The 16th edition of the Photo Phnom Penh festival will take place from November 19 to December 19, 2025, in the heart of Cambodia's capital city. This month-long celebration of photography will serve as a major cultural bridge between Europe and Asia, bringing together diverse photographic traditions and contemporary visual storytelling.
The festival originated in 2008 through the initiative of the French Cultural Center, which has since become the French Institute of Cambodia. Over the years, Photo Phnom Penh has evolved into a significant platform for cultural dialogue and artistic exchange between the two continents. The festival continues to strengthen its position as a premier destination for photography enthusiasts and professionals alike.
The 2025 edition is designed to serve multiple audiences, catering to both emerging and established artists while remaining accessible to the general public. The festival creates opportunities for interaction between different genres of photography, fostering creative collaboration and artistic innovation. This inclusive approach ensures that various perspectives and styles within the photographic medium are represented and celebrated.
This year's program uniquely combines historical works with contemporary creations, establishing a broad temporal framework that encourages reflection on photography's relationship with the past, present, and future. The festival explores essential questions about how images influence our perception and memory, examining the ways photographs help us tell stories about the world and take action within it.
The curatorial approach focuses on several key themes, including the intersection between memory and creation, the balance between documentary and fiction, and the dynamic between transmission and reinvention. These concepts will be woven throughout the various exhibitions and programming, providing visitors with multiple entry points to engage with contemporary photographic discourse.
The festival's comprehensive program includes evening projection screenings, roundtable discussions, portfolio reviews, book presentations, workshops, and guided tuk-tuk tours of the exhibitions. These diverse activities ensure that participants can engage with photography through various formats, from intimate discussions to large-scale presentations. The complete schedule and additional information are available at https://www.photophnompenh.com/.
