Wednesday, Dec 10, 2025
6-8 pm Opening Night at New Orleans Museum of Art, NOMA Auditorium, 1 Collins Diboll Circle
Join us to open the 20th PhotoNOLA Festival with a screening of Chasing the Light: A Life Through Photographs — a new documentary celebrating the life and legacy of renowned New Orleans photographer and gallerist Joshua Mann Pailet. Presented in partnership with the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).

Thursday, Dec 11, 2025
9 am-4 pm Portfolio Reviews
6-11 pm Keynote Lecture by Zanele Muholi at Le Petit Theatre – Tickets
Black & White Gala at Tableu – Tickets

Due to construction at the corner St. Peter and Chartres Streets, the entrances of La Petite Theatre and Tableau are not directly accessible via vehicle. La Petite Theatre and Tableau can still be accessed via sidewalks, which are open. Parking is available in public lots on Toulouse between Chartres and Decatur and across Decatur Street. 

Friday, Dec 12, 2025
9 am-2:30 pm Portfolio Reviews
3:30-4:30 pm Artist talk with Portfolio Prize Recipient Kennedi Carter and Michael P Smith Award winner Camille Lenain, Arthur Roger Gallery
5:30pm Walkthrough of The Unending Stream: Chapter II exhibition by curator Richard McCabe, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
6-7 pm CURRENTS Showcase Exhibition, Patron Preview, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
7-9 pm PhotoWALK Exhibition, PhotoBOOK Publisher and Sponsor Fair, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
9-til Nightcap at Loa Bar at the International House Hotel

Saturday, Dec 13, 2025
11 am-4 pm PhotoBOOK Fair, artist talks, book signings, Ogden Museum of Southern Art
5 pm-til Citywide Exhibition Openings
9 pm Closing Party in partnership with f/504 at Fourth Wall, 614 Gravier Street

Sunday, Dec 14, 2025
1-4 pm The 2025 Jules L. Cahn John H. Lawrence Photography Lecture series + Community Gathering, presented in partnership with the Historic New Orleans Collection, supported by the Cahn Family. Wrap up PhotoNOLA Festival with the annual Cahn-Lawrence Lecture, exploring the theme “New Orleans in the ’90s.” This special program reflects on the city’s photographic life before the digital era — from fine art and photojournalism to the community snapshots that captured everyday culture before Hurricane Katrina.