KLPA Autoportrait 2026 Open Call

The KLPA Autoportrait Open Call awards €1,000, €500 and €300 prizes for self-portraits exploring the theme of PLAY, with the top 35 finalists projected at FORMAT27 festival in Derby, UK and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Overview

The Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards presents the third interim edition of KLPA's Autoportrait 2026 Open Call, in collaboration with FORMAT International Photography Festival. The competition integrates FORMAT's 2027 festival theme PLAY, exploring self-portraiture through experimentation, trial and error, and creative playfulness.

The organisers state that "PLAY can be thought of as fun, joyful, intriguing, exploratory, experimental, challenging, deceitful, mischievous, imaginative, curious, provocative, inventive, spontaneous, subversive, engaging or perhaps rule-bending." The theme encompasses camera play, questioning the medium of photography itself, documenting the act of play, developing new technology, play as sport, playing with truth or reality, the politics of play, and the significance of the freedom of play being taken away.

First prize is €1,000, second prize €500, and third prize €300. The top 35 finalists will have their portraits projected as part of the FORMAT27 festival in Derby, United Kingdom from 11 March to 11 April 2027, and in Kuala Lumpur.

Practical Info

Entry fees are €12 for one image, €24 for two images, €45 for three to six images, and €65 for seven to ten images. Full-time enrolled students under 25 years may submit one image free to the Students Category, with proof of enrolment by student ID card or establishment letter required. Student entries will be judged alongside the main category.

Jury selection takes place in early December 2026, the shortlist is revealed in mid-January 2027, and prizewinners are announced in February 2027.

The jury comprises Jodi Kwok, curator at QUAD and FORMAT International Photography Festival; Enrico Stefanelli, founder and artistic director of Photolux Festival; D. M. Terblanche, multidisciplinary artist and photographer; Mari Katayama, artist working across photography, video and installation; and Sean Cham, artist and historian working across photography, performance and installation.

About Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards

The Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards (KLPA) is an independent, non-profit organization founded in 2009 by photographer and director Steven Lee. Based between London and Kuala Lumpur, the institution supports and rewards contemporary portrait photography while raising the standards of the practice within a South East Asian context and has evolved into a globally recognized competition attracting photographers from around the world.