Eyeshot is an independent, environmentally conscious Italian publisher devoted to street and documentary photography. The Eyeshot Open Call 2026 invites photographers from every country to share their most compelling street and documentary work. We are committed to diversity and inclusivity: because photographers come from very different economic and geographic backgrounds, the participation fee adapts to each participant’s country, so the call stays open to everyone.
1. Eligibility
The Open Call is open to photographers worldwide, regardless of experience, as individuals or as collectives. Younger photographers are welcome too: if you are under 18, you can take part with the consent of a parent or guardian, who accepts these rules on your behalf.
To keep the competition fair, Eyeshot staff, the members of the jury, and their close family may not enter.
2. How an entry works
There are no separate categories to choose between. You decide how many photographs to enter, from one to fifteen. Every photograph runs for the cash prizes. From nine photographs up, you can also enter your set as a body of work for the book, so the jury reads it as a series.
An entry is final. Once it has been submitted, photographs cannot be replaced, added, or removed. If your work develops while the call is still open, you are welcome to present the newer photographs as a further entry, submitted and paid separately.
3. Submission format
Files. JPEG, at least 2500 pixels on the longest side, in the sRGB colour profile, up to 5 MB each. Images with watermarks are not accepted.
Theme. There is no set theme. The focus is street and documentary photography.
4. Authenticity
Each entry must be a single photograph. Composites, multiple exposures, stitched panoramas, and collages are not accepted. You may not add, rearrange, reverse, distort, or remove people or objects within the frame. Cropping and the removal of sensor dust are the only exceptions. Adjustments to tone and colour are fine as long as they do not hide, invent, or misrepresent what was in front of the camera. Any staging or re-enactment must be made clear in the caption.
Originality. The work must be your own. Work that has already been published, exhibited, printed in a book, or entered in other competitions is welcome, and work still under consideration elsewhere is fine. What matters is that the photographs are yours.
5. Photography, not AI
Every entry must be made with a camera. AI-generated or synthetic images are not photography and are not accepted. Generative tools that invent or replace parts of an image, including generative fill, generative expand, and AI upscalers that create new detail, are not allowed and lead to disqualification. Non-generative tools that only refine what the camera captured, such as noise reduction or automatic exposure and colour, are acceptable in moderation, as long as they add or remove no content.
6. People, places, and consent
For every identifiable person in your photographs, you confirm that you had the right to photograph them and to enter the image, in line with the law of the place where it was taken. If a subject is under 18, you confirm you have the consent of a parent or guardian. Any costumes, props, or artworks shown must have been used with the owner’s permission. Above all, your photographs must respect the dignity of the people portrayed.
7. Participation fee
The fee depends on how many photographs you enter and on your country of residence. To keep the Open Call open to everyone, your country is placed automatically into one of three bands, based on World Bank income groups: the standard fee, a fee reduced to two-thirds of the standard fee, and a fee reduced to one-third of the standard fee. Your exact fee is shown before you pay, and payment comes only at the end through a secure checkout. Entering for the book from nine photographs is included in the fee; additional bodies of work can be added for an extra fee.
| Photographs | Reduced ⅓ | Reduced ⅔ | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 photograph | €6 | €12 | €18 |
| 3 photographs | €9 | €18 | €27 |
| 6 photographs | €12 | €24 | €36 |
| 9 photographs (book eligible) | €15 | €30 | €45 |
| 12 photographs (book eligible) | €18 | €36 | €54 |
| 15 photographs (book eligible) | €20 | €40 | €60 |
The countries in each reduced band are listed in the Open Call FAQ. Every country not in the reduced bands pays the standard fee. Once your entry is submitted, the fee is non-refundable (see section 19).
7.1 Students
Students anywhere in the world can take part for free. In the submission form, choose the student path and upload proof of current enrolment, such as a student card or an enrolment certificate. The Eyeshot team reviews it and, if valid, sends a single-use code to enter for free. The free student route covers one entry per person. A further body of work is entered with the ordinary fee.
7.2 Economic hardship
If the fee is out of reach, you can request free participation from within the submission form: choose the hardship path, tell us your situation, and attach a supporting document. Each request is reviewed personally by the Eyeshot team.
8. Calendar
The Eyeshot Open Call 2026 opens on 3 July 2026. The final deadline for submissions was 14 September 2026, 12:00 noon Rome time (CEST, UTC+2). The deadline was extended once, after many requests for more time from photographers still finishing their work. This is the final deadline. The evaluation takes place in the weeks that follow, and the finalists and winners are announced in October 2026.
9. Jury and evaluation
The work is read by an international jury of renowned photographers and experts; the 2026 panel is published on the Open Call page. It is read anonymously. Single photographs are scored on impact, vision, craft, moment, and storytelling; series on impact, vision, craft, depth, storytelling, and sequencing. Each element is rated, and the scores are combined. The decisions of the jury are final.
10. Awards and recognition
10.1 Cash prizes (single photographs)
The best single photographs receive the cash prizes: 1000 euro for first place, 500 euro for second, and 250 euro for third. A selection of finalists is also chosen.
10.2 The book (editorial publication)
Beyond the cash prizes, Eyeshot selects bodies of work for editorial publication. At its sole discretion, Eyeshot may offer one or more photographers a publication contract and produce their work as a printed, limited-edition monograph, entirely curated by Eyeshot, with editing, production, distribution, and promotion. These contracts are not fixed in number and are not limited to the prize winners: a body of work that did not place among the top three may also be offered a contract, as has happened in previous editions.
10.3 Recognition for winners and finalists
All winners and finalists are published in the Eyeshot Open Call magazine. Their work is featured through interviews and publications across Eyeshot’s channels, reaching a wide international audience of readers, photographers, and industry figures.
11. If you win
Winners provide high-resolution files and agree to their name, image, and work being used to promote the Open Call and Eyeshot, with credit and no additional payment. Cash prizes are paid by bank transfer or PayPal; any currency-conversion fees and any taxes due are the winner’s responsibility. If a winner cannot be reached within 14 days, Eyeshot may offer the prize to another entrant. There is no cash alternative, and a prize may be replaced by one of equal value if necessary.
12. Your guarantees
By entering, you confirm that the work is your own, that you own its copyright, and that it does not infringe anyone’s rights, break any law, or contain defamatory content. You agree to cover Eyeshot for any third-party claim that arises from a breach of these guarantees.
13. Rights and licence
You keep full copyright of your images. By taking part, you grant Eyeshot a non-exclusive licence to use the submitted images for promotional and marketing purposes connected to the Open Call and to Eyeshot’s activities. Your credit line appears on any use. Eyeshot does not transfer or sub-license your images to unrelated third parties, other than to partners acting on Eyeshot’s behalf for the same promotional purposes.
14. Integrity and disqualification
Entries with false, misleading, or incomplete information are void. Eyeshot may exclude any entry that breaks these rules at any stage, even after the results are announced, and may withdraw a prize and offer it to another entrant if a breach comes to light. Entries must be submitted under your real name.
15. Verification
Finalists may be asked to provide the original camera file (RAW or full-size JPEG), and sometimes the frames taken just before and after, so that authenticity can be confirmed. If the files are not provided when requested, the entry is withdrawn.
16. Optional service: Professional Review
You can add a personal, one-to-one professional review of your work from a participating juror, for 100 euro each. The review offers analysis and constructive feedback on the strengths of your work and where it can grow, and is delivered after the results.
17. Liability
Eyeshot is not responsible for entries that are lost, delayed, corrupted, or incomplete, or for technical or platform failures, and may refuse or exclude an entry at its discretion.
18. Data protection
The data controller is Eyeshot. The personal data you provide is used only to run the Open Call, and is shared only with the providers that make it work, such as our payment provider, our file storage, and the tools the jury uses. You may ask to access, correct, or delete your data, or to receive a copy, and you may lodge a complaint with the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante). Full details are in our privacy policy.
19. Right of withdrawal and refunds
The paid entry is a service that begins as soon as you submit. By entering and paying, you expressly ask Eyeshot to begin straight away and you acknowledge that, once the entry is submitted, you lose the 14-day right of withdrawal. For this reason the fee is non-refundable after submission. The free student and hardship routes carry no payment, so this does not apply to them.
20. Governing law and disputes
These rules are governed by Italian law, and the competent Italian court has jurisdiction, without removing the mandatory consumer protections of the country where you live. Disputes can also be raised through the European Online Dispute Resolution platform. The Open Call is judged on merit by a jury and is not a game of chance. Eyeshot may update these rules and conditions at any time.