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. Photographers retain all rights, including copyright, to their photographs.
Meet the Juror
Dr. Susan Bright (Aus/UK) is a curator, art historian, writer and lecturer with over two decades of experience curating exhibitions featuring both major international and emerging contemporary artists. While maintaining a broad curatorial practice, she specializes in lens-based art and has developed a reputation for strong scholarship combined with imaginative, intuitive and rigorous collaboration.
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She has been invited to curate exhibitions at prestigious institutions worldwide, including Tate Britain, The National Portrait Gallery (UK), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (Italy), Princeton University Art Museum (USA), Lismore Castle Arts (Ireland), Serlachius Museum (Finland), and Fremantle Arts Centre (Australia), among others.
As guest curator and artistic director for festivals across France, Spain and Germany, she has demonstrated versatility and leadership in cultural programming.
She writes extensively on contemporary art, photography and culture. She has authored seven books and regularly contributes to exhibition catalogues, journals, magazines, and broadsheets, including The Financial Times, The Guardian and Vogue. She has written and broadcast for BBC Radio 4.
She has taught at leading institutions including Parsons School of Design in New York and University of the Arts London (UAL). She is frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses at museums and universities internationally and has participated on numerous juries and panels worldwide. Additionally, she consults for brands and organizations on cultural strategies and initiatives.