The Open Call
This is not a contest. It is a reading.
Submissions closed on 14 September 2026. The work that arrived this year is of exceptional quality, and it deserves an unhurried reading, so the jury is taking more time than planned. The results will be announced by the end of October 2026. This is the final date. If you took part, you will hear from us by email. There is nothing else you need to do. Once a year, Eyeshot reads contemporary street and documentary photography from across the world. With an international jury, we look for bodies of work, personal voices, and projects that deserve to exist beyond the competition. Singles and Series, cash prizes and fully funded book publishing, with entry fees adjusted to your country's income level and free participation for students and photographers facing financial hardship. This is where great photography finds its future.
Inclusivity
Open to everyone, everywhere
Great photography can come from anywhere in the world. Entry fees should never determine who gets the opportunity to be seen. That's why we've designed one of the most accessible participation models in international photography.
Based on where you live
Your entry fee is automatically adjusted according to your country's GDP per capita. The system calculates the appropriate fee when you select your country during registration.
Students enter free
Photography education should be encouraged, not limited by cost. Students worldwide can apply for free entry with valid proof of enrolment.
Financial hardship
If the entry fee represents a genuine financial barrier, you can apply for a free entry waiver. We want the work to be judged, not your circumstances.
Two ways in
One image, or a body of work
Each photographer made one entry. Every photograph is read on its own and competes for the cash prizes. Entries of nine photographs or more could also be put forward for the book, and those are read as one body of work.
Images
One to fifteen
Entries ran from 1 to 15 single photographs in street or documentary photography. Each image is read on its own and considered for the cash prizes.
The book
From nine, a body of work
Entries of 9, 12, or 15 photographs could also be put forward for the book, to be read as one body of work and considered for a fully funded Eyeshot book publishing contract.
Cash prizes
Single image awards
€1,000
First prize
€500
Second prize
€250
Third prize
Single images compete for cash prizes. Every finalist will also be published in the official Eyeshot Open Call book and shared with the Eyeshot community across our editorial and social channels.
The editorial contract
The prize is a book, made by us
€20,000+
Our investment in each book
500,000+
Readers across our channels
120+
Countries our books reach
For at least one winning body of work in the Series category, the prize is a fully funded editorial contract with Eyeshot, representing an investment of over €20,000. The selected photographer will receive a monograph entirely curated, edited, designed, printed, promoted, and distributed by Eyeshot as a limited-edition book released worldwide.
The Jury
Seven ways of seeing photography
Seven internationally respected photographers, editors, and publishers read the work with care and experience. Each juror will award an Honorable Mention to one finalist, offering a personal recognition beyond the official prizes. Participants may also request a Professional Review: a one-to-one written critique from the juror of their choice, with feedback on strengths, weaknesses, editing, sequencing, and artistic development.
Newsha Tavakolian
Magnum Photos · Iran
Magnum Photos full member and co-president, has documented Iran and the Middle East for two decades.
Marco Savarese
Eyeshot · Italy
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Eyeshot, curates every publication and the annual Open Call.
Bill Shapiro
Formerly LIFE · United States
Former Editor-in-Chief of LIFE Magazine's final print edition and founding editor of LIFE.com.
Matt Stuart
UP Photographers · UK
British street photographer, member of UP Photographers, publisher at Plague Press.
Lucrezia Bonarota
Eyeshot · Italy
Editorial Director of Eyeshot, shapes its books and magazines and leads the Conversations interviews.
Shin Noguchi
UP Photographers · Japan
Kamakura-based member of UP Photographers, photographs the quiet surrealism of everyday Japan.
Tavepong Pratoomwong
UP Photographers · Thailand
Winner of the Miami Street Photography Festival, member of UP Photographers and Street Photo Thailand.
In print
Books born from the Open Call
The annual hardcover volumes that gather every finalist, and the monographs produced for the winning bodies of work. All published by Eyeshot.
Open Call 2022
Issue #10
Open Call 2023
Issue #11
Open Call 2024
Issue #16
Open Call 2025
Issue #20
Max Sturgeon
Of a Different Stripe
Catena & Tofanelli
Mareterno
Stavros Stamatiou
Street as a Mirror
Andrea Torrei
Realities Hidden Within
Simon Kossoff
Altered States of Agoraphobia
Sakulchai Sikitikul
As it happened
Guille Ibañez
Tierra Santa
Jonathan Jasberg
Cairo: A Beautiful Thing is Never Perfect
Suresh Naganathan
A World Called Mumbai
Karim Mottaghi
Death Comes Home Without Knocking
Argus Paul Estabrook
Half Eye
Md Enamul Kabir
Co-Existence
Nicolas Castermans
Breath of Modernity
Matthew Hayes
The Western Edge
Michael Robinson Chavez
Mestizo (1993-2021)
Taras Bychko
Out of Time
Laurin Strele
Worlds Apart
Margarita Mavromichalis
Street Weather
Everything you need to know
One edition. Three months. Countless stories.
From the opening day to the final announcement, every submission follows the same editorial journey. Here are the key moments of this year's Open Call.
Open Call opens
Submission deadline
Winners announced, at the latest
