This September, the inaugural Cape Town Photography Festival will transform the city into a hub of visual storytelling. Running from 4 to 27 September 2025, the festival celebrates the theme of HERITAGE, offering audiences an immersive programme of exhibitions, talks, and workshops.
Timed with South Africa’s Heritage Month, the event invites reflection on identity, memory, and belonging through both local and international photographic perspectives.
Festival Director Heidi Erdmann explains that the theme emerged naturally:
“Heritage connects past, present, and future. It fosters belonging, grounds us in time and place, and helps us understand who we are.”
Reviving Cape Town’s Festival Spirit
Cape Town last hosted a major photography festival in 2014, and Erdmann believes the city is now ready for its revival. The local photographic landscape has flourished over the past decade, with a new generation of artists using the medium to interrogate pressing social, cultural, and political issues.
Erdmann, who has participated in every Cape Town photography festival since 1999, says a mix of inspiration and personal milestones gave her the final push to make 2025 a reality.
“Cape Town has matured into a vibrant, cosmopolitan centre for art and culture,” she says. “The diversity of practitioners and audiences makes this the perfect moment to relaunch.”
Global Voices, Local Stories
The festival programme spans an impressive range of perspectives and collaborations:
- Naoya Yoshikawa (Japan) and Suok-Won Yoon (South Korea), the festival’s co-curators, will each present solo exhibitions.
- Yoon’s Future Heritage exhibition features international artists including Boris Eldagsen (Berlin), a pioneer in AI photography, alongside South Africa’s Mohau Modisakeng and South Korea’s Ahn Jun and Koo Gi Jeong.
- Yoshikawa has curated a student photography showcase from Japan, presented in dialogue with Stellenbosch University students.
- From Mauritius, Karen Pang and Meha Desai bring an exhibition exploring the island’s layered heritage.
- Historic Cape Town will take centre stage through exhibitions on District Six at both the District Six Museum (Van Kalker Photo Studio archives) and the Cape Institute for Architecture (Jansje Wissema’s photographs).
- A significant loan from the Kilbourn Collection will be exhibited at the Sanlam Art Gallery.
- Music writer Carsten Rasch curates a vibrant music photography exhibition with accompanying events.
- Collaborations with artists Senzeni Marasela and Margaret Courtney-Clarke (Namibia) further expand the programme.
Photography for All Generations
Beyond exhibitions, the Talks Programme includes workshops, student-focused events, and public discussions designed to engage audiences across generations. A highlight is the Kids Eyes exhibition, paired with images from JM Coetzee’s Boyhood, which offers a glimpse of Cape Town through a teenager’s lens in the 1950s.
Erdmann believes this inclusivity is central: “We live in a world saturated with images, but in a festival context, photography reclaims its storytelling power. Our programme shows its elasticity—from documentary to constructed images, and even AI-generated work.”
Honouring the Past, Looking to the Future
South Africa’s history with photography runs deep, from struggle-era imagery to today’s explorations of identity and justice. The Cape Town Photography Festival embraces this legacy while spotlighting how photography continues to evolve as both an art form and a social mirror.
As Erdmann concludes: “This festival will show photography’s power to connect us—whether through memory, heritage, or imagination. It’s about creating meaningful engagement, across generations and cultures.”
Visit capetownphotofest.co.za for the full programme of exhibitions, talks, and workshops.
Watch this space for updates in the Events category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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