edition with a programme of exhibitions, talks and side events on the theme What Makes Us Human? Image in the Age of A.I. With BASE Milano as its main venue, the festival invites visitors to reflect on the staggering development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the anthropological revolution that it is already bringing about. Seven are the must-see shows: Uncanny Atlas, Eternal Loops, What is Beauty, What Is Beauty/A.I., Spanish Women, CondéFuture and EyeMama, while a symposium will address the A.I. revolution’s critical facets, from its legal implications to its artistic potential, with leading figures such as Fred Ritchin, Refik Anadol, Filippo Venturi, Zahra Rasool, Ferdinando Verderi, Charlie Engman. The event is free to attend.

Find out more on PhotoVogue’s website.

Paris Photo

Paris, France / 9 November - 12 November

Founded in 1997, Paris Photo is the premier international art fair specifically dedicated to the medium of photography. The 26th edition, with new artistic director Anna Planas, will bring together 191 leading galleries and art book dealers to the Grand Palais Éphémère, along with a series of events including panel discussions, exhibitions and the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards ceremony, the annual photography book competition. Hassan Hajjaj, Omar Victor Diop & Lee Shulman, Samuel Fosso, Vasantha Yogananthan, Juergen Teller are a few of the names you'll find exhibited at the fair. Moreover, the Curiosa section will welcome 16 galleries from 9 countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Taiwan), and illustrate once again the dynamism of the young international scene.

Plus, the event features a variety of publishers who typically set up booths or exhibit their publications within the book fair section of Paris Photo. Some of the notable publishers you might find inside include André Frère Éditions, Aperture, MACK, Chose Commune, Damiani, Loose Joints, L'Artiere, RVB Books, GOST.

Discover more on our guide to Paris Photo and on their website.

Polycopies 2023

Paris, France / 8 November - 12 November

Coinciding with Paris Photo, Polycopies is an annual photobook festival that promotes independent publishing. The event transforms the Concorde-Atlantique boat in the French capital into a large ephemeral bookshop fully dedicated to photography books. This year the festival is bringing over eighty international publishers and booksellers from more than twenty countries. Visitors are also invited to join the programme of round tables and conferences. Between these, Mike Slack and Tim Carpenter will have a conversation regarding To Photograph is to learn how to die, and The Eriskay Connection will give the chance to meet the makers and their latest books while enjoying a free coffee and croissant. Furthermore, Polycopies welcomes photographers to participate in free portfolio reviews with publishers like Blow Up Press, Palm* Studios, Charcoal Press, Pierre Von Kleist.

Explore the full list of publishers and events, round tables, book signings and portfolio reviews on their website.

Offprint Paris 2023

Paris, France / 9 November - 12 November

Along the Parisian weekend dedicated to photography, Offprint Paris will host at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal a selection of independent, experimental and socially engaged publishers in the fields of art, architecture, design, humanities, and visual culture. This new edition will also present a program of talks and meetings throughout the weekend. Among them, Bindi Vora with Mountain of Salt published by Perimeter Editions and Oliver Frank Chanarin with A Perfect Sentence published by Loose Joints.

Explore the full list of publishers and talks on their website.

OFF Bratislava 2023

Bratislava, Slovakia / 3 November - 17 November

The 14th edition of OFF Bratislava, under the title The House of Plausible, Probable, Possible and Preferable Futures, is about a vision of the third millennium. The theme resonates with the idea that art has the power to foretell the future, opening countless possibilities for interpretation in artistic storytelling. The festival includes the OFF Academy section, presenting exhibitions of universities and other educational institutions, the OFF Libris section, presenting self-published photobooks, and the OFF Satellite section, presenting exhibitions organized by external galleries. Mateusz Pecyna, Florian Voggender, Eliša Sky, Cibelle Cavalli Bastos, Sara Munari, Erik Estany Tigerstöm, Alexandra Smolková and Natália Evelyn Benčičová are among the artists exhibited during the festival.

Read the full exhibitions programme on the OFF Bratislava’s website.

Indian Photo Festival 2023

Hyderabad, India / 23 November - 7 January

Addressing social issues through the medium of photography, the 9th edition of IPF will be presented at the State Gallery of Art, Madhapur, and other venues across Hyderabad. The programme includes a retrospective of Indian photojournalist D. Ravinder Reddy, shows of authors such as M’hammed Kilito, Glorianna Ximendaz, Birte Zellentin & Patrik Budenz, Tatenda Chidora and Fernanda Liberti, and a workshop with Samantha Clarke & Shweta Gulati from National Geographic. For the occasion, the finalists and winners of the IPF Portrait Prize 2023 will also be announced.

Explore the full exhibition programme on their website.

Review Santa Fe Photo Symposium

Santa Fe, New Mexico / 16 November - 19 November

Directed by a team including Deborah Espinosa, Luanna S. Gomez, Laura Wzorek Pressley and Whitney Wernick, Review Santa Fe Photo Symposium proposes free and open-to-the-public programs in-person and online, including portfolio reviews with photographers and industry professionals, Project Presentations with the 2023 Award + Grant winners, the Project Labs offering one-on-one Mentorship and access to career advancement Seminars, and more. Plus, the symposium calendar includes lectures by the curator Lucy R. Lippard, Dr. Makeda Best and Dr. Leigh Raiford, Jess T. Dugan’s book signing and artist talk with Christian Waguespack.

Find out more on their website.

Head On Photo Festival 2023

Sydney, Australia / 10 November - 3 December

Founded by Moshe Rosenzveig Oam, the Head On Photo Festival is an international annual photography festival that is held across multiple venues, including commercial galleries and public outdoor spaces. It offers a free program of talks with exhibiting artists, as well as conversations and workshops. Between the featured exhibitions you'll have the chance to visit American Bedroom by Barbara Peacock, A Quiet Roar by John Tsiavis and Victoria Villasana, Solace by Sarah Mei Herman and Of suffering and time (1992 to 1996) by Darcy Padilla. The programme also includes a screening of a documentary about the life of pioneering microscopic photographer Roman Vishniac, accompanied by live music and a post-screening Q&A. 

Discover more on their website.

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Also open this month:

Month of Photography Bratislava 2023 / Bratislava, Slovakia / 1 November - 30 November

In the 33rd edition, Month of Photography Bratislava turns the visitors' attention to past and contemporary events in the country, with exhibitions dealing with surveillance and State Security archives, stories from the former Czechoslovakia, and a section dedicated to contemporary Slovak photography. Plus, also a sector dedicated to Asia, including projects coming from Iran and Afghanistan that deal with censorship, patriarchy and violence.

MXSPF - International Street Photography Festival / Querétaro, Mexico / 26 October - 3 December

The first edition of MXSPF - International Street Photography Festival is bringing exhibitions, talks, projections, workshops and other activities to central Mexico. The festival focuses on two collective exhibitions, one dedicated to women photographers, and will hold talks, workshops and a photowalk.

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Check out our festivals page to get a complete view of what's coming up on the photography calendar over the next few months.