The festival is taking place until November 2 in Braga, Guimarães, Porto, Barcelos, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Vila Verde, featuring a program organized by 377 artists and 24 curators across 39 venues, organizers announced in a statement.
The event includes exhibitions by national and international artists, awards, artistic residencies, and parallel activities within the educational service framework, such as discussions, a film cycle, and portfolio readings, with special emphasis on the program Horizontes.
Photography serves as the central theme of the festival, which also explores other contemporary media, incorporating film, performance, installation, and video art, celebrating the diverse forms of visual expression today.
Under the theme ‘Manifestation of Interest’ and the artistic direction of Vítor Nieves, the festival’s program will be spread across more than 35 venues and structured into three curatorial axes: ‘Argumentários’, ‘Dissidências’, and ‘Transições’.
The ‘Argumentários’ axis, curated by Manuel Sendón, Xosé Lois Suárez Canal, Xosé Lois Vásquez, Rita Castro Neves, Daniel Moreira, Rui Prata, and Vítor Nieves, features works by artists including Adriana Freire, António Catarino, Antoine D’Agata, Graça Sarsfield, Martin Parr, Pedro Letria, and Vari Caramés. It aims to value the festival’s memories and historical narratives.
Among the central exhibitions is ’40 anos de festivais. Uma possível história da fotografia luso-galaica’, revisiting Outono Fotográfico, Fotobienal de Vigo, and Encontros da Imagem itself.
The ‘Dissidências’ segment, curated by Elina Heikka, José Bacelar, and Vítor Nieves, offers inclusive interpretations of photography, hosting artists who challenge conventions and foster dialogue between generations, such as Helena Almeida, Inês Moura, Patrícia Almeida, and JG Ballard.
The ‘Transições’ segment, curated by Daniel Bastos and Vítor Nieves, focuses on territorial relations and local identities, highlighting new ruralities and the dialogue between art, community, and environment.
Notable exhibitions include ‘A emigração portuguesa a salto’, featuring photographs by Gérald Bloncourt, and ‘Às paredes confesso’, which explores the relationship between individual experiences, politics, and culture.
The festival returns with the Encontros da Imagem, Fotobook, and Portfolio Reading awards, gathering national and international candidates.
The Encontros de Imagem award received 466 applications, with five finalists selected: Fabio Magara, Matevz Cebasek, Nastassja Nefjodov, Pierpaolo Mittica, and Stefanos Paikos.
The Encontros da Imagem Portfolio Reading will include 32 artists evaluated by an international jury, with the winner receiving an exhibition at the 2026 edition.
The Fotobook award received over 200 submissions, both national and international. Winners in the Best Published Book and Best Dummy categories will be announced during the Opening Week.
The program also includes artistic residencies, with André Rodrigues and Elisa Freitas developing projects in Braga, and an integrated educational service named ‘Horizontes’, designed for photography and visual arts students and professionals.
The organization emphasizes that this year, for the first time, the residency is not restricted to a 15-day format, allowing the two invited artists to develop their projects over an extended period, ranging from classic documentary to intimate narrative styles.
The festival’s program also features discussions, film cycles, portfolio readings, and other activities fostering dialogue between emerging artists and the international circuit.
Openings will take place in Braga and Vila Verde from September 18 to 20; in Porto from September 20 to October 25; in Guimarães from September 26 to 27; in Barcelos on September 25; and in Avintes, Vila Nova de Gaia, on October 4.
