A life takes shape slowly: through the spaces we inhabit, the objects we live among, the routines we repeat, and the ways our surroundings change with us over time.
For THE SHAPE OF A LIFE we are looking for photographs that show how a person lives and what their life feels like from within. People may appear in the photographs, but conventional portraits are not the main focus. We are interested in the relationship between a person and the world around them.
We welcome photographs of people, interiors, domestic spaces, everyday routines, personal objects, family environments, places of work or rest, and signs of presence or absence.
What We're Looking For
We want: an unmade bed in morning light. A parent's kitchen. Worn tools on a workbench. A chair that still holds someone's shape. Hands at work. A room after someone has left. Photographs where you feel a life in the space, whether or not a person appears.
Less of a fit: posed studio portraits, travel scenery, and images where the person is the subject and the surroundings are incidental.
Singles and cohesive series are both welcome.
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 choiceAwarded to the image that best captures the trace of a person: someone present, or someone just gone.
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.
- Name files: First Name-Last Name_Title.jpg
- You keep all rights to your photographs.
Meet the Juror
J. Sybylla Smith is an independent curator, podcaster, and consultant. Her creative framework, Concept Aware®: How You See & Why It Matters, provides visual artists with specific tools to bring their abstract ideas to fruition in image, text, exhibition, and book form. She consults with emerging and seasoned professionals to refine ideas and collaboratively contextualize their work, develop portfolios, write content, produce projects, create exhibitions, a…
Why this juror: J. Sybylla Smith helps artists connect the ideas behind their images to what viewers see, an ideal eye for a theme about the quiet relationship between a person and their surroundings.
All jurors →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I submit a series?
Yes. Each image counts as one entry, so a series of four fits within the base fee.
Who owns the rights to my photographs?
You do. Photographers keep all rights to their photographs.
When will I hear back?
Everyone is notified by October 20, 2026.
Is payment secure?
Entry is through a secure online form.
Questions?
Email us at the address on this page and we will get back to you.