The Exhibition

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A portal is not simply an opening. It is a condition.

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We are interested in photographs that hold a viewer at the edge of something—where a shift is imminent but not yet complete. This may appear as a physical passage, but it does not have to. What matters is not the presence of a doorway, but the presence of tension.

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The strongest images will resist resolution. They will not describe transition—they will embody it.

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This might take the form of:

• a figure caught between visibility and disappearance

• a space that suggests entry but withholds access

• a moment suspended before or after an event

• an image that feels structurally unstable or psychologically unsettled​

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Literal interpretations (doors, windows, tunnels) are welcome only when the photograph itself carries this tension. A door is not a portal unless something is at stake.

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We are not looking for symbols. We are looking for photographs that operate as thresholds.

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Submission Details

• Open to all photographers worldwide

• All photographic styles and processes welcome

• Maximum 8 images per submission

• Please submit jpg files at 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.

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​Entry Fee:

• $25 for up to 8 images

 

What Selected Photographers Receive

• First Place: $500 plus a solo exhibition on the gallery's website

• Second Place: $300

• Third Place: $200

• Inclusion in the curated online exhibition

• Permanent exhibition page on Decagon Gallery

• Feature on Decagon’s Instagram

• Inclusion in the exhibition catalog

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Juror​: Douglas Stockdale 

Douglas Stockdale is a visual artist, editor, and educator focused on the photobook as a central form of contemporary photographic practice. He is the founder and publisher of PhotoBook Journal, a respected platform for critical photobook reviews, and writes the long-running blog Singular Images.​ His work is held in the collections of Museo d’Art Contemporanea di Roma, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and Reminders Photography Stronghold.

douglasstockdale.com