An Open-Air Photography Festival in the Heart of Tokyo

From October 4 to 26, 2025, the districts of Yaesu, Nihonbashi, Kyōbashi, and Ginza will host the T3 PHOTO FESTIVAL TOKYO 2025. For its seventh edition, this urban photography festival will take over streets and building facades across Tokyo, turning the familiar landscape of the city’s business quarters into an expansive open-air gallery.

Launched in 2017, the festival returns this year under a compelling theme: the ‘garden.’ The festival director, Ihiro Hayami, explains that he drew inspiration from the concept of the ‘moving garden’ developed by French gardener and thinker Gilles Clément. ‘The idea envisions the garden as a living organism, constantly evolving, shaped by natural forces rather than fixed by human hands. We wanted to transpose this vision to a metropolis like Tokyo, itself defined by flows and change.’

This theme also invites reflection on the festival’s very purpose: a photography festival at the heart of the city. ‘Kyōbashi was once home to numerous photo development laboratories, a place historically linked to photography. Today, modern office buildings dominate the area, yet the city remains built upon the traces of those who lived and worked here. By exhibiting works in this environment, we hope to spark unexpected encounters, exchanges, and dialogues between passersby and the images.’

This openness to everyone is central to the project. Regular commuters as well as casual passersby are invited to encounter art along the streets. ‘In a world where social media filters what we see according to our interests, stepping outside those boundaries can become a valuable experience. Whether one feels drawn to or repelled by the works, the important thing is to acknowledge these emotions and let them resonate.’

Among the festival’s highlights, several major exhibitions will take place, notably at Tokyo Midtown Yaesu. Visitors will encounter leading figures of contemporary international photography, including Stephen Shore. The festival will also present a collective exhibition featuring young photographers from Japan, China, and France, curated by a commissioner from the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, alongside a selection of works by emerging Japanese artists.

The program also includes numerous panels, with curators from the photography departments of major international museums in attendance. A photography fair, where selected works can be purchased, completes the offering.

‘Japanese photography enjoys global recognition,’ notes Ihiro Hayami. ‘Every year, many international professionals collaborate with us. After the United States, Japan is the country with the second-highest number of recipients of the Hasselblad International Photography Award, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of photography. Photography is a treasured part of Japan’s cultural heritage, and from Tokyo, we aim to share it with the world.’

For Hayami, the appeal of photography lies in its universal reach. ‘It is no longer confined to art alone. Photography now permeates daily life to the point of constituting a true visual infrastructure.’

His advice for fully enjoying the festival: take a stroll through the city with a camera in hand. Inspired by the works on display, visitors may find themselves seeing both the city—and their own perspective—anew.

T3 PHOTO FESTIVAL TOKYO 2025

Launched in Ueno in 2017, the T3 PHOTO FESTIVAL moved in 2020 to the districts east of Tokyo Station. Its name references the three ‘T’s identified by sociologist Richard Florida as essential to urban vitality: ‘Technology’, ‘Talent’, and ‘Tolerance’.