Contact Photography Festival

Name: Contact Photography Festival
Start: 2025-05-01
End: 2025-05-31
Location: Toronto

May 1, 2025 – May 31, 2025

Toronto

Toronto, Canada

Launched in 1997, the CONTACT Photography Festival has grown into one of the world’s premier celebrations of lens-based art. Held every May across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the festival transforms the city into a vibrant showcase of photography, featuring a dynamic mix of exhibitions, site-specific installations, and artist-driven programs.

At the heart of the festival is the Core Program, which presents thoughtfully curated exhibitions and public events in collaboration with leading museums, galleries, and artist-run centers — creating a platform for both emerging and established voices from Canada and around the globe.

Complementing this is the Open Call Exhibitions stream, which invites independent artists and curators to activate spaces across the city with their own projects. This grassroots component extends the festival’s reach and reflects its commitment to accessibility, diversity, and community engagement through photography.

Together, these programs make CONTACT a vital cultural moment each spring — one that fosters dialogue, experimentation, and connection through the lens of contemporary image-making.

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Three Shadows
Xiamen, China

The 11th edition of the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival returns to Xiamen from November 29, 2025, to January 4, 2026, reaffirming its position as one of Asia’s most influential photography events. Since its inception in 2015, this festival has bridged the cultural dialogue between China and France through its enduring partnership with the world-renowned Rencontres d’Arles. Each year, Jimei × Arles transforms Xiamen’s Jimei District into a vibrant meeting ground for artists, curators,

Festival Planche(s) Contact

Oct 18, 2025 – Jan 04, 2026

Deauville
Deauville, France

The new edition of the Planches Contact Festival opens in Deauville under the banner of intimacy, a theme that resonates with the very vocation of photography: to capture the invisible, to reveal what is at play behind appearances. From the way we look at ourselves to the way we look at others, this year's exhibition explores the many forms of closeness, relationships, tensions and silence - in private spaces as well as in the landscape, in the body as well as in memory. This year, the festival

Harmattan - Togo Photo Festival 2025

Dec 12, 2025 – Dec 30, 2025

Lomé
Lomé, Togo

Harmattan – Togo Photo Festival 2025 stands as a vivid declaration: photography can reclaim and redefine the visual imagination of West Africa. From December 12 to 14, 2025, Lomé will become a convergence point for emerging and established photographers from Togo, West Africa, and beyond — gathering not just images, but dreams, histories, and new narratives that challenge old stereotypes and reshape perceptions. The festival’s collective exhibitions — hosted at Agnassan (Musée Paul Ahyi), Galeri

PHOTO IS:RAEL 2025

Nov 19, 2025 – Dec 19, 2025

PHOTO IS:RAEL
Tel-Aviv, Israel

PHOTO IS:RAEL is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the art of photography in Israel and around the world, guided by the vision of creating a better society through the language of photography. At the heart of its annual activity lies the International Photography Festival, one of Israel’s most significant cultural events, drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year. Now celebrating its twelfth edition, the festival takes on the theme “Voices”, inviting reflection on the intric

PhotoNOLA 2025

Dec 10, 2025 – Dec 14, 2025

Ogden Museum’s Taylor Library
New Orleans, LA, United States

PhotoNOLA returns this December with its 20th annual celebration of photography, transforming New Orleans into a vibrant hub of images, ideas, and community. From December 10 to 14, 2025, venues across the city — galleries, museums, pop-up spaces, and even outdoor sites — will host a wide variety of exhibitions, events, and public-facing projects. The festival’s spirit is both local and global: photographers from near and far bring their visions to the city, while locals share stories rooted in

PhotoKTM 6th Edition

Nov 14, 2025 – Dec 14, 2025

photo.circle
Kathmandu, Nepal

The 6th edition of PhotoKTM centers on the theme of Global South solidarities, inviting artists and audiences to reflect on the political and cultural legacies of the Third World project. The festival seeks to revisit histories of resistance, resilience, and collective action, examining how communities across the majority world have fought to reclaim sovereignty in the face of centuries of colonialism, exploitation, and structural violence. Through this lens, PhotoKTM emphasizes the ways in whic

Photo Days 2025

Nov 03, 2025 – Nov 30, 2025

Photo Days
Paris, France

Created in 2020, Photo Days unites all photography and video events taking place across Paris each November, transforming the city into a vast open celebration of the image. The initiative brings together institutions, galleries, fairs, auction houses, and a selection of private venues such as artists’ studios, laboratories, and collectors’ apartments, offering both professionals and enthusiasts a total immersion in photography at the very moment Paris becomes the world capital of the medium. Th

Head On Photo Festival 2025

Nov 07, 2025 – Nov 30, 2025

Bondi Pavilion Gallery
Sydney, Australia

Head On Photo Festival is one of the world’s leading photography festivals, dedicated to showcasing innovative and thought-provoking photographic works. Founded in 2004 in Sydney, Australia, the festival has grown into a globally recognized event that highlights a diverse range of photography, from photojournalism and fine art to experimental and contemporary styles. With a strong focus on inclusivity, the festival provides a platform for both emerging and established photographers from Australi

LagosPhoto Festival

Oct 25, 2025 – Nov 28, 2025

Lagos and Ibadan
Lagos and Ibadan, Nigeria

Under the artistic direction of Azu Nwagbogu, founder of the African Artists’ Foundation, the 2025 LagosPhoto Biennial explores the theme “Incarceration”, examining visible and invisible forms of captivity that shape personal, political, and collective life. After fifteen years of fostering critical dialogue through photography, LagosPhoto enters a new chapter as a biennial event, running from October 25 to November 29, 2025, across Lagos and Ibadan. The expanded format invites deeper reflection

The Mexico Street Photo Fest (MXSPF)

Oct 24, 2025 – Nov 24, 2025

Mexico
Mexico, Mexico

The Mexico Street Photo Fest (MXSPF), Latin America’s most important international street photography festival, returns for its third edition to celebrate the captivating art of street photography as a genuine reflection of urban life. This 2025, the Mexico Street Photo Fest (MXSPF) will once again bring together photographers from around the world to showcase, through their lenses, the essence of cities, untold stories, and fleeting moments that define the dynamism of everyday life. More than j

SEEEU 2025 – European Month of Photography Tokyo

Oct 23, 2025 – Nov 23, 2025

KOI Nippon
Tokyo, Japan

As the first European photography festival to take place in Japan, SEEEU brings together fourteen internationally recognized photographers and more than 250 works. The festival unfolds across Tokyo’s indoor and outdoor spaces—ranging from construction sites and galleries to cafés and embassies—transforming the city into an open dialogue between Europe and Japan. With all exhibitions freely accessible, SEEEU invites both residents and visitors to discover photography as a bridge between cultures.

Bukhara Biennial

Sep 05, 2025 – Nov 20, 2025

Bukhara
Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Bukhara Biennial is a new contemporary initiative taking place from September 5th to November 20th, 2025 across newly restored historic landmarks in the city of Bukhara, a UNESCO Creative City of Craft & Folk Art. ukhara Biennial will mark the first contemporary art event in Bukhara of such scale and one of the largest and most diverse art initiatives in Central Asia. The event is commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, an instrumenta

Photo Oxford 2025: Truth

Oct 25, 2025 – Nov 19, 2025

Photo Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom

Photo Oxford, the city’s biennial festival of photography, returns in 2025 for its fifth edition with the theme Truth. This year’s program invites artists and audiences alike to explore what truth means in an age when images shape, distort, and define our understanding of reality. The question of photography’s relationship with truth—present since the birth of the medium—resonates with renewed urgency today, as technologies like Artificial Intelligence blur the boundaries between fact and fabric

Yeast Photo Festival (N)ever Enough

Sep 25, 2025 – Nov 09, 2025

Matino
Matino, Italy

In contemporary life, satisfying a culinary craving has never been easier. Whether it’s a snack, a carefully crafted dish, or an indulgent dessert, nearly everything we desire can appear on our plate within moments. From a quick drive to a nearby restaurant to doorstep delivery, the immediacy of access has transformed how we experience food. Our choices are overwhelming in their abundance. Grocery shelves and restaurant menus teem with endless varieties of pasta, cheese, desserts, and meats. Exo

Cortona on the Move

Jul 17, 2025 – Nov 02, 2025

Cortona
Cortona, Italy

The international photography festival Cortona On The Move has been held since 2011 in the Tuscan town of Cortona, in the province of Arezzo. A protagonist of photographic production at the international level, the festival is a point of reference for photographers, curators, authors, critics, as well as the public. Now approaching its 14th edition, under the direction of Veronica Nicolardi, the artistic direction of Paolo Woods and and the photographic curatorship of Kublaiklan the festival mak

Langhe Photo Festival 2025

Jul 06, 2025 – Nov 02, 2025

Langhe
Langhe, Italy

Langhe Photo Festival is an annual photography event held in the picturesque Langhe region of northern Italy, known for its rolling hills, vineyards, and cultural heritage. The festival celebrates visual storytelling by bringing together photographers, artists, and photography enthusiasts in an inspiring environment where art and nature merge. The festival showcases a wide range of photographic works, from documentary and reportage to conceptual and fine art photography. It aims to explore conte

Trieste Photo Days 2025

Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 26, 2025

Trieste
Trieste, Italy

Trieste Photo Days is an international photography festival held annually in Trieste, Italy, celebrating contemporary photography through exhibitions, talks, workshops, and portfolio reviews. Established in 2014 by the cultural association dotART, the festival has grown into a significant event that brings together photographers, artists, and industry professionals from around the world. With a focus on urban and street photography, Trieste Photo Days provides a platform for photographers to sho

FOTODOKS 2025

Oct 09, 2025 – Oct 12, 2025

Munich
Munich, Germany

FOTODOKS is a leading documentary photography festival based in Munich, Germany, dedicated to showcasing and supporting contemporary documentary photography. Established in 2008, the festival provides a platform for photographers, artists, and visual storytellers to explore pressing social, political, and cultural issues through the power of images. Held biennially, FOTODOKS has gained international recognition for its commitment to thought-provoking visual narratives and its ability to engage b

La Gacilly Photo Festival

Jun 01, 2025 – Oct 05, 2025

La Gacilly
La Gacilly, France

The British photographers we are honouring this summer have this singular style. They're so British because they know how to cleverly capture a soul: the soul of an era, the soul of a country, the human soul. At La Gacilly, we've always wanted to honour the great masters of photography, and Sir Don McCullin, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, is a legend. Throughout his career, he has placed his lens as close as possible to individuals, to their valour and their fears, their thoughtlessness and bel

RomePhotoLab - International Street Photo Festival

Sep 26, 2025 – Sep 28, 2025

Villa Altieri
Rome, Italy

The RomePhotoLab – International Street Photo Festival returns to the heart of Rome from September 26th to 28th, 2025. Set against the elegant backdrop of Villa Altieri (Viale Manzoni 47), the festival stands as one of the leading global events dedicated to street photography, offering a platform for visual storytelling, cultural dialogue, and artistic exploration. With an international jury composed of renowned photographers, photo editors, and curators, this year’s edition presents a curated s

expand_circle_rightPhotography Events Ending Soon

From photography exhibitions and photo festivals to art fairs and gallery shows, these events are closing soon and still worth a visit. Whether you're an avid collector, a photography enthusiast, or simply looking for cultural inspiration, find the best photography events near you before they end.