FotoFest Brings the World Of Photography To Houston With an Auction To Swoon Over — An Art Guru’s Inside Look

The internationally acclaimed FotoFest Biennial is back in Houston with its 2026 edition “Global Visions – FotoFest at 40,” marking four decades of groundbreaking work in photography and lens-based art.

The biennial honors cofounders Wendy Watriss and the late Fred Baldwin, whose belief in photography’s power to foster meaningful dialogue and bridge cultures shaped FotoFest into one of the world’s most respected platforms for photographic arts. This milestone celebrates not only the organization’s longevity, but also the enduring mission that has guided it for 40 years.

Curated by Watriss and executive director Steven Evans, with co-curators Annick Dekiouk and Madi Murphy, the exhibition revisits defining works and themes from the 20 biennials presented between 1986 and 2024. More than 450 artists from the United States and 58 countries are represented, underscoring FotoFest’s extraordinary global reach.

The photographs and mixed-media works on view span themes of geography, identity, war, ecology and social change — demonstrating the organization’s sustained commitment to artistic dialogue and cultural exchange. By reconstituting key exhibitions and citywide presentations from across its history, the 2026 Biennial offers both a retrospective and a renewed call to consider photography’s role in shaping public discourse.

Among the most anticipated FotoFest programs is the live auction and gala set for this Tuesday, March 17. The 15th FotoFest Biennial Fine Print Auction will feature more than 50 carefully curated works selected by Evans, showcasing internationally acclaimed artists who continue to push the boundaries of photography.

Returning to lead the evening is charismatic auctioneer Jacqueline Towers-Perkins, formerly of Sotheby’s and Bonhams, promising spirited bidding and a celebratory atmosphere. Many participating artists have longstanding ties to FotoFest, while others are being introduced to its audience for the first time. Select auction works will also be included in the “Global Visions” exhibition.

Evans describes the 2026 auction as a symbol of the relationships cultivated over decades.

“The works reflect (the cofounders’) legacy; generous contributions from artists, collectors and galleries whose practices have converged with FotoFest across time and geography,” Evans says. “Together, they form not only a compelling offering for collectors, but a living tribute to the relationships, trust, and shared belief in the power of photography that Wendy and Fred cultivated from the very beginning.”

As FotoFest’s principal fundraiser, the auction plays a vital role in sustaining the organization’s mission. Proceeds directly support exhibitions, professional development initiatives, and the Literacy Through Photography learning program, which serves thousands of Houston-area students each school year.

At 40 years old now, FotoFest stands as both a reflection of photography’s evolving global language and a testament to Houston’s place in that conversation — continuing to foster connection, exchange and creative discovery across borders.

As an art advisor, I research and place artwork while also educating art seeking clients. Here are my Top Picks from the 2026 FotoFest Auction:

Edward Burtynsky, Coast Mountains #16, British Columbia, Canada, 2023. Pigment inkjet print on Kodak Professional Photo Paper, 30 x 40 inches, edition of 15, $12,500

Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky is internationally renowned for his large-scale photographs examining humanity’s transformation of the natural landscape. In Coast Mountains #16, he documents dramatically receding glaciers in British Columbia, capturing the image from a helicopter to emphasize both grandeur and vulnerability. Burtynsky was featured in the 2016 Biennial exhibition Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of Our Planet, which considered humanity’s relationship with the environment.

Carrie Mae Weems, All the Boys, 2017. Offset color lithograph, 16 x 20 inches, $9,500

American artist Carrie Mae Weems is known for her powerful conceptual photography addressing race, identity and social justice. All the Boys responds to the killings of young African American men and interrogates racial profiling and the criminalization of Black bodies. The diptych presents blurred, blue-toned portraits of young Black men wearing hooded sweatshirts, the indistinct faces evoking both anonymity and universality while the hoodie becomes a charged symbol.

Her work was displayed in the 2020 Biennial, “African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other.”

Doug and Mike Starn, With god on our side, 2025. Archival inkjet print mounted on wood, 22 x 16 inches, $10,000

Conceptual artists and identical twins Doug and Mike Starn work in a variety of media, including photography, sculpture and installation. With god on our side is an intriguing, curved work that emphasizes physical form as well as image. This piece is from the Under the Sky series, which explores the Starns’ ongoing fascination with constant movement, change and transformation in the natural world. The artists will exhibit work in the 2026 biennial.

Nancy Newberry, Escaramuza 02, 2017. From the series Smoke Bombs and Border Crossings, archival pigment print, 40” x 28” $5,500

Texas-based artist Nancy Newberry creates performative portraiture that examines identity, memory and cultural mythologies. Staged at the Texas-Mexico border, Escaramuza 02 draws inspiration from contemporary Spaghetti Western films, with an emphasis on theatrical costuming and staged narrative. FotoFest recently opened an installation of work from this series at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Osamu James Nakagawa, Amache 03, Granada, Colorado, 2022-2023. Archival pigment print, 16” x 16”, Edition 2/7 $4,500

Japanese-American photographer Osamu James Nakagawa investigates landscape, family, memory and personal identity inspired by his own transnational experience. This photograph depicts a stark, leafless “witness tree” that has stood through events of historical significance. In this case, the solitary tree stands at the site of the Amache incarceration camp, where Japanese Americans were forcibly confined during World War II. Nakagawa’s poetic work encourages viewers to reflect on how landscapes and the natural environment can carry the memory of historical trauma.

A solo show of Nakagawa’s work is currently on view at Houston’s Ellio Fine Art gallery.

MANUAL – Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom, Untitled, 2019. Archival pigment prints, diptych, 7.5” x 9.5” each, $2,500

MANUAL is the collaborative artistic duo of Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom. Pioneers in digital imaging, their work spans photography, film, video and digital media, as well as objects and installations. This untitled diptych reflects the pair’s longstanding exploration of perception, narrative and the subtle interplay between staged and observed imagery.

Suzanne Bloom passed away in 2025. In her honor, Moody Gallery organized a retrospective of MANUAL’s work, which is currently on view.

The FotoFest Fine Print Auction and Gala will take place this Tuesday, March 17 at the Hilton Houston Post Oak by the Galleria. For more information and to purchase tickets and tables, go here.

Author’s note: Haley Berkman Karren is an art advisor, appraiser, independent curator and writer who has reviewed at FotoFest’s The International Meeting Place Portfolio Reviews since 2016. She is also the founder and director of Karren Art Advisory, specializing in modern and contemporary art, photography and digital art.