Meet the Artist: Filips Smits
October 31, 15:00
Riga Takes Over 29.10–31.10
On the last weekend of October, Fotografiska Tallinn is handing the reins over to Riga. Riga Takes Over brings together Latvian contemporary photography, Riga’s food scene, indie sounds and a taste of the city after dark – from Thursday to Saturday and from the exhibition halls all the way up to the rooftop.
Half and hour with Filips Smits
One of the weekend’s key figures is Filips Smits – an artist making serious waves on the Latvian art scene, whose work is featured in this year’s Fotografiska Tallinn’s Emerging Artists exhibition, closing at the end of October.
On its final Friday, Filips will be there in person to open up his photographs, ideas and creative world to the audience.
Smits’ photographs are intriguing yet magnetic, playful and slightly off-kilter – the kind that make you stop and wonder what exactly is going on. In Emerging Artists 2026: Baltics and Finland, he is represented by the series Let’s Get Sun-Kissed, a surreal meditation on self-love, time and our connection to the world around us.
About the artist
Filips Smits (b. 1996, Latvia) is a photographic artist working with analogue photography and conceptual interventions in urban space.
His practice explores how everyday rituals, chance encounters and urban psychology can be staged into situations that shift perception and reveal hidden social architectures.
Influenced by Situationist psychogeography and the dérive, he approaches the city as a living organism where the visible and invisible are constantly negotiating meaning.
Smits holds a BA in Contemporary Fashion Photography from London College of Fashion (UK) and has further developed his practice at Baltic Analog Lab in Riga.
He is the winner of the FK Award for Latvia’s best young photographer and a nominee for the Latvian Ministry of Culture’s annual art award. In 2026, he was nominated to join the prestigious FUTURES Photography platform.
Smits has presented several solo exhibitions, including Let’s Get Sun-Kissed at HELLERAU PORTRAITS in Dresden, and has shown his work at the Rotterdam Photo Festival. His current practice expands this ongoing exploration through cross-border collaborations, public interventions and exhibitions across Europe.
“Emerging Artists: Baltics and Finland”
Fotografiska Tallinn’s Emerging Artists programme is part of the global Fotografiska Emerging initiative, spotlighting new directions and possible futures in photography through the bold and fresh perspectives of a new generation.
Artists are selected through an open call, bringing together practices that open up personal worlds, push the boundaries of photography and offer new ways of seeing and making sense of the present.
The next Emerging Artists: Baltics and Finland exhibition opens in autumn 2027, with the open call for applications running until the end of this year.