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Coşkun Aral

Istanbul Street Photography Festival has been organized since 2020!

Street photography is more than just an individual artistic activity; it is an event that brings photographers together and allows them to share their excitement. The Istanbul Street Photography Festival (ISFF) promotes street photography as a powerful tool for cultural communication and visual art by bringing this community together on a global platform. Unlike art, which generally requires individual and lengthy processes, photography is an instantaneous production and differs from other art forms in this respect. ISFF brings together photographers from around the world not on the basis of competition but on the basis of friendship, uniting streets, alleys, and cities under the common denominator of photography. This festival is not just a competition, but a comprehensive event that includes exhibitions, workshops, and conferences, aiming to create a new and contemporary global platform through photography.

The most distinctive feature of street photography is its ability to capture the natural and sincere moments of time that flows quickly. In addition to its documentary function, street photography, which is gaining increasing interest today, offers people a therapeutic tool within mechanized life, helping them escape from daily stresses. Photographers find joy both in taking photos and in examining the works of others, as photography is an art form concerned with beauty. Street photography not only captures the moment, but also embodies the cultural and historical values that carry the present and the past into the future in the background of each photograph taken. In this context, ISFF aims to combine urban culture in Istanbul with the cultures of other countries and cities, focusing on photography as both a visual art and a means of communication.

The growing popularity of street photography has led global photography companies to design their products according to the needs of street photographers. Especially with the development of mirrorless cameras in the last decade, smaller, easier-to-carry and use cameras have been produced to support street photography. Mirrorless cameras, seen as the greatest advancement since the digital photography revolution, have played an important role in the global spread of photography. ISFF aims to bring photographers together rather than “compete” and invites all photographers, amateur or professional, to come together in Istanbul. The festival contributes to promoting Istanbul as a meeting point of civilizations, welcoming photographers to this global city every year and continuing to build a global photography platform.

Other Street Photo Festivals

1. Aussie Street Photography Festival

  • Location: Sydney, Australia

  • Date: March

  • Format: In-person (exhibitions, talks, workshops)

  • Audience: Open to professionals and amateurs worldwide

  • Highlights: International competition, exhibitions of finalists

  • Website: aussiestreet.com.au

2. Italian Street Photo Festival (ISPF)

  • Location: Rome, Italy

  • Date: April

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Global participants, all levels

  • Highlights: Workshops, photowalks, contests, portfolio reviews, exhibitions

  • Website: italianstreetphotofestival.com

3. Dublin Street Photography Festival (DSPF)

  • Location: Dublin, Ireland

  • Date: May

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Experienced and emerging street photographers

  • Highlights: International photo competitions (single image, series), talks, exhibitions

  • Website: dspfestival.com

4. Oslo Street Photo Festival (OSPF)

  • Location: Oslo, Norway

  • Date: May

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: International, all levels

  • Highlights: Competitions, artist talks, workshops, community events

  • Website: ospf.no

5. Brussels Street Photography Festival (BSPF)

  • Location: Brussels, Belgium

  • Date: May

  • Format: In-person + online voting

  • Audience: Global professionals and amateurs

  • Highlights: Competitions, large-scale public exhibitions across Brussels

  • Website: bspfestival.org

6. Pisa Street Photography International Festival (PSPI)

  • Location: Pisa, Italy

  • Date: September

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Open to all international photographers

  • Highlights: Contests for single and series categories, exhibitions with 200+ selected images

  • Website: pspifestival.it

7. Gothenburg Street Photo Festival (GSPF)

  • Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

  • Date: September

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Open to all, includes a category for under 30

  • Highlights: Four competition categories, prizes up to 100,000 SEK, exhibitions

  • Website: gothenburgstreetphotofestival.com

8. Lisbon Street Photo Fest

  • Location: Lisbon, Portugal

  • Date: September

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Global open call

  • Highlights: Photo competition (single and series), €1000 prize, curated exhibition

  • Website: lisbonstreet.photo

9. Tehran Street Photography Festival

  • Location: Tehran, Iran

  • Date: December

  • Format: Online submissions + physical exhibition in Tehran

  • Audience: International (includes Iran-specific and global categories)

  • Highlights: $2500 in cash prizes, media visibility, printed exhibition

  • Website: tehranstreetphotographyfestival.com

10. Tokyo Street Photography Festival (TSPF)

  • Location: Tokyo, Japan

  • Date: October

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Open to all street photographers

  • Highlights: Jury-curated group exhibitions (no cash prize), artist-led setup

  • Website: frametokyo.com/tspf

11. Women Street Photographers Festival (WSPF)

  • Location: New York, USA

  • Date: April

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Female-identifying photographers worldwide

  • Highlights: Curated exhibitions, photowalks, panels, no competition

  • Website: womenstreetphotographers.com

12. Montreal Street Photography Festival (MSPF)

  • Location: Montreal, Canada

  • Date: September

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: Open to all

  • Highlights: Talks, panels, community discussions; no contest in first edition

  • Website: mspfestival.ca

13. Mexico Street Photo Fest (MXSPF)

  • Location: Querétaro, Mexico

  • Date: October–November

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: International street photographers

  • Highlights: Sony-sponsored competition, over 200 photographers, large public exhibitions

  • Website: mxstreetphotofest.com

14. Miami Street Photography Festival (MSPF)

  • Location: Miami, USA

  • Date: December

  • Format: In-person

  • Audience: International, high-profile participants

  • Highlights: Prestigious competitions and exhibitions.

  • Website: miamistreetphotographyfestival.org

15. LagosPhoto Festival (includes street & documentary photography)

  • Location: Lagos, Nigeria

  • Date: October–November

  • Format: In-person (citywide exhibitions)

  • Audience: African and international emerging/established photographers

  • Highlights: Biennial festival with strong thematic curation (2025 theme: “Incarceration”)

  • Website: lagosphotofestival.com