Concept 2025

Fotografia Europea 2025 – 20th edition

Being twenty

April 24 – June 8, 2025

Opening days April 24, 25, 26, 27

I was twenty.
I will not allow anyone to say
that this is the best age of life.

Paul Nizan, Aden Arabia, 1961

Fotografia Europea turns 20 and celebrates this important milestone by dedicating the 2025 edition to a reflection on that precise period of life that most of all seems to open the doors wide to infinite possibilities.

In a person’s biography, 20 marks the shadow line, the end of innocence, and at the same time, the taste of freedom and independence. At 20, you can still become anything, but you discover you are alone, detached from the world and from your family heritage.

Being 20 is like sailing an ocean of possibilities without a precise map. It is an age of contradictions: you are an adult, but often still living at home with your parents; you are connected to the whole world, but the loneliness can be overwhelming.

You face immense expectations, both personal and social: finding a satisfying job, building meaningful relationships, giving purpose to your existence, imagining a better world, for ourselves and others.

However, uncertainty is a constant feature: economic instability, climate and social crises, as well as rapid technological transformations create a shifting and often slippery terrain. The widespread increases in anxiety and depression are signs of a progressive deterioration in a society’s ability to care for the new generations, to understand the questions we face from the future.

It is an age of big dreams and immense ideal challenges, where every day can provide an opportunity to discover who you are and who you want to become. In this complex and fascinating journey, you learn to live with fragility and strength, with fear and hope, with anger and joy, trying to find one’s place in the world, day after day.

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