The Louisville Photo Biennial, the region’s premier photographic festival, will be taking place from September 5 through November 9, 2025.  Embracing local, national and international photography, this festival offers workshops, competitions, public discussions and exhibitions at more than 50 different venues celebrating artistic excellence in the medium. The Photo Biennial represents a cooperative effort among regional museums, galleries, universities and other public venues. This festival gives the public an opportunity to learn about photography from historical and traditional images to present day contemporary work and from the global to the local, opening up meaningful dialogue and helping to bridge understanding in our diverse world.

The Biennial is excited to announce our Keynote Speaker for 2025 is photographer, writer and artist Sam Abell. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, he is known best for his 33 years as a staff photographer for National Geographic. Abell has five monographs: Stay This Moment, Seeing Gardens, Sam Abell: The Photographic Life, The Life of a Photograph, and Sam Abell Library and was inducted into the International Photographic Hall of Fame in 2024.

The Paul Paletti Gallery will host a show of Sam Abell’s photographs from September 1- December 31, 2025.