The 13th Wiesbaden Photography Days will begin on August 23, 2025, featuring contemporary photography exhibitions spread across the German city with free admission through September 7, 2025. The festival aims to bring contemporary photography into greater public focus, continuing a tradition that has showcased artistic and documentary photography since its founding in 2002.
Since its establishment, the Wiesbaden Photography Days has served as a festival for current artistic and documentary photography in Hesse's state capital. More than 400 participants have presented their work to broad audiences over the years. Photographers from around the world can apply to participate, with no stylistic or technical restrictions on submissions. The only requirement is that entries address the current festival theme through independent, high-quality photo series that reveal the photographers' personal positioning.
This year's theme, "Future? Which Future?", challenges artists to explore questions about what lies ahead. More than 30 artists will present their contributions in seven main exhibitions and two special exhibitions distributed across various cultural institutions throughout the city. The complete collection of shows forms a balanced mix of artistic and documentary photography, including journalistic reports. Some works incorporate video technology and artificial intelligence.
The festival venues include the City Museum at the Market, the Women's Museum Wiesbaden, the Art Association Walkmühle, the Art Association Bellevue Hall, the Art House Wiesbaden, the Active Museum Spiegelgasse, and the Ruprecht Contemporary Gallery. Featured works span diverse perspectives on the future theme, from Seunggu Kim's "Better Days" series at the City Museum to Pia Hertel's provocative "Wars R Us - Children are our Future" exhibition at the Women's Museum.
Notable exhibitions include Eva Bystrianska's "Zero Waste Jihlava," Tobias Kruse's "Landfill," Maartje Martisan's "Neverending End," and Katerina Belkina's "For All Mankind." The program also features Arne Grashoff's "Human Makes Human," Jürgen Altmann's "Talking Places," and FALK:BRVT.'s "Black Red Gold 2024." International perspectives are represented through works like Arez Ghaderi's "Hello Italy" and Mohammad Rakibul Hasan's "The Blue Fig" series.
To involve visitors in evaluating the contributions, the festival awards both a jury prize, presented on opening night, and a public choice award announced at the event's conclusion. The German Photography Society will host a discussion panel on August 30, 2025, titled "Images for the Future? Which Images?" as part of an extensive accompanying program.
Looking ahead, the Wiesbaden Photography Days will take place every three years in rotation with the Darmstadt Days of Photography and the RAY Photography Projects Frankfurt/RheinMain. This scheduling change reflects the festival's growing significance in the regional photography landscape. All exhibitions maintain free admission, ensuring broad public access to contemporary photographic art and documentation that explores humanity's relationship with an uncertain future.
