PHotoESPAÑA festival: exhibitions across Madrid

PHotoESPAÑA opened its 29th edition in Madrid on May 13, with exhibitions and related events spread across museums, cultural centers and galleries through September 13. Tourism Madrid and the festival’s organizers say the 2026 edition is built around the theme “Reimagining,” with a program focused on photographic experimentation, the limits of the image and challenges to what is presented as reality or authority. (esmadrid.com) More than 40 exhibitions make up the official section, and the broader festival map extends to about 100 proposals across nine cities, according to the festival website. Madrid remains the main hub, with nearly 50 spaces involved in this year’s edition. (phe.es) ### Which exhibitions are already open in Madrid this week? May 13 marked the opening of Isabel Azkarate’s “Azkarate vs. Azkarate” at Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga, according to a PHotoESPAÑA press notice. The show pairs recent images made with a Xiaomi 17 Ultra smartphone with photographs from more than 40 years of Azkarate’s archive, the festival says. May 14 brought the opening of “Espacio fotolibros,” also at Serrería Belga. PHotoESPAÑA describes it as a group exhibition dedicated to the range and complexity of the contemporary photobook, with sections on Latin American and children’s photobooks. (esmadrid.com) ### Which names anchor the official section? Tourism Madrid lists Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Colita, Isabel Muñoz and Isabel Azkarate among the headline names in the 2026 official section. The city’s event page also identifies Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen’s “LUX & UMBRA” at Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa as one of the festival’s central exhibitions. (phe.es) PHotoESPAÑA says Sassen’s exhibition is her first major show in Spain and spans more than three decades of work, bringing her personal practice into dialogue with her fashion photography in audiovisual and photo-sculptural formats. (phe.es) Tourism Madrid says the Netherlands is the invited country this year, with programming centered at Círculo de Bellas Artes and Fernán Gómez, alongside participation in the professionals program. ### What major openings are still ahead? May 29 is the opening date for Robert Frank’s “The Americans” at Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Madrid, according to the PHotoESPAÑA exhibition page. The festival says it will be the first time the complete series has been shown in Spain, and the exhibition is scheduled to run through Nov. 1. (esmadrid.com) Richard Avedon’s “In the American West” is also part of the 2026 program. PHotoESPAÑA describes it as a presentation of the 1985 photobook project with previously unseen materials tied to the making of the work. ### How broad is the festival beyond museum shows? (phe.es) PHotoESPAÑA says the 2026 edition includes an official section, the OFF Festival and the PHE Circuit. Tourism Madrid says the OFF Festival is designed around galleries and the photographic market, while the PHE Circuit broadens the program with additional venues and formats. (phe.es) The festival’s website says open calls and professional programming remain part of the structure this year. Descubrimientos PHE, a portfolio-review and networking program for photographers, is scheduled for June 4 and 5 at Serrería Belga in Madrid. (phe.es) ### Where should readers check before going? Tourism Madrid says the festival runs across multiple venues rather than a single fairground or museum site, and the PHotoESPAÑA website separates exhibitions, activities and agenda listings by date and place. That matters because some headline shows opened on May 13 and 14, while others, including Robert Frank’s exhibition, begin later in May. (esmadrid.com) September 13 is the closing date for the 2026 edition, according to Tourism Madrid and the festival homepage. Before then, visitors can track venue-specific schedules through the PHotoESPAÑA agenda and Madrid’s tourism listings, with Robert Frank’s May 29 opening and the June 4-5 Descubrimientos program among the next dated milestones on the calendar. (phe.es) (esmadrid.com)