Compete Rotterdam Photo 2026
Opportunity Description
International Deadline: January 5, 2026 – Rotterdam Photo 2026: Echoes of Silence – War in the Artist’s Soul.
What does conflict do to an artist when they are not an eyewitness, but become a bearer of its emotional resonance? How does violence – whether geopolitical, social, environmental or deeply personal – echo in the minds of those who survive, flee, inherit, imagine or simply sense it from afar?
In “Echoes of Silence”, we explore how war, tension and collective or intimate trauma reverberate in the work of photographers who choose not to use the lens as a recording device, but as a mirror of their inner landscape. At a time when images of crisis circulate endlessly through media and screens, Rotterdam Photo 2026 calls for another approach: introspective, subjective and visually layered perspectives on conflict in all its forms.
This is not a platform for reportage or direct registration of violence. Instead, we seek autonomous photographic work that departs from personal resonance, psychological processing and symbolic representation. Conflict here is not a spectacle, but a condition – something that may take place in memory, family history, migration experiences, ecological change, cultural tension or quiet personal unrest. The lens does not capture an explosion, but the echo of it: silence, emptiness, repetition, fragmentation, friction, or transformation.
We welcome artists for whom conflict is visible or invisible, distant or intimate, historical or unfolding, collective or deeply individual. Whether your work stems from war, displacement, identity struggles, environmental upheaval, intergenerational trauma, social injustice, or internal change, this edition makes space for layered experiences rather than singular narratives.
What We’re Looking For:
Works that move beyond documentation and instead reveal conflict through memory, metaphor, mood or conceptual exploration. This may include:
- Series exploring loss, grief, resilience or healing after displacement, migration or personal transformation.
- Portraits or environmental images reflecting social tension, cultural shifts, identity negotiation or communal change.
- Landscapes or urban scenes capturing ecological disruption, environmental degradation or the shifting relationship between people and place.
- Abstract, symbolic, staged or experimental work that evokes inner unrest, psychological weight or the quiet forms of conflict that shape everyday life.
- Still lifes, analogue distortions, double exposures, poetic imagery or any visual language that expresses an emotional truth rather than a literal event.
What Winners Receive:
Selected photographers will be invited to showcase their projects and create their exhibition in the container during Rotterdam Photo 2026. As part of the prize, winners will be given dedicated exhibition space to present their work.They will also have the chance to sell their pieces, network with gallerists, potential buyers, and international art press. Rotterdam Photo does not charge any commission on sales made during the festival.
Opportunity for Photographers:
- Submission review by professionals from the photography field
- Featuring across festival/partner social networks and websites (LensCulture, Dodho magazine, All About Photo)
- Personal exhibition project at the Rotterdam Photo 2026 (you can directly curate and craft your project)
- Special categories awards and cash prizes
- Opportunity to participate in the Rotterdam Photo Talks and RP networking events
- Publication and Inclusion in the Festival program
- International press exposure
- Be part of the event with 10.000 + visitors in the centre of Rotterdam
- Opportunity to exhibit in Barcelona (June) in the gallery of the International Photo Festival Association
- Opportunity to exhibit in Tampere, Finland during the Backlight festival (September)
- Opportunity to exhibit in Switzerland during Photo Schweiz with the Directors Choice
- Opportunity to win a Young Talent Award (cash prize and gear)
APPLY ONLINE – 35 eur
About:
Rotterdam Photo is an annual photography fair with a festival flair, celebrating the full spectrum of contemporary photography in all its diversity. Founded in 2016, Rotterdam Photo is an accessible and innovative photography festival. Featuring adistinctive container village, Rotterdam Photo creates a visually striking and accessible event in the city’s Art Axis.
Vierhavenstraat 56
Rotterdam, Netherlands, 3029 BG
