August's Photography Awards and Opportunities

The Circulation(s) Festival Open Call, Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, and our own International Online Photobook Masterclass are among the top opportunities open for entry this August. Learn all about them and how they can support the production and circulation of your work.

The Circulation(s) Festival Open Call, Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, and our own International Online Photobook Masterclass are among the top opportunities open for entry this August. Learn all about them and how they can support the production and circulation of your work.

FOLIO - PHmuseum's International Online Photobook Masterclass / Deadline: 30 August / No entry fee

In this six-month Online Photobook Masterclass, Witty Books’ publisher Tommaso Parillo and designer Federico Barbon will guide eight photographers through the creative processes of conceiving and designing a brand-new photobook. At the end of the program, participants will be ready to present their work to an international audience and Witty Books will select one of the participants’ work to be professionally published in an edition of 500 to form part of its catalogue. Production will be fully financed by Witty Books and PHmuseum Lab.

The Masterclass will consist of three online five-hour group classes and two individual 60-minute sessions with Tommaso Parrillo and Federico Barbon in which you will gain a general understanding of the contemporary photobook world and have the opportunity to engage in specific discussions aimed at working on your ideas and improving your methodologies. The program also includes five interactive studio visits with Lisa Barnard, Jörg M. Colberg, Vasantha Yogananthan, Natasha Christia, and Niccolò Fano in order to help you learn about their practice and gain a better understanding of their approach and role in the photography industry. To apply, simply fill in the form at phmuseum.com/folio with your personal details, attach a PDF with your portfolio and submit for free.

Circulation(s) Festival Open Call / Deadline: 13 September / Entry fee: €25

Circulation(s), the festival dedicated to emerging photography in Europe, is calling all European photographers or photographers living in Europe to submit work for exhibitions at next year’s festival which is set to take place between 6 March and 2 May. Each year, at the Centquatre-Paris and satellite sites in France and abroad, Circulation(s) reveals the vitality of young creation and speaks for the diversity of photographic expressions through unique events. A stepping-stone for artists, and a prospective and innovative laboratory of contemporary creativity, the festival has become, over the past 10 years, a must-attend event on the photography calendar and a trendsetter.

Applicants should submit a maximum of 15 images, a short biography, and a short descriptive text about the series. Around 20 photographers will be selected by an independent jury which will convene at the end of September to make their choices. Additional information can be found at festival-circulations.com.

Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards / Deadline: 11 September / Entry fee: US$20 - US$60

Initiated back in 2012, the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards have developed into one of the most famed contests in the industry, dedicated solely to the celebration of the photobook’s contribution to the evolving narrative of photography. Visual storytellers, artists, photographers, publishers, galleries, and institutions around the world are invited to submit their photobooks into three different categories: the First PhotoBook Prize (for a first self-published / limited-edition book); the PhotoBook of the Year Prize (for a book authored by more than one photographer/artist in which the dominant content is photography); and the Photography Catalogue of the Year Prize (for the best exhibition catalogue or museum publication of the year).

The awards will be judged in two stages. An initial jury comprised of representatives from both Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation will convene in New York to select a shortlist in each category. A second, separate jury will then meet in Paris immediately before the inauguration of Paris Photo (12 – 15 November) to select the three winners. All shortlisted books will go on display at Paris Photo and feature in the fall 2020 issue of The PhotoBook Review, published by Aperture Foundation. Following their display during Paris Photo, an exhibition of thirty shortlisted books will travel to Aperture Gallery in New York and may be exhibited at other venues worldwide. The final deadline is 11 September. More details can be found at contests.picter.com/photobook-awards-2020.

2020 Burtynsky Grant / Deadline: 28 September / No entry fee

Contact Photography Festival and world-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky have teamed up once again to launch the Burtynsky Grant – a $5,000 grant that looks to support a Canadian artist in the creation of a photobook. Established back in 2016, the contest is intended for photo-based artists who are in advanced stages of developing a cohesive, rigorous body of work presented in book form. The jury will be looking for submissions from those who have created a book dummy and who have had little to no prior opportunity to self-publish or work with a publisher.

Applicants must submit a minimum of 10 spreads of a book dummy that best communicates the project and vision for publication; a project statement about the photobook and how the grant funding would be used; expressions of interest from publishers if available; and a CV or artist statement. The final deadline is 28 September. To learn more and apply, visit scotiabankcontactphoto.com.

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OTHER DEADLINES:

PHmuseum Online Exhibition Open Call / Deadline: 23 August / No entry fee

We’ve teamed up with PannaFoto Institute (Jakarta, Indonesia) to invite visual storytellers from around the world to submit completed or ongoing photographic projects for a feature in our next online exhibition that will open in October. Submitted work must focus on stories from South East Asia and South Asia and relate to the exhibition’s theme: The Consequences of Economic Escalation on Everyday Life. The selection will be made by the PannaFoto team, which is comprised of Edy Purnomo, Ng Swan Ti and Yoppy Pieter.

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Gomma Photography Grant / Deadline: 31 August / Entry fee: €20

Now in its seventh year, the Gomma Photography Grant is an all-inclusive award that aims to promote photographers - both emerging and established - working across all genres of visual storytelling. Winners of the First, Second, and Third Prize will receive €1,000, €500, and €200 respectively, while two smaller recognitions will be granted to the Best Documentary Work and Best Rising Talent. To apply, photographers must submit between six and 20 images from either an ongoing or completed project and a short introductory statement.

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Bird In Flight Prize / 30 August / No entry fee

The concept of the Bird in Flight Prize is to support photographers who think beyond traditional artistic standards. The contest is not about projects that cater to the existing general demand, but rather it is about discovering new ways to tell a story using the means and tools of photography. The organisers encourage artistic freedom and diversity and they do not limit photographers in their choices of subjects and creativity methods. The jury this year includes curators, photographers, artists, and photo editors from the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and Sweden. A shortlist of 10 photographers will be selected, from which one winner will be awarded a €2,000 cash prize.

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Kassel Dummy Award / Deadline: 2 September / Entry fee: €36

Fotobookfestival Kassel has launched the 2020 edition of the Kassel Dummy Award, inviting all photographers worldwide to submit their unpublished photobook mock-ups for the chance to win exhibition and publishing opportunities in addition to monetary prizes. 50 books will be shortlisted by an independent jury and this selection will be showcased at several international photography events across both Europe and Asia. The winning book will be produced and published by Fotobookfestival Kassel’s new cooperative partner MAS, the leading Turkish photobook printing and binding house from Istanbul. Second and Third Prize winners will each get a production grant worth €2,000 and €1,000 respectively for future projects.

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Budapest International Foto Awards / Deadline: 28 September / Entry fee: US$10 - US$50

Having first been established last year, the Budapest International Foto Awards have set out a mission to promote the work of professional and emerging photographers to the fast-growing artistic community in the Hungarian capital, putting them in the spotlight and providing them with a great platform to showcase their work. The awards will seek to recognise the power and influence of photography in shaping how we see the world. Applicants must enter work into one of nine categories, namely Advertising, Architecture, Book, Editorial, Events, Fine Art, Nature, People, and Science. A host of monetary awards and exhibition opportunities are on offer.

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Lucie Photo Book Prize / Deadline: 30 November / Entry fee: US$35 - US$55

The Lucie Photo Book Prize, run by the Lucie Foundation, aims to support photographers in the production and promotion of their photobooks through monetary prizes and exposure opportunities. The contest is divided into two separate awards - the Traditional Prize (worth US$3,000) and the Independent Prize (worth US$2,000). The Traditional Prize will be awarded to a photographer, editor, curator or publisher whose book is commercially produced and distributed, while the Independent Prize will be granted to a photographer, editor, curator or publisher whose book is published and distributed independently.

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Visit our awards page to get a complete view of the best photography opportunities that are currently open for entry.

© Hiro Tanaka, spread from the book Chicharron
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© Hiro Tanaka, spread from the book Chicharron

© Yorgos Yatromanolakis. 2019 exhibitor
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© Yorgos Yatromanolakis. 2019 exhibitor

© Sohrab Hura, from the book The Coast. 2019 Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards winner
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© Sohrab Hura, from the book The Coast. 2019 Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards winner

© Teresa Eng, spread from the book China Dream. 2019 winner
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© Teresa Eng, spread from the book China Dream. 2019 winner

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