Critical Analysis: Open Calls in Photography
Analysis of how open calls monetize rather than democratize photography, examining economic models and their impact on the medium.
This article by Alvin Greis critically examines the structure and impact of open calls in photography, arguing that they have not democratized the field but rather created new gatekeeping mechanisms based on monetization. The piece explores how open calls operate on economic models dependent on submission volume rather than quality discovery, effectively making photographers the product being sold rather than beneficiaries of opportunity. The analysis traces the collapse of twentieth-century institutional authority in photography—when Magnum, major magazines, and museums controlled visibility—to the emergence of administrative evaluation systems that replace curatorial decisions with thematic alignment requirements. Open calls prioritize predictable narratives around crisis, identity, and inequality, rewarding conformity over originality. The article demonstrates how these platforms have spread administrative logic throughout the photography field, influencing even photographers who never submit to competitions. Client expectations, social media algorithms, and commercial briefs now mirror submission platform frameworks. The piece argues that professional practice—fashion, advertising, editorial, and product photography—has become the true space where photographic language evolves, as these environments respond to real constraints and audiences. Institutions and open call platforms often follow rather than lead in establishing new visual directions. The article concludes that while institutional photography becomes increasingly bureaucratic and dependent on compliance-rewarding programs, genuine innovation and experimentation emerge from commercial practice and personal work driven by competitive necessity. The center of photographic medium development has shifted from institutions to communities creating its visual language.