PHotoEspaña 2014, the 17th edition of the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, will take place from 4 June to 27 July, 2014.

The festival programme has always been structured around a central theme, exploring it fully and consistently. The last three editions were curated by Gerardo Mosquera, and as PHotoEspaña embarks upon a new era it seeks to showcase Spanish photography, which over recent years has played a minor role in the programme.

To that end, the next three editions of PHotoEspaña will focus their exhibition programmes on specific geographical areas, with a view to offering a wide-ranging survey of the development of photography in these areas, and to exploring its strength and energy without being bound to a particular theme. PHE14 will be devoted to Spanish photography, PHE15 to Latin-American photography, and PHE16 to European photography.

PHotoEspaña 2014, addressing Spanish photography, seeks to provide not only a platform for giving greater coverage to well-known photographers, but also a showcase for the work of younger, less-known artists. It aims to surprise, to reappraise the work of certain groups and movements, and to highlight the photography of artists whose careers deserve to be more widely known.

PHE14 begins a new period for the festival. For the next three editions, the exhibition programme will explore geographic areas, rather than conceptual themes. Furthermore, the programme will be remain plural, featuring proposals from several curators.

PHotoEspaña 2014 will focus on Spanish photography and aims to: strengthen the visibility of achieved photographers, include creators and emerging generations, bring back artistic groups and movements, and present authors who´s artistic career deserves a wider recognition.

PHE14, which will explore the richness, energy and sheer variety of Spanish photography over the whole of the twentieth century to the present day, even taking in part of the nineteenth century, will be structured around four major elements:
-An examination of the work of classical photographers, through exhibitions like Early Spanish Photography (1850-1870), curated by Isabel Ortega, Antonio Arissa, curated by Valentín Vallhonrat and Rafael Levenfeld, and José Ortiz Echagüe: North Africa, curated by Javier Ortiz Echagüe.
-A survey of the artists who have helped to take Spanish photography in new directions at particular times in history, including Josep Renau: The American Way of Life, curated by Josep Vicent Monzó.
-A look at photographers whose work reflects the radical changes taking place in photography with the introduction of digital technology and mobile phones, such as the Fotografía 2.0 group, in an exhibition curated by Joan Fontcuberta.
-An appraisal of a whole generation of young artists who are breathing new life into Spanish photography and making their mark abroad, through exhibitions like P2P Contemporary practice in Spanish Photography, curated by Charlotte Cotton, and the 30y3 team, Iñaki Domingo and Luis Díaz Díaz.

This year’s Festival also seeks:
-To revisit the work of groups like La palangana, in an exhibition curated by José María Parreño.
-To showcase the work of photographers whose careers deserve greater recognition, such as Rafael Sanz Lobato and Eugeni Forcano, or the 70s generation of documentary photographers: So Near, So Far. Documentary photography in the 1970s, curated by Cristina Zelich.
-To highlight work by female photographers who have hitherto been largely neglected in the Festival, through exhibitions such as In the Memory, curated by Julio César Abad Vidal and Oliva María Rubio.