THE ROOM NEXT DOOR

Contact InformationDecagon GalleryContact Email: [email protected] Phone: 657-330-1094

Requirement OverviewLocation Eligibility Type: InternationalEligible Applicant Types: ArtistSubmission Limit: 1Media RequirementsImages | Min: 4, Max: 10Audio | Min: 0, Max: 0Video | Min: 0, Max: 0Total | Min: 4, Max: 10

Opportunity SummaryTHE ROOM NEXT DOOR is an international juried photography call from Decagon Gallery.Juror: Susan BrightWe seek photographs that live in nearness: a lit window across the courtyard, a bedroom no one sleeps in anymore, a voice through the wall. Images that suggest more than they show: mysterious, never obscure, and always offering the viewer a way in. Documentary, staged, conceptual, color or black and white, all welcome.Selected work will be exhibited online at Decagon Gallery, January 10 – March 10, 2027.Deadline: December 15, 2026.Notification: January 1, 2027.$1,000 Cash Prizes.

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General InformationTHE ROOM NEXT DOORA Decagon Gallery Spotlight open callJuror: Susan Bright$1,000 in cash prizesDeadline: December 15, 2026Notification: January 1, 2027On view: January 10 – March 10, 2027You can hear it before you see it. A voice rising and falling through the wall. A door closing somewhere you can't place. Light under a threshold, a shadow crossing it.The room next door is the one we almost know. It sits beside our own lives, shares our walls, and holds its secrets just out of sight. It's the neighbor's lit window across the courtyard. It's the bedroom down the hall that no one sleeps in anymore. It's the hotel room whose occupant you will never meet, or the room you grew up in, now someone else's.For this call, we're looking for photographs that sit in that space between knowing and not knowing: images that suggest more than they show, and invite the viewer to imagine what is on the other side.WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWork that is mysterious but not impenetrable. Photographs where something is withheld, but a way in is offered. Think of the pull of a half-open door, of an overheard conversation, of a place that feels charged even when it's empty.Interpret the theme as broadly or as literally as you like. Some possibilities:Interiors, thresholds, doorways, windows, and wallsNeighbors, strangers, and the lives we glimpse but never enterAbsence and presence: rooms after someone has gone, rooms waiting for someone to arriveMemory, family, and the rooms of the pastIntimacy, privacy, and secrecyPsychological and imagined spacesStaged, constructed, or surreal work that builds its own adjacent worldsDocumentary, fine art, conceptual, and experimental approaches are all welcome. So are color and black and white, film and digital, and any process you choose.ABOUT THE JURORDr. Susan Bright (Aus/UK) is a curator, art historian, writer and lecturer with over two decades of experience curating exhibitions featuring both major international and emerging contemporary artists. While maintaining a broad curatorial practice, she specializes in lens-based art and has developed a reputation for strong scholarship combined with imaginative, intuitive and rigorous collaboration.ELIGIBILITYOpen to photographers of all levels, anywhere in the world. Work must be your own. [Add rules on previously exhibited work, AI-generated imagery, and so on, if applicable.]AWARDS AND EXHIBITION$1,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. Every selected photographer is exhibited in THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, an online exhibition on the Decagon Gallery website, plus promotion through our newsletter and social media. ENTRY FEE$25 for 4 images$5 for each additional imageKEY DATESSubmission deadline: December 15, 2026Notification of results: January 1, 2027Exhibition: January 10 – March 10, 2027ABOUT DECAGON GALLERYDecagon Gallery is an independent online fine art photography gallery presenting juried exhibitions with named jurors, cash prizes, and printed catalogs. Our calls are designed to give photographers a thoughtful theme, a respected juror, and a presentation worthy of the work.​​​​​​AwardsFirst Place: $500Second Place: $250Third Place: $150Two Honorable Mentions: $50Human Presence award: Free entry to a future exhibitionAll selected photographers receive inclusion in the curated exhibition on a dedicated exhibition page, Instagram feature, and inclusion in the printed catalog. The exhibition will be promoted through Press Releases in appropriate channels.​How to Submit$25 entry fee for 4 photographs. $5 each additional photograph. Open to photographers worldwide. All photographic processes and styles welcome.​Submission Details:Submit jpg files at least 2100 pixels on the long side without any text, watermarks, borders, or frames. We want the work to be seen as it is, without any added elements that might distract from the image itself.What Selected Photographers ReceiveInclusion in the curated online exhibitionPermanent exhibition page on Decagon GalleryFeature on Decagon’s InstagramInclusion in the exhibition catalogPhotographers retain all rights, including copyright, to their photographs.