Open Calls

Guest Room is a format that fosters collaboration and sparks creative exchange. For this edition we welcome Hanmi Museum's Senior Curator Sunyoung Kim and artist Shinwook Kim, who reflect on the theme "Hyperobjects: Archipelagic Memories."

Coined by the British philosopher Timothy Morton, hyperobject describes phenomena so vast and distributed across time and space that they exceed direct human perception. Imperialism, Cold War geopolitics, capitalism, climate crisis, and contemporary data infrastructures are among the hyperobjects shaping present-day life. Though often intangible, these systems permeate everyday existence, structuring political realities, social relations, and collective memory. We approach photography as another kind of hyperobject, focussing this open call focuses on photographic practices that examine how images circulate across digital and material networks, fragmenting, reshaping, and reproducing personal and collective histories.

Deadline: July 13, 2026 at 11:59 PM CET

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Fondament and Der Greif invite you to peer behind the curtain of the everyday. "Ich seh' etwas, was du nicht siehst" explores the multifaceted layers of social life in Germany, taking its title from the German version of the game "I spy with my little eye."

We are looking for photographs and photographic works that tell more than one story and leave room for different readings. Images that don't just offer a single, clear-cut explanation, but allow for multiple perspectives. We are seeking submissions that make this tension visible: between one's own gaze and a possible counter-gaze, between perception and interpretation. That's why we deliberately ask you: What do you see that others don't?

Fondament is a non-profit organisation dedicated to making poverty and social inequality visible and to strengthening photography and art as tools for reflection and change. Working with networks across art, culture, and the social sector, Fondament creates spaces for dialogue and initiates creative projects.

For additional background information in German on "Ich seh' etwas, was du nicht siehst," please visit Fondament.

Deadline: September 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM CET Submit

Der Greif has invited Zanele Muholi, supported by Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, to guest-edit Issue 19.

The theme for the open call is “I Am Because of You, Mother Earth.”

Muholi asks: "What if the environment was not something outside of us, but something we are part of? What if our bodies, histories, and relationships were understood as landscapes shaped by connection rather than separation?"

We invite photographers, writers, poets, and artists to explore what environment means when we move beyond boundaries between self and surroundings.

Why submit?

• Have your work seen by renowned artist Zanele Muholi
• Get the chance to be published in Issue 19 and get a free copy plus additional copies at a highly discounted rate.
• Be part of related events Der Greif will organize in relation to the release of Issue 19 during Paris Photo 2026 and beyond.
• Get the chance to publish an Artist Feature on dergreif.org, a highly-frequented international source of photographic art.

Deadline: June 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM CET

Submit

"In Focus" invites artists and publishers to submit recent photobooks and artist books for editorial consideration. This open call creates space for critical and poetic approaches to the photobook as a form of authorship, collaboration, and storytelling. We welcome publications that engage thoughtfully with contemporary life, visual culture, and the material and narrative possibilities of the book. Selected projects will be featured in Der Greif’s editorial platform, offering international visibility and long-term archival presence.

Deadline: June 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM CET

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Photo credits: Les Rencontres d'Arles 2024 © Amelie Sachs.