Art Photographers to Watch: Our 2025 Selection

Finding the art photographers who will shape the visual world in 2025 can feel overwhelming amid countless exhibitions and photo festivals.
Our selection of the top photographers to watch includes both established artists and emerging talents who are pushing the boundaries of contemporary photographic creation.
From Kourtney Roy to the new wave of Belgian photographers and the innovative sectors of Paris Photo, discover the
artists who will define 2025 through their vision and unique artistic work.

Table of Contents

1. Kourtney Roy
2. Jeanne Lucas
3. Orianne Ciantar Olive
4. PODA
5. Young Belgian Photographers
6. Digital Sector Artists at Paris Photo
7. Voices Sector Artists at Paris Photo
8. Emergence Sector Artists at Paris Photo
9. Comparison

Kourtney Roy

Kourtney Roy, a Canadian photographer and filmmaker, will be the guest of honor at the Rencontres de la Jeune Photographie Internationale in Niort in 2025.
Her work explores themes of identity and perception through carefully staged scenes that play with pop culture codes.
Winner of the Swiss Life Four-Hand Prize, she shares this distinction with composer Mathias Delplanque for their multimedia piece.

The “Vertigo” exhibition at Villa Pérochon offers a cross-sectional view of her work spanning over ten years.
This immersive installation shifts between hypnotic and unsettling atmospheres, inviting viewers to question their relationship with images.
Roy uses her own image as a starting point for creations that blur the lines between reality and fiction,
creating a truly unique photographic experience.

Jeanne Lucas

Jeanne Lucas documents the adolescence of Niort’s youth in a photographic saga spanning three years.
Her compelling work will be exhibited at the upcoming Rencontres de la Jeune Photographie Internationale in Niort.
This local artist addresses teenage concerns such as friendship, family, and romantic relationships through her sensitive lens.

The photographer explores youth by immersing herself in the daily lives of Niort’s teenagers.
She joins their parties and follows them in both school and extracurricular activities to capture genuine moments.
Her documentary approach combines precision and empathy as she develops a unique rapport with her subjects.

Orianne Ciantar Olive

Orianne Ciantar Olive stands out in the world of fine art photography through her immersive installations that radically transform the viewer’s experience.
This contemporary artist challenges traditional codes by integrating photography into environments where reality and virtuality blend harmoniously.
Her portfolio features works that capture the attention of international galleries and museums, especially for her unique approach to identity issues through an innovative artistic lens.

Orianne Ciantar Olive’s interactive installation planned for 2025 promises to further push the boundaries of the photographic medium.
By combining augmented reality with photography, she offers visitors an experience in which they become an integral part of the creation.
The images are no longer static but evolve based on the audience’s movements and reactions, creating a constant dialogue between the work and its observer.
This immersive approach redefines our relationship with images and opens up new perspectives in the field of contemporary art.

PODA

PODA (Petites Œuvres D’Art – Small Works of Art) is an innovative artistic initiative that exhibits reduced-format photographic prints measuring 9×12 cm.
This concept comes to life in the narrowest house in Niort, nicknamed the “wafer house”, which is only 1.40 meters wide.
Philippe Guionie, director of the city’s Center for Contemporary Photographic Art, came up with the idea to use this unusual location to
democratize access to fine art photography.

Visitors can purchase these works for the accessible price of €49, making fine art photography affordable to a broader audience.
The exhibition draws many enthusiasts who come both to discover the works and to visit this architectural curiosity on Niort’s port.
The small format of the photographs, displayed in black boxes, creates a unique visual experience.

Here are the participating photographers in the 2025 PODA exhibition:

• Robert Doisneau: This renowned photographer adds greater visibility to the exhibition.
• Michel Bousquet: Showcases his photos in reduced format.
• Fatoumata Diabaté: One of the featured artists.
• Laure Vasconi: Contributes to this small works collection.

The reduced format significantly transforms photographic creation and imposes a specific discipline on the artists.
They must focus their expression on the essential, favoring message strength over unnecessary detail.
This creative constraint results in remarkably intense works where every element must earn its place within the limited frame space.

Young Belgian Photographers

Contretype, a renowned art center in Brussels, actively supports emerging photographic creation in Belgium.
This dynamic space particularly accompanies artists from Brussels and Wallonia on their path to professionalization.
The “Archipel” project stands out by selecting young talents under 40 to exhibit their work.
A panel of experts reviewed 93 applications for the second edition, highlighting a female-dominant selection that illustrates the diversity of contemporary photographic practices.

These young Belgian photographers address environmental themes with particular sensitivity.
For instance, Lucas Leffler explores the history of silver pollution near the former Agfa Gevaert factory in his book Zilverbeek.
The Emotion’Ailes competition showcases photographs testifying to the human impact on natural ecosystems.
These emerging artists are thus redefining fine art photography by using their work as a means of
investigating ecological issues, creating a new form of committed art that resonates with the concerns of our time.

Digital Sector Artists at Paris Photo

The Digital Sector at Paris Photo 2025 features a sharp selection of artists exploring the boundaries between
traditional photography and digital arts.
This innovative section of the world’s largest international fair dedicated to photography is especially appealing to collectors seeking the latest artistic trends.
Located in the heart of the Grand Palais, this sector highlights works where technology becomes a creative tool in its own right.

The integration of digital realities into contemporary fine art photography is radically transforming what we consider to be an image.
To learn more about the international fair dedicated to photography and image-making, visit the
Paris Photo website.
The artists presented in the Digital Sector navigate between physical and virtual media, creating a new dialogue between
photographic tradition and technological innovation.
Their creations explore themes such as virtual identity, digital memory, and new visual perceptions induced by our screens.

Voices Sector Artists at Paris Photo

The Voices sector at Paris Photo represents a significant curatorial initiative within this international fair.
For each edition, renowned curators are invited to develop a proposal around contemporary themes, highlighting a selection of international artists.
Dr. Devika Singh and Nadine Wietlisbach are leading this sector for the 2025 edition, bringing their expertise to the selection of photographers showcased in this space dedicated to current photographic creation.

Identity and social themes are at the core of the works presented in this sector.
Similar to the “Liberated Bodies” selection curated by Azu Nwagbogu in the previous edition, participating artists question the notion of archives and the supposed objectivity of representations.
The *Portraits du Cœur* project, scheduled for January 2025 in several cities across France, perfectly illustrates this approach by using photography as a tool for dignity and social connection for beneficiaries of the French charity *Secours populaire*.

Emergence Sector Artists at Paris Photo

The Emergence sector of Paris Photo 2025 is a privileged showcase for discovering innovative talents in the photographic world.
This platform, specifically created to spotlight emerging artists, offers international visibility that can be crucial for a photographer’s career.
At the Grand Palais, festival visitors will be able to explore new work that defines the latest trends in contemporary artistic creation.

The solo shows featured in this sector stand out for their creative boldness and novel approaches to the photographic medium.
Selected artists use cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence to create striking visual compositions.
Some work with mirrorless cameras, praised for their lightweight design and outstanding autofocus speed, while others revisit analog photography, blending it with digital techniques to produce fascinating hybrid works.

Comparison

Each photographer featured in this 2025 selection brings a unique perspective on the world.
Kourtney Roy captivates with her unsettling staged scenes, while Jeanne Lucas immerses herself in teenage life with sensitivity.
Orianne Ciantar Olive’s installations challenge our relationship to images through interaction, and the PODA concept democratizes photographic art.
Young Belgian photographers bring fresh energy and ecological concerns to the table.
The specialized sectors of Paris Photo reveal the many facets of contemporary creation — from digital innovation to identity issues and bold new artistic proposals.
To better understand these different approaches, visit our dedicated page on fine art photographers.

This varied selection reflects the richness of contemporary fine art photography.
The new generation of creators pushes the traditional boundaries of the medium by exploring timely themes such as identity, marginalized realities, and environmental issues.
Their works, exhibited at various festivals and shows across France, testify to the creative effervescence of emerging photography.
Discover examples of inspiring artistic photography to help you refine your choices.

Each artist adopts a distinctive approach and visual language that deserves attention.
The international exhibition proposed by Paris Photo in 2025 provides an exceptional showcase for appreciating these diverse methods and trends.
The photographers express themselves through a wide range of formats, techniques, and mediums — from reimagined analog processes to the most innovative digital explorations.
Depending on your aesthetic and thematic preferences, you’ll find the artist who resonates with your sensibility.
Explore our fine art photography gallery to find the artist that matches your vision.

This selection of fine art photographers for 2025 reflects the dynamic nature of contemporary photographic creation.
From Orianne Ciantar Olive’s immersive installations to Jeanne Lucas’s intimate portrayals of youth in Niort,
these artists are redefining the boundaries of the medium.
At Paris Photo and in local initiatives like PODA, the future of fine art photography is being shaped by
singular perspectives that challenge how we see the world.