Bursa is known for its historical texture and cultural depth, but these days, the sound of camera shutters is echoing through the city. This time, we’re taking Apartment No: 26’s art route outside Istanbul, to South Marmara. The Bursa International Photography Festival (FotoFest), one of the most established gatherings of photography in Turkey, has opened its doors for the 15th time.
The festival runs until January 12, 2026. If your path leads to Bursa or you’re considering a weekend getaway just for this visual feast, here are the details.
Organized in collaboration with Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the City Council, and BUFSAD, this year’s festival focuses on the theme “Moment of Fracture.” Curated by Gülbin Özdamar Akarçay and Özcan Yurdalan, the event goes beyond mere aesthetic frames; it narrates the pains of our era, societal and personal fault lines, in a visual language.
Spread across 10 different venues, the exhibitions bear witness to many “moments of fracture”—from the climate crisis to migration, from war to the search for identity.
The festival’s international dimension is particularly strong. 15 foreign photographers bring stories from their own geographies to Bursa:
Forough Alael (Iran): Tells the story of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement through the power of women.
Abir Abdullah (Bangladesh): Documents how rising waters due to the climate crisis affect local communities.
Issa Touma (Syria): Focuses on the stories of girls growing up in the shadow of war.
FEMLENS Collective: By teaching documentary photography to women from Afghanistan to the USA, enables them to tell their own stories.
In the national selection, there are 15 master names. Amid discussions on digitalization and artificial intelligence, Durmuş Bahar uses digital collage and hybrid techniques in “Zero Point: Timeless Journey.”
Meanwhile, Bülent Kılıç lays bare the collapse of a country with his 14 years of experience in Syria; Emin Altan turns his lens to the Chernobyl disaster, and Sinan Kılıç to climate issues.
One of the most exciting innovations this year is the inclusion of photography collectives in the festival for the first time. Eight collectives that transform photography from an individual act into a collective production space are taking their place in Bursa.
Moreover, the festival opens space not only to professionals but also to youth, children, and individuals with disabilities. With the goal of being a festival where people are not just “viewers” but “producers,” works by high school students and child photographers are exhibited side by side with professional shows.
