A Guide To April 2023 Photo Awards & Opportunities

Publishing Ecology 2023, Encontros Da Imagem Awards, Polycopies Call for Projects, MAGNUM Submissions, are among the opportunities we selected this month.

Encontros Da Imagem Discovery and Photobook Award

Deadline 23 April - 05 May / Entry fee 35€ - 20€

The leading Portuguese contemporary photography festival Encontros da Imagem is presenting its 33rd edition, themed “Essay for the future” - an invitation to think of new forms of organization, ways of life, and creation. Two different open calls are being launched: Encontros Da Imagem Discovery Award and Photobook Award.

With a multidisciplinary body of experienced jurors, the Discovery Award is looking for work that is able to reflect on the representational, political, and social issues raised by the theme of this edition. Shortlisted projects will be exhibited in Braga from September 15 to October 28 as part of the Festival’s program, with one selected body of work among them being awarded a prize of 1000€. The deadline to apply is the 23rd of April (entry fee 35€).

The open-themed Photobook Award has instead the goal of disseminating and promoting self-made photobooks, with more or less handcrafted production. 30 finalists will present their books in a collective exhibition during Encontros Da Imagem, and one of them will receive a cash prize of 1.000€.

Applications for the Photobook Award are open until the 5th of May (entry fee 20€). You can access more information about both open calls on the two respective online pages (Discovery Award, Photobook Award).

Loose Joints and Mahler & LeWitt Studios Publishing Award: Publishing Ecology

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

The multi-award-winning publishing house Loose Joints and residency program Mahler & LeWitt Studios are partnering for the second time to offer a publishing residency in Spoleto, aimed at the development of one body of work to be edited, designed, and published by Loose Joints. Juried by artist Richard Mosse, publishers Sarah Chaplin Espenon and Lewis Chaplin, Mahler & LeWitt Studios curator Guy Robertson, curator Lucia Pietroiusti, and magazine Atmos culture editor Daphne Chouliaraki Milner, this year’s edition of the award is looking for work responding to climate change and environmental issues through visual means. One selected artist will spend up to 35 days at Mahler & LeWitt Studios working with the support of the Award's team, and will be granted a daily fee of 30€ plus a production budget of up to 500€. The resulting body of work will be part of Loose Joints' 2024 publishing season.

With no entry fee, applications are open until the 30th of April. Visit the award’s website for additional information.

PhMuseum Days 2023 Photo Festival Open Call

Deadline 04 May / Entry fee €25 (early bird €18)

The third edition of the PhMuseum International Photo Festival in Bologna, Italy, titled I Don't Know How To Respond To That, will explore the dialogue between humans and machines. Through the open call, a jury composed of previous exhibiting artists such as Carla Liesching, Marcelo Brodsky and Sara Palmieri, plus PhMuseum's director Giuseppe Oliverio, will select at least four projects for individual shows in the Festival's main location, post-industrial Spazio Bianco at DumBO. Moreover, up to 40 images will be part of a collective, public installation in the city, and up to 20 works will be chosen for a video projection. Photographers awarded with solo shows will receive a production budget, an artist fee, plus travel and accommodation expenses to attend the main festival weekend.

Applications are open until the 4th of May (entry fee €25, reduced to €18 with the early bird discount until April 13). You can read more on the dedicated page.

Polycopies & Co. Call For Projects

Deadline 01 May / No entry fee

Established in 2022 by the French outstanding fair dedicated to photobooks, Polycopies & Co. is a non-profit association aiming to foster photography through the financial support of publishing practices. With a contribution ranging from 2,500€, 5000€ to 10,000€ depending on the selected projects’ budget, the Polycopies’ grant will enable the production of one or more monographs. At the moment of the application, artists must provide an agreement with a publisher in the form of a letter of intent.

With no entry fee, applications will close on the first of May. Find out more on their website.

Cortona On The Move Award

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

The international photography festival Cortona On The Move, centered around the documentary practice, is launching an Open Call in collaboration with LensCulture. With no topic restriction, the Cortona On The Move Award has the goal of supporting an unpublished or in-development project. Of the 10 selected finalists, whose projects will all be screened during the festival's opening this year, one will be awarded a 3000€ prize and an exhibition at the next edition of Cortona On The Move. Two other projects will be published on the LensCulture website.

Free to enter, the open call ends on the 30th of April. You can discover more on Cortona On The Move's website.

MAGNUM Submissions 2023

Deadline 01 May / No entry fee

The co-operative owned agency Magnum Photos, which has been creating the highest quality photographic work for more than seventy years, is opening its annual applications granting the chance to be considered for membership.With the process of becoming a full member lasting at least four years, photographers selected through the open call will be able to access the first step of “Nominee Member”, a stage of two years that offers an opportunity for collaboration and growth, with no binding commitments on either side. The Nominee status is then possibly leading to that of Associate Member and, eventually, to the lifetime Full Membership.

With no entry fee, there is time to apply until the first of May. More information is to be found on the dedicated page.

Deloitte Photo Grant

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

Established in 2023 under the artistic direction of Denis Curti, Deloitte Photo Grant aims to become one of the world’s leading awards for contemporary photography, supporting cultural production while serving as an observatory of the emerging scene. Of the two grants, amounting to a total of 60,000€, one will be awarded to an under-35 photographer chosen through an Open Call process. Viewed by a jury of artists, art agents, photo editors, curators, and directors operating at an international scale, submissions are expected to articulate a personal interpretation of the theme “Connections” through a project proposal.

You can apply for free until the 30th of April. Find out more on their website.

Future Generation Art Prize

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

Issued by Victor Pinchuk Foundation, the biannual Future Generation Art Prize welcomes applications from all artists aged 35 or younger, regardless of the medium they work with. An international jury comprising artists such as Andreas Gursky, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst will nominate 20 shortlisted works, among whom one main prize of $ 100,000, (93,000€ approx.) and up to five special prizes amounting to a total of $ 20,000 (18,600€ approx.) will be awarded. All of the shortlisted artists will be commissioned new work with the goal of displaying it at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, as well as at the Venice Biennale.

Applications are open until the 30th of April, and free of charge. Discover more on the prize’s website.

Prix Viviane Esders

Deadline 08 May / No entry fee

Created by collector, gallerist, and photography expert Viviane Esders, the homonymous prize consists of a 60,000€ award dedicated to one photographer over the age of sixty, who will be selected from a shortlist of five. The financial contribution, of which a part of 10,000€ must be dedicated to producing a book, is meant to reward the quality and commitment of a career, honoring the coming together of a photographer’s and the gallerist's path.

Applications are free, and open until the 8th of May. Visit the prize’s website to access further information.

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OTHER DEADLINES

KLPA 2023 Portraits of Intimacy

Deadline 30 April / Entry fee 14-70€

This year’s edition of the Kuala Lumpur Photography Award is looking for work capturing intimacy, showing trust and closeness, and setting off emotional responses. Seven photographers will be awarded cash prizes for a total of $4500 (4197€ approx.), while 40 selected artists will exhibit their portraits in Kuala Lumpur. Applications are open until the 30th of April, with entry fees ranging from 15 to 75$ (14-70€ approx.). Find out more on their website.

Ellipse Prize

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

An art competition yearly focusing on a different country, this year edition’s of the Ellipse Prize is dedicated to Tongolese artists currently residing in Africa, aged from 18 to 40. Responding to the theme “Dreamy memory”, one winner will be awarded an exhibition at the international AKAA 2023 fair in Paris, including visa, transport fees, housing, a production grant, and a per diem fee. You can apply until the 30th of April, with no entry fee. More information is to be found on their website.

Centre for British Photography Open Call

Deadline 14 April / No entry fee

The Centre for British Photography is offering six photographers the opportunity to exhibit in their space in central London. Photographers are invited to submit photographs or an installation proposal on the theme “Landscape/countryside/environment”, which will be considered to be part of a collective display. Each selected work will be awarded a fee of £200 (230€ approx.). Applications are free and open until the 14th of April. Read more on the Centre’s website.

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