Celebrating a decade in the photography scene, PhotoKTM’s sixth edition continues to shape visual culture at home and abroad. This year, PhotoKTM brought together hundreds of photographers and visual artists from across the world, drawing in massive crowds to its exhibitions, talks, workshops, and community conversations. Over the years, the festival has covered subjects like who we are, how we live, and the power dynamics between people, using photography to show different stories and communities and how they shape the world around us.
The 2025 edition, themed “Global South Solidarities” tapped into the energy of the GenZ movement, sparking conversations about resistance, solidarity, and how communities across the Global South are shaping their own futures. The festival featured over 40 artists around the world, including Nepali photographers , along with eight emerging Nepali talents from the 2025 photo.circle offering a fresh and varied look at contemporary photography. The works on display told bold visual stories, reflecting shared histories, identities and cultural connections.
Guided by a clear curatorial direction,the exhibition included everything from documented photography to more experimental pieces, using archives to personal narratives. Some projects focused on everyday life and community stories while others looked at memory, a sense of belonging, and social change, showing how photography is being used in a more thoughtful and meaningful way.
By bringing local and international artists together the festival has opened doors for emerging photographers, encouraged fresh conversations about storytelling and strengthened the country’s creative community. These events give artists a platform to grow, collaborate and play a part in developing Nepal’s visual culture. It’s a space where photographers can experiment, learn from peers and find their voice. The diversity of work pushes local artists to challenge themselves and explore fresh approaches to storytelling.
For artists and the creative community, PhotoKTM shows that photography is more than just pictures, it’s a way to connect, share stories and bring people together, looking beyond individual works, the festival shows how photography in Nepal is evolving as a whole, opening doors and new ways of seeing the world.
And for readers and audiences the festival offered a chance to see stories, histories and cultures across the Global South that they might not have encountered otherwise. The images encouraged reflection, sparked conversations and offered insights into shared struggles, solidarity and ways communities connect and support each other. PhotoKTM’s impact went beyond the exhibitions, helping audiences see how photography can tell powerful stories and connect people from different places and experiences.
