Art fairs remain vital cultural touchstones, offering artists, collectors and audiences a rare space to connect, discover and reflect on the state of contemporary art. In this roundup, we spotlight the most compelling events of 2025, celebrating the ideas, visions and experiences they brought to life. From Togo Photo Festival and Paris Photo to Photo London, PHOTOCLIMAT and Ragusa Foto Festival, this year’s selection spans the globe, showcasing a remarkable range of talent and approaches to photography.
Togo Photo Festival
Founded and directed by Ako Atikossie and Giulia Brivio, Togo Photo Festival’s goal is to provide international visibility and create new opportunities for emerging photographers from Togo and West Africa. “For centuries, the representation of Africa has been filtered through a colonial lens that turned the other into an object, stripping it of its voice,” they explain. “Today, a new generation of African curators, artists and thinkers has overturned that perspective.” The festival launched with three photography shows, featuring 15 creatives, accompanied by inspiring masterclasses and workshops. The works will be published in a catalogue in April 2026, before the festival evolves into a travelling display with stops in Lugano, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy. One this is certain: this is surely one to watch.
Paris Photo
Over the past 27 years, Paris Photo has grown into one of the world’s leading photography fairs. It is a major date in the calendar, driving important conversations about lens-based media. In November, the 28th edition offered a diverse and dynamic programme, showing 220 exhibitors from 33 countries. This year’s event had one particularly unique offering: its Digital Sector, launched in 2023. Paris Photo became the first European fair to start a conversation around algorithms, networks and machine vision – questioning how they expand the possibilities of the medium. The role of digital methods is a controversial topic, as those in the industry debate whether tools like AI can enhance artistic expression, without losing creative integrity. It’s a symbol of the event’s forward-looking approach to curation.
Photo London
In the 2025 edition of the festival, the city of London, as a concept, took centre stage. For centuries, countless artists and photographers have used the city as a muse. The special exhibition featured 30 household names such as David Bailey, Heather Agyepong, James Barnor, Jamie Hawkesworth and Joy Gregory. Bailey’s portraits are a who’s-who of cultural icons, from Mick Jagger to David Hockney, whilst Hawkesworth’s pictures of ordinary communities offer a tender documentation of British life. Gregory, meanwhile, has literally changed the fabric and design of London’s infrastructure via Art on the Underground. The expansive selection on offer is a testament to creatives influenced by London, who helped make its vibrant culture what it is today and shape it for future generations.
PHOTOCLIMAT
Now in it’s third edition, PHOTOCLIMAT is a unique festival, taking the worsening climate crisis as it’s focus. The Biennale transforms iconic locations like Place de la Concorde – the city’s largest square and once a site of the infamous guillotine – into stages for powerful photography that confronts the climate crisis and rising inequalities. What set this year’s offering apart is its focus on grassroots action. It put art into dialogue with the work of charities, campaigners and NGOs – independent groups that work to protect people, places and political causes. Around 50 different organisations were involved, each paired with a lens-based artist to create an exhibition that speaks to their specific cause. At PHOTOCLIMAT, curators go beyond aesthetics, instead presenting a call for collective responsibility and justice.
Ragusa Photo Festival
The idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover,” whilst timeworn, still holds an important message: you shouldn’t make assumptions on people, places, or things simply by looking at them. The 13th edition of the Ragusa Foto Festival, titled Beyond Appearance, was about just that. Taking place in a Sicilian UNESCO World Heritage site, and spanning exhibitions, workshops and awards, it asked: what is it possible to see when you look past the superficial? There was a strong focus on perceptions of place – how they can, and should, develop over time. Jessica Backhaus documents Nętno, a small rural town in Poland which serves as a symbol for the transformations resulting from the fall of the Berlin Wall – a huge, historic moment of cultural transition. Alessia Rollo, meanwhile, sought to redefine stereotypes of southern Italy.
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Image Credits:
1. Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Studies, Sisymbrium irio L., Courtesy Chrystel Lebas, April 2017.
2. Lina Mensah, Amanikro ti, (2023).
3. Kumi Oguro, Candy Lambda print 35 x 35 cm – 2024, IBASHO.
4. Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Studies, Sisymbrium irio L., Courtesy Chrystel Lebas, April 2017.
5. Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Studies, Sisymbrium irio L., Courtesy Chrystel Lebas, April 2017.
6. Treachery, Prince Gyasi & Maāt Gallery.
7. Cristina Vatielli, Terra Mater, Costa della Morte, Galizia, (2022).
