Photo Book Summer

A vibrant new summer celebration of the photobook

The »Photo Book Summer« is a new Berlin festival dedicated to the photobook as an artistic medium. It will take place for the first time from 17 July to 22 September 2026 at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin’s Potsdamer Straße building and is organised by musuku – Museum of Subcultures.

Static and mobile exhibition formats are accompanied by events, workshops and the concluding »Photo Book Days« – featuring book stalls, talks and presentations by international guests.

The photo exhibition »Berlin Wonderland – Hidden Treasures« transforms the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Hall in the foyer of the Stabi into a sort of cabinet of curiosities.

The mobile exhibition »Berlin Wonderland Road Show« displays large-format photographs from the photo book of the same name on five converted cargo bikes.

The photo book exhibition »Fragments of the City« brings together the perspectives of various photographers, who collectively paint a multifaceted portrait of the city.

The first edition of »Photo Book Summer« is themed »Open Doors« and focuses on Berlin as a city of encounters, (sub)cultures and stories. The festival will showcase works by numerous photographers and publishers. Events taking place across the city extend the festival beyond the Stabi into the wider city.

Fotoausstellung Berlin Wonderland – Hidden Treasures

»Berlin Wonderland – Hidden Treasures« tells the story of the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, when Berlin-Mitte became a magnet for artists, visionaries, squatters and cultural figures from all over the world.

Amidst the crumbling façades of old buildings, a vast space of possibility emerged: clubs and bars, exhibition spaces and galleries opened their doors, whilst techno parties and performances invited people to discover the many vacant spaces in the city centre. The exhibition brings 1990s Berlin back to life and features images from the reissued photobook Berlin Wonderland – Wild Years Revisited 1990–1996 – supplemented by previously unseen material and newly discovered portfolios.

With photos by Ben de Biel, Joe Dilworth, Hendrik Rauch, Philipp von Recklinghausen, Andreas Rost, Stefan Schilling, Hilmar Schmundt, Brigitte Tast, Andreas Trogisch, Rolf Zöllner and a mysterious stranger whose first name is Anna.

Mobile Exhibition Berlin Wonderland Road Show

The mobile exhibition on bicycles, the »Berlin Wonderland Road Show«, is touring Berlin and, when unfolded, spreads out like the solar sails of a spaceship in the heart of the city to form a photography exhibition. It creates something astonishing – a kind of analogue ›before and after‹ effect, a link between the Berlin of yesterday and today, combined with a questioning of future possibilities and freedoms.

Photobook Exhibition: Fragments of the City

In the photo book exhibition »Fragments of the City« in the foyer of the Stabi, each book opens a window onto a different Berlin.

Featuring books by Wiebke Loeper, Arwed Messmer, Christian Reister, Florian Reischauer, Andreas Rost, Christoph Schieder, Maria Sewcz, Heiko Sievers, Frank Silberbach, Andreas Trogisch, Miron Zownir and others.
Curated by Joe Dilworth, Christian Reister, Anke Fesel and Chris Keller.

Print Swap Exhibition

On the opening night of »Photo Book Summer«, the Filmriss Photoclub is organising an open print swap with an accompanying pop-up gallery on the theme of »Berlin Wonderland«: visitors are invited to bring along 2–3 of their own photographic works and place them themselves on a growing exhibition wall. In this way, a collective, ever-changing exhibition will take shape over the course of the evening.

Photo Book Days

The highlight of the festival is the ‘Photo Book Days’ from 11–13 September, a weekend featuring the Thousandfold Photobook Fair, concerts, exhibitions, talks and presentations.
Registration for the Thousandfold Photobook Fair: dienacht.eu/thousandfold

»Photo Book Summer« is an initiative organised by musuku – Museum of Subcultures and is being run in collaboration with the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.