UPDATE — The Human Environments call is now closed and the winners have been announced: discover the Best Single Image and the Best Series.

We’re thrilled to announce our new open call around the theme of Human Environments! For this new call for works we invited to join as the juror Éanna de Fréine, the founder and director of publishing house The Velvet Cell: Éanna will choose a Best Single Image and a Best Series; and if he finds the winning entry in the ‘Series’ category to be a good match for The Velvet Cell, he’s happy to work with the author to make the series into a photobook! Read on for all the details and don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.

The Theme — Human Environments

Throughout history, humans have learned how to build custom environments to host both their private and public lives, and have progressively perfected such spaces to adjust to their increasingly refined needs. In 2017, how do our man-made environments look, and what do they say about the contemporary societies we live in?

You can participate in two categories: ‘Single Image’ for single photographs, and ‘Series’ for full projects. No restrictions apply in terms of the chosen photographic genre, style or approach, as long as the submitted works fit the call’s theme.

The Juror — Éanna De Fréine of The Velvet Cell

Éanna De Fréine is the founder and director of The Velvet Cell, an independent photobook publisher with a specific interest in human environments. Notable examples from The Velvet Cell’s catalog include the recent Mountains and Waters, a photographic study of China’s modern urbanscapes by Alexander Gronsky; In Search of Habitat, a look at the outskirts of India’s new metropolises by Lars Rolfsted Mortensen; and the City Diaries, a series of books by Peter Bialobrezski, each one dedicated to an international city (such as Taipei, Athens, Cairo, etc.). In the past, The Velvet Cell also published the beautiful and now sold out Out West by Kyler Zeleny.

Éanna nurtures an authentic passion for photobooks: besides The Velvet Cell, he recently launched Indie Photobooks, a platform targeted to (self-)publishers where he shares tips on making, promoting and selling photobooks with the goal of supporting the international photobook community.

The Prize — Publish a photobook with The Velvet Cell!

Éanna will select a Best Single Image and a Best Series from all entries submitted to the call. The winning works, as well as a selection of editors’ picks, will then appear in FotoRoom.

As with all of our calls, there is also a special prize: if Éanna, at his exclusive discretion, will deem the Best Series to fit the editorial mission of The Velvet Cell, he is ready to make it into a photobook in collaboration with the author of the winning entry. The characteristics of the photobook will entirely depend on the nature of the selected project, so we can’t anticipate much in that regard; but feel free to browse The Velvet Cell site to see what kinds of photobooks they have produced so far.

The Velvet Cell will offer all its publishing services, including design, editing, printing and marketing; while the selected photographer will be required to cover the financing of the book. But Éanna has a history of helping photographers find the necessary funds through grants and fellowships, so don’t let that discourage you! We as FotoRoom are also ready to support the project in any way that we can, both during production and after the book is published. We’ve got your back covered :)

Please note that only the winner of the Best Series category is eligible for the special prize; and that Éanna may decide to not make the winning work into a book if he won’t find it to be a perfect match for The Velvet Cell.

Who can participate

The call is only open to FotoRoom members. In particular, Amateur members can only enter the ‘Single Image’ category, while Pro members can also enter the ‘Series’ category.

Becoming a member (starts at €10/year!) gives you access to not only the ‘Human Environments’ call but also to all other FotoRoom‘s calls that open while you’re a member. So for example if you became a member this March, you could enter any call we’ll launch until next March 2018 (we usually launch a new call every two months, so that’s six calls a year).

A FotoRoom membership also unlocks other exclusive features including access to FotoCal, searching our full archive and collecting your favorite images and projects through the mighty heart button. Sign up today!

Submission guidelines

The image(s) should be sent via WeTransfer to calls (at) fotoroom .co (not .com with an ‘m’; just .co!). All submitted images must be in .jpg format and at least 1440px wide; 300dpi is preferable, but 72dpi will work as well.

If you’d like to participate in the ‘Single Image’ category, you can send a maximum of 3 images. If instead you’d like to enter the ‘Series’ category, you should send a selection of 10-15 images from the same project.

In both cases, along with the photographs, please send a text file with the following information:

1. Your full name;
2. A link to your portfolio website (if you have one);
3. An email address we can use if we need to be in contact;
4. The email address you used to sign up as a FotoRoom member (in case it’s different from the contact email);
5. (Optional but recommended, especially for the ‘Series’ category): a short text, introduction or project statement.

Copyright and terms of use

All submitted images must be in the sole ownership of the entrant and not infringe on the copyright of any other party; full ownership of the copyright for every submitted image remains with its author.

By submitting your images to the ‘Human Environments’ call you grant FotoRoom the possibility to use the submitted images—properly credited—on its website and social media with the exclusive purpose of promoting your work and the FotoRoom platform.

The deadline

The ‘Human Environments’ call closes next 30 April at midnight (Central European Time). Winners will be announced in mid-May.

Have questions? Feel free to ask. Good luck to all and we look forward to seeing your pictures!