The Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto invites participation from photographic artists for May 2020, either as a Featured Exhibition or an Open Call Exhibition.
The Featured Exhibitions program showcases exceptional photo-based projects. Featured Exhibitions are subject to a juried submission process, and are eligible for The Gattuso Prize, a $5,000 award that acknowledges an outstanding exhibition in this program.
The Open Call Exhibitions program provides a valuable opportunity to have photographic work exhibited in conjunction with other emerging and established artists. Open Call Exhibitions are non-juried and are therefore accessible to all interested participants and exhibition spaces.
All artists/organizers must have a confirmed exhibition space in order to participate in CONTACT. A participation fee applies:
Early bird fee (available until November 11, 2019) $275 + HST
What the show is about: Two artists finding meaning in natural materials and how they can inform the way we live. Mazzarello has turned to plant life and landscapes to study connections between this world and the human form in her series THE DREAMING PLANT. Arron’s WEAVE ME pieces are woven studies, each one exposing raw edges and hidden meanings through imagery and natural fibres.
Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival 2017 is the largest photography event in the world with over 1500 artists in 200 exhibitions and happenings throughout the month in the Greater Toronto Area.
Renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival are accepting submissions for the 2017 Burtynsky Grant - a $5,000 annual grant to support a Canadian artist in the creation of a photobook. Burtynsky generously donated his 2016 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts of $25,000 to create the grant and foster the careers of Canadian artists.
This grant is intended to support artists who are in the advanced stages of developing a photobook. The jury is looking for submissions from those that have created a book dummy, are currently seeking funding to work with a publisher or to self-publish, and who have had little to no prior experience publishing a photobook. The winner will be announced at the end of May 2017.
International curators, directors, publishers, and photo editors are brought together during CONTACT to review work by emerging artists, with a focus on documentary, photojournalism, narrative or photo-based art practices. Those with projects at an advanced stage of development who are seeking opportunities for publishing and exhibiting nationally or internationally, as well as looking for guidance on conceptual approaches or career development advice are encouraged to participate.
Registration closes April 24, 2017. Please note that due to limited space, all submissions will go through a selection process to ensure that a high caliber of work is presented in this program.
CONTACT is accepting submissions from artists and photographers with well-developed projects to participate in the 2015 Portfolio Reviews.
International experts in the field of photography are brought together for two days during CONTACT to review the work by those with a focus mainly on narrative, photo-based art practices, documentary, and photojournalism. This year CONTACT will present a series of related events, such as lectures, workshops and a performance, that focus on the photobook and the publishing industry.
This is an important program for artists and photographers with projects at advanced stages of development who are seeking opportunities for publishing and exhibiting--as well as for those looking for guidance on conceptual approaches or career development advice.
2015 Reviewers include: Bruno Ceschel, Self Publish, Be Happy, London; Joanne Junga Yang, Y&G Art, Seoul; Sophie Hackett, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Olivier Laurent, TIME LightBox, New York; Dewi Lewis, Dewi Lewis Publishing, London; Moritz Neumüller, PhotoIreland, Dublin; Susana Reisman & Claire Sykes, Circuit Gallery, Toronto; Bonnie Rubenstein, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto; Maarten Schilt, Schilt Publishing & Schilt Publishing Gallery, Amsterdam; Hannamari Shakya, Raw View Magazine, Helsinki; Jonathan Shaughnessy, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Supported by Ontario Arts Council and Vistek. This program was created to support and advance the careers of talented artists and photographers.
Community News:
Ryerson Image Centre Symposium
Photography Historians: A New Generation? highlights the most current research in the history of photography, bringing emerging scholars from universities worldwide to speak about their areas of study, their methods and their findings. This rising group of young photo-historians will engage in dialogue with prominent academics, revealing how contemporary historical inquiry sits within--and departs from--established traditions. The Symposium is organized by the Ryerson Image Centre with support from Ryerson University's School of Image Arts.
The Symposium is free to attend, and takes place March 26-28 at Ryerson University. For more information, visit the Ryerson website.
Film Screening
CONTACT is pleased to co-present a screening of the film "The Salt of the Earth" at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. This film follows the photographer Sebastião Salgado across continents as he builds a new masterwork on climate change, one breath-taking image at a time. Salgado's eye as an artist is second to none in the world of photojournalism.
Our friends at Hot Docs are seeking volunteers for the upcoming festival, and are also hosting an information session on volunteering in Toronto's cultural sector on March 14. Volunteers have the opportunity to meet and become part of a growing network of filmmakers, students and film lovers and to develop their skills and gain experience through North America's largest documentary film festival. For more information, visit the Hot Docs website.
CONTACT fosters and celebrates the art and profession of photography with an annual festival in May and year-round programming in the CONTACT Gallery.
CONTACT, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 and granted charitable status in 2011, is generously supported by Scotiabank, Nikon Canada, Pattison Outdoor Advertising, La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso, Vistek, Torys LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Toronto Image Works, Kronenbourg, The Gilder, Stratus Vineyards, Transcontinental PLM, 3M Canada, Four By Eight Signs, Beyond Digital Imaging, Hotel Le Germain, The Gladstone Hotel, The Globe and Mail, NOW Magazine, and BlogTO.
CONTACT gratefully acknowledges the support of Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, Celebrate Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Ontario Arts Council, The Government of Ontario, Partners in Art, Street Art Toronto, Canada Council for the Arts, the Hal Jackman Foundation, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Goethe-Institut, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and all of our funders, donors, and programming partners.
Call for Submissions: CONTACT 918: The Dark Room 4.0
A crowd-sourced, group exhibition celebrating alternative process and analog photography in the digital age.
Randy Grskovic, Demi-Verite A, 2014
Submission Deadline:Friday March 13, 2015, 5 pm EST Submission form and requirements available at:www.918bathurst.com
918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts Media and Education is seeking submissions for our fourth annual The Dark Room 4.0. This exhibition celebrates analogue and alternative process photography, and the intriguing work these methods produce.
Photographers using analogue and alternatives to digital photographic processes are invited to submit their work. This includes film negatives, pinhole, collodion/wet plate, silver gelatin, platinum prints, camera obscura, lomography, photograms, or other experimental uses of the wet/dark room.
The exhibition consists of two distinct components: On April 23, all accepted submissions will be displayed at Gallery 918 in a public showcase and celebration. During this event, both the public and our invited jury will select the photographs to be shown during our official two-week exhibition from May 5 – 29. Artists selected for this exhibition will be eligible for awards provided by our sponsors and partners, including Rizzoli Books.
Call for Artist Submissions Deadline:Friday March 13, 2015 by 5 pm EST
Public Preview Celebration and Voting:Thursday April 23, 12 pm – 11 pm
Exhibition Dates:Tuesday, May 5 – Friday, May 29
Closing Reception and Awards:Friday, May 29
Location: Gallery 918 at 918 Bathurst, Toronto, 416-538-0868