Capture the Moment: Your Ultimate Guide to February 2025 Photography Festivals and Exhibitions

Next month, photography enthusiasts can look forward to events featuring Matthieu Croizier at PhMuseum Lab, the Exposure Photography Festival, Emma Sarpaniemi at NEVVEN, Mika Sperling at Foto Forum, and Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025.

Bologna, Italy / 5 February – 3 April

The artworks of Matthieu Croizier delve into the fluidity of identity, confronting conventional beauty ideals. The Swiss creator celebrates the different, the novel, and the grotesque, crafting surreal scenes that depict transformative bodily experiences. The visuals encapsulate an act of metamorphosis. Reality becomes flexible, and objects are not sentenced to their original definitions. It serves as a tribute to the irregular, liberating bodies from societal expectations of appearance. Croizier distorts and shifts perspectives to cultivate a reality where the terms “beauty” and “ugliness” lose their significance. Monstrosity is embraced as both gentle and magnificent, while queerness manifests as a magical, ongoing transformation. If the images we commonly observe reflect our imagination, That Moment When You Can See The Crack In The World broadens our sense of possibilities. The nature of reality has become unrestricted and fluid.

In conjunction with Art City Bologna 2025 and Art City White Night during ArteFiera, the exhibition will feature special opening hours: 6-7 February from 5 pm to 7 pm, 8 February from 6 pm to midnight, and 9 February from 4 pm to 6 pm.

For additional information, visit PhMuseum Lab’s site.

Alberta, Canada / 6 February – 6 March

The Exposure Photography Festival each year showcases exhibitions featuring works by celebrated global artists alongside emerging and established talents from Alberta. The festival offers a diverse range of programming that encompasses exhibitions, community events, public art, and educational opportunities, delivering dynamic experiences to Calgary’s art-engaged audiences while also reaching out to and cultivating new photography enthusiasts. Featured artists include Anton Bou, Madeleine Brunnmeier, Diana Cheren Nygren, Hyojae Chung, Andy Mattern, Louie Morales, Eliot Nasrallah, Adetona Omokanye, Alina Saranti, Martha Tadesse, George Webber, Kelly Tsai, Saeed Abdollah, Tiffany Thomson, Masoud Alipourian, Rosemary Burd, Mitra Samavaki, among others.

Discover the comprehensive program on their site.

Gothenburg, Sweden / 30 January – 9 March

In partnership with PhMuseum Days 2024 and NEVVEN, Two Ways To Carry A Cauliflower highlights the debut solo exhibition in Sweden by Finnish artist Emma Sarpaniemi.

The photographic self-portrait is likely the medium by which this era of humanity will be remembered; Emma Sarpaniemi has revitalized this often-used format. This endeavor is not merely to rejuvenate and add intrigue to age-old techniques, but to subvert and establish a new dynamic, where the objectified and (male-)gazed upon assumes power, releasing the erotic and tender from societal judgments, while transforming the art world’s overly serious nature into playfulness. Through this distinctive ability, Sarpaniemi resonates with us in all her images: vibrant, humorous, witty, yet predominantly empowered, poised in her body and her narrative, setting new guidelines about acceptance and criticism – her own regulations.

Learn more on NEVVEN’s site.

Berlin, Germany / 1 February – 7 May

As an innovator in contemporary visual storytelling, Youkilis employs an iPhone and the social platform Instagram to disseminate his observations, organized into thematic categories, to his extensive audience. By transforming seemingly trivial events, he builds a visual archive at the crossroads of street, travel, food, and documentary photography that both acknowledges familiar tropes and engages with universal human experiences. Sam Youkilis’s work further illuminates the roles and impact of photography in today’s mass media and our rapidly evolving visual culture: In what ways do smartphones and social networks alter our interactions with photography? How do images help us construct our identities, convey our experiences, and derive significance?

Explore further on C/O Berlin’s site.

Hamburg, Germany / 21 February – 17 August

Curated by Nadine Isabelle Henrich, this exhibition delves into the interplay between the body, movement, and societal systems in both physical and digital landscapes, focusing on documentary and conceptual works within contemporary performance, portraiture, and dance photography. As a choreography – portraying the interplay of bodies in motion – States Of Rebirth investigates how our perceptions, gestures, and emotional expressions simultaneously mirror, define, and transform our negotiation of social change. Featured artists include Khing Wai Bei, Felipe Romero Beltrán, Moshtari Hilal, Naomi Lulendo, Ana Maria Sales Prado, Roxana Rios, Aykan Safoğlu, Isaac Chong Wai, and Farren van Wyk.

Find out more on their site.

Igualada, Spain / 21 February – 16 March

The primary aim of FineArt is to bring photography closer to diverse demographics, enliven the venues hosting the exhibitions, and position Igualada as a hub for photography and design. The exhibition spaces encompass schools, the municipal market, cultural installations, former factories, and currently unused buildings, promoting design and local industrial architecture. In addition to the photographic displays, cultural initiatives such as talks, panel discussions, guided tours, and workshops for both adults and children will be facilitated.

Discover more on their site.

Al Jazirah Al Hamra, United Arab Emirates / 31 January – 28 February

Approximately 200 local and international artists have been invited to participate in the Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival, exploring this year’s theme Memory, which investigates the depths of their innermost reflections and feelings. They have engaged in personal journeys of self-exploration.and exploration to establish a collective communal area for catharsis, healing, and connection for this year’s festival. The diverse program of events features workshops, performances, films, tours, culinary adventures, discussions, and more. Additionally, the Cultural Weekend will honor Emirati cultural customs, craftspeople, and artists. The festival will also facilitate evening screenings of Japanese films in partnership with the Consulate General of Japan.

Explore the complete program on their website.

Bolzano, Italy / 14 January – 22 February

Mika Sperling’s exhibition addresses the intricate emotions associated with sexual violence through archival visuals, illustrations, photographs, and a theatrical performance. Sperling’s artistry confronts the silence surrounding abuse as she reflects on her personal experiences with her late grandfather. The exhibition investigates themes of memory, erasure, and familial complicity, fostering a space for healing and accountability. I Have Done Nothing Wrong emerges as a love letter to herself and to the years of silence endured.

Discover more on Foto Forum’s website.

Stockholm, Sweden / 18 October – 2 March

Historically, humanity has gazed at the stars, striving to comprehend what lies beyond. Space represents the potential for expanding the outer boundaries of possibility, our pursuit to uncover the unknown, and venturing into the unfamiliar. All while posing the timeless questions of our identity and where we fit within this vastness. In this exhibition, expression intertwines with scientific findings through the works of 13 photographers, each examining space from their unique viewpoints. The participating photographers include Rhiannon Adam, Mackenzie Calle, Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, Vincent Fournier, Brooke Holm, Darya Kawa, Michael Najjar, Mikael Owunna, Matjaž Tančič, Gilleam Trapenberg, Thomas Vanz, Ming Wong, Cecilia Ömalm, and Göran Östlin.

Learn more on their website.