TCG Gallery · International Photography Open Call
Contemporary
Horizons
TCG Gallery invites photographers and lens-based artists to submit work for Contemporary Horizons, an open call surveying the range of contemporary photography. We welcome distinctive ways of seeing across documentary, portraiture, landscape, still life, abstraction, staged photography, and experimental practice.
11:59 PM ET
Up to three images
Prospectus
A photograph can describe the world, interrupt it, or make something unfamiliar out of what we thought we knew. Contemporary Horizons brings these approaches into conversation, looking for images with a clear point of view and a reason to hold our attention.
This is an open-theme call. The horizon may be a place, a limit, a possibility, or simply a way of thinking about what comes next. A literal horizon is not required. We are equally interested in an intimate observation, a constructed scene, an unexpected formal relationship, or a photograph that complicates an ordinary subject.
Traditional and experimental approaches are welcome. The emphasis is on the work: how it uses light, framing, timing, material, and photographic process to communicate something particular. Contemporary does not mean that an image must have been made this year, follow a trend, or depend on a particular camera or technique.
Possible approaches
- People, identity, community, and everyday life
- Places in transition, built environments, and the natural world
- Still life, abstraction, color, light, and photographic form
- Constructed scenes, conceptual work, and visual narratives
- Film, alternative processes, and experimental photographic methods
- Familiar subjects approached with an individual perspective
These are suggestions, not categories artists must fit. Submit the work that best represents your photographic practice.
Eligibility and selection
The call is open internationally to photographers and lens-based artists aged 18 or older, at any stage of their practice. Digital, film, alternative-process, and mixed-media photographic work is welcome.
Artists must have created the work and hold the rights needed to submit it. Images generated by, or substantially altered with, generative artificial intelligence are not eligible.
Work is reviewed for visual strength, originality, photographic execution, and its contribution to a coherent exhibition. An open theme does not remove the need for a considered image. Previously exhibited work is welcome where the artist retains the necessary rights.
Selected artists
Selected photographs will appear in a curated online exhibition with artist and artwork information and remain in the TCG Gallery exhibition archive. The exhibition may be promoted through the gallery's website, email, and social channels. Artists may offer selected work for sale or mark it not for sale.
Submission details
- Submit up to three photographs per entry. One photograph is enough; the second and third image slots are optional. Multiple entries are permitted.
- Use JPG or JPEG files, at least 1200 pixels on the longest side, correctly oriented and clear enough for review.
- Do not place a watermark, signature, or identifying mark on the image.
- Use a descriptive filename, such as firstname_lastname_title-01.jpeg.
- Include the artist's name, email, city, state or region, and country, along with the title, year, medium, physical print dimensions with units, and price or NFS for each submitted work.
- Website, Instagram, biography, image descriptions, and discovery-source information are optional.
The uploaded file size is not the stated physical print size. Enter dimensions such as 16 × 20 in or 40 × 50 cm, not pixel dimensions. Initial submissions are for review; larger files may be requested if selected. A print-size or DPI label alone does not establish whether an image is suitable for production.
Entry fee and waivers
The entry fee is USD 15 and covers up to three images. Payment completes an entry unless an approved fee waiver is on file. Entry fees are generally nonrefundable under the gallery's submission guidelines.
Fee waivers are available through the TCG Gallery Fee Waiver Application. Apply before submitting and at least 48 hours before the call closes. For this call, that is November 18, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.
Copyright and image use
Copyright remains with the artist. Submission permits TCG Gallery to review the work. For selected work, artists grant nonexclusive permission for credited exhibition, archiving, and related gallery promotion. Artists are responsible for obtaining any permissions necessary to submit and display their work.
Sales and compliance
Sales are optional. TCG Gallery retains a 30% commission on work sold through the gallery. Use NFS if the work is not for sale.
The gallery cannot accept submissions or provide services where doing so would conflict with applicable U.S. sanctions, export, payment-processing, or other compliance restrictions.