Open Call 2026 - Submissions are Live !
The Cape Town Photography Festival invites photographers from around the world
to submit work for the 2026 edition of the festival, which will take place from
2–26 September 2026 across multiple venues in Cape Town.
The theme for this year is TRUTH.
In a time increasingly shaped by image saturation, digital manipulation, and artificial intelligence,
photography’s long-standing relationship with truth has become both unstable and urgent.
The festival invites submissions that reflect on how truth is constructed, mediated, challenged,
and reimagined through the photographic image.
We are particularly interested in work that engages with the theme through the following lenses:
Personal Truth
Real, raw, and subjective experiences
Social Truth
Marginalised narratives, overlooked histories, and contested realities
Technical Truth
The camera versus AI, and the shifting authority of the photographic image
Festival Exhibitions (2025)
About the Cape Town Photo Festival
The inaugural edition of this festival, held between 3 – 27 September 2025 was a great success. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this success: our sponsors, photographers, speakers and the audience. Cape Town also affirmed its place as a hub for photographic dialogue and exchange.
2 – 26 September 2026 – TRUTH as the theme.
Photographs have long been trusted as evidence in courts and newsrooms. Yet today, images are easily manipulated, re-contextualised, and weaponised. Under the theme TRUTH, the festival aims to examine photography’s role in shaping belief, memory, and power. It is not a search for certainty, but more about how TRUTHS are produced, challenged, and resisted.
Heidi Erdmann Festival Director. Portrait by Sean Wilson. Cover image: Kosei Taniguchi (2025)
