PHotoESPAÑA 2025 will take place from April 30 to September 14 and will feature 103 exhibitions and the participation of 360 visual artists. Women lead 48% of the exhibitions and Spanish artists make up 59% of the programme.

After all is the title of this year’s edition, highlighting photography as a medium deeply aware of its context and the present moment. A reflection on the image as both witness and instrument in the face of contemporary challenges—from historical memory to climate justice and new identities. The Festival asserts photography’s power to critically engage and transform a time marked by uncertainty.

After all is also the title of a group exhibition that will pay tribute to the legacy of Helga de Alvear. Featuring works from her Collection, the exhibition traces a century of European landscape transformation through architecture and photography, from Eugène Atget to the Düsseldorf School.

For the first time, PHotoESPAÑA introduces the concept of a guest country, dedicating a special section to Chile, with exhibitions by Lotty Rosenfeld, Julia Toro, Michael Mauney, and Martin Gusinde. Four distinct perspectives exploring political dissent, visual memory, and ancestral cultures through archive, testimony, and resistance.

PHotoESPAÑA reaffirms the documentary and symbolic value of photography as a raw material of democratic memory. Marisa Flórez and Rui Ochoa are the focus of two essential exhibitions tracing five decades of political, social, and cultural history in Spain and Portugal, from the Transition to the present.

The Festival strengthens its presence in the cultural heart of Madrid, reactivating the Prado–Castellana axis with the participation of major institutions such as Museo Nacional del Prado and Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, both once again part of the official programme. For the first time, Museo Nacional de Antropología and Museo Arqueológico Nacional join the Official Section, expanding the dialogue between historical heritage and contemporary creation. This cultural journey is completed by long-standing collaborators of the Festival such as Círculo de Bellas Artes, Fundación MAPFRE, Teatro Fernán Gómez. Centro Cultural de la Villa, Fundación Canal, and Sala Canal de Isabel II.

The 2025 edition brings together essential names from the history and present of international photography. From legends like Julia Margaret Cameron, Dora Maar, Ruth Orkin, and Edward Weston, to leading contemporary voices such as Duane Michals, Joel Meyerowitz, Graciela Iturbide, and Ayana V. Jackson, the programme offers a journey through different eras, styles, and perspectives, connecting the visual memory of the past with today’s most current practices.

PHotoESPAÑA 2025 celebrates the richness and diversity of Spanish photography, showcasing artists from different generations and visual languages. From the symbolic landscapes of José Guerrero to the critical and performative universe of Miss Beige, including key figures such as Nacho Criado, Joan Fontcuberta, and Isidro Ferrer, the Festival highlights the vitality of visual creation in Spain.