"In late June, one of Korea's biggest photography festivals comes to Nodeul Island. 〈Photo Festa 2026 International〉, now in its fourth year under Fujifilm. It opens Saturday, June 20, and closes Sunday, June 28."
The Theme: IN-BETWEEN
This season's curatorial direction fits in one sentence: the moment held still between scenes, between people and their relationships, where record and feeling meet. Rather than dramatic scenes, the weight falls on feelings that are hard to put into words, moments that brush past in daily life, and the small gaps and lingering traces they leave. The result gathers many strands in one place: documentary and record, fine art photography, landscape, figures and portraits, commercial work, street and everyday life, family and relationships, life with companion animals, youth and labor, the rhythms of life and personal memory.
It is an attempt to shift the focus from 'the one dramatic frame' to 'the one frame held still in between.'
Scale and Space
The festival uses two spaces on Nodeul Island: Nodeul Gallery Hall 1 (250 pyeong, about 826 m²) and Hall 2 (150 pyeong, about 496 m²). Nine days in total. Open 10:00 – 20:00, closed Mondays.
After final judging by three jurors trusted in photography circles at home and abroad, 15 series photographers and 20 single-image photographers were selected, 35 exhibitors in all.
- Grand prize, series category Lee Chan-hui. A Fujifilm X-H2 body, an XF16-50mm lens and 3,000,000 won in prize money.
- Grand prize, single-image category Hwang Jin-su. 1,000,000 won in prize money.
Series Category (15)
Lee Chan-hui (grand prize), Kim Dong-hui, Kim Su-ho, Park Cheol-gyu, Yoon Ji-hye, Lee Han-moe, Lee Hyo-gyeong, Lim Hyeong-jun, Jang Jeong-hun, Jeong Jun-yeong, Choi Hyeon-ju, Heo Seong-hyeon, Hwang Su-chan, Cyril CHAN, Matthias LEY.
Single-Image Category (20)
Hwang Jin-su (grand prize), Kong Hye-ji, Kim Myeong-jun, Kim So-yeon, Park Gwang-muk, Park Jeong-bae, Oh Geum-nam, Yoon Seong-min, Lee Nam-ji, Lee Jun-yeong, Lim I-jeong, Lim Jong-hun, Jang Bo-gyeong, Jeong Dong-uk, Jeong U-jin, Jo Sun-min, Choi Seung-yeon, Han Seung-wan, Hong Min-u, Adhiningsih Fajar Nuraini.
Five Programs Alongside the Main Exhibition
This Photo Festa is more than the main exhibition. Five open-call and exchange programs that Fujifilm runs in the same season sit alongside it, and each one leads to its own exhibition or awards.
- 〈A Thousand Cameras: Recording Seoul and UNESCO Heritage〉 (천 개의 카메라 — 서울과 유네스코 유산 기록)
- 〈A Thousand Hopes: Donation to Myanmar Refugee Schools〉 (천 개의 희망 — 미얀마 난민학교 도네이션)
- 〈Global Photo Exchange Special Exhibition: Each Other's Outside〉 (글로벌 사진 교류 특별전 — 서로의 바깥)
- 〈Fujifilm Korea Global Mileage Award × KYOTOGRAPHIE KG+〉
- 〈Korea–Taiwan Photobook Exchange〉 (한국 – 대만 사진집 교류)
Put the main exhibition and side programs together and the picture that emerges is less a simple photo contest than Fujifilm as a platform for developing photographers. In its fourth year, it is growing from a domestic platform into a stage for exchange across East Asia.
"We look not at one scene but between two scenes, not at one person but between two people."
At a Glance
A photo exhibition built around the word 'between.' It opens on the second weekend of June (6.20) and closes on the Sunday of the fourth week (6.28). See it together with other June photo shows such as 〈Come Back Home〉 and 〈Objects in Oscillation〉, and your view of June's photography gets that much fuller.
Visitor Information
Nodeul Gallery Halls 1 and 2, Nodeul Island (445 Yangnyeong-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)
2026.6.20 (Sat) – 6.28 (Sun) / 10:00 – 20:00 / Closed Mondays
Opening 6.20 (Sat) 16:00
Official: fujifilm-korea.co.kr · fujifilm-archive.kr
