There is always a room next door: a door left ajar, a window lit across the courtyard, a hallway that turns out of sight, a voice through the wall. We know it is there. We don't know what it holds.
For THE ROOM NEXT DOOR we are looking for photographs that bring the viewer to the edge of a space they cannot fully enter. These are images where something is felt more than shown, where the frame stops just short of an answer, and where what lies beyond is left for the viewer to imagine. The mystery should come from what the photograph withholds, not from what it hides.
We welcome thresholds, doorways, windows, and reflections; interiors seen from outside and exteriors seen from within; neighboring lives glimpsed at a distance; sounds, light, and shadows that arrive from somewhere else; and constructed or staged work that invents what waits on the other side. Documentary, conceptual, and experimental approaches are all welcome. People may appear, but the subject is the space between here and there.
Awards - $1,000 Cash Awards
- First Place$500
- Second Place$250
- Third Place$150
- Two Honorable Mentions$50
- Human Presence AwardFree entry to a future exhibition of their choice
Cash awards are limited to one per photographer. Should a photographer's submissions be selected for multiple awards, the photographer will receive the award of greatest value only.
Selected Artists Receive
- Online exhibition by Decagon Gallery
- Publication in a professionally designed exhibition catalog
- Digital badges and certificates for exhibiting artists
How to Submit
- Open to photographers worldwide. All photographic processes and styles welcome.
- Submit JPGs sized to 2100 pixels on the long side, without text, watermarks, or borders. Preferably under 4 MB.
- Name files: First Name-Last Name_Title.jpg
- You grant Decagon Gallery the right to publish your photograph in the online exhibition, in the exhibition catalog, and to promote the exhibition on social media and in newsletters.