The Exhibition

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Years pass. People change. Places disappear. Entire parts of our lives quietly fall out of reach. And yet, some photographs remain impossibly close to us. Not because they are perfect, but because they continue holding something we were never fully able to leave behind.

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Decagon Gallery invites photographers worldwide to submit one photograph only: the image they never left behind.

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We are not searching for spectacle or technical perfection. We are interested in photographs that continue carrying emotional weight — images tied to memory, attachment, intimacy, grief, distance, tenderness, longing, or time. The strongest photographs will feel lived rather than constructed. They may be quiet, unresolved, visually restrained, or emotionally difficult to explain.

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We are less interested in nostalgia itself than in the traces it leaves behind. What matters is whether something remains inside the image long after it was taken.

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Entry Fee

$15 for one entry

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Awards & Recognition

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$1,000 Total Cash Awards

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First Place: $500 + Solo Exhibition on the Decagon Gallery website
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $150

Two Honorable Mentions: $50 each

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Human Presence Nomination: Free of charge entry to one future Decagon Gallery Open Call of the photographer’s choice

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All selected photographers receive:
– Inclusion in the curated exhibition
– Dedicated exhibition page on Decagon Gallery
– Feature on Decagon’s Instagram
– Inclusion in the exhibition catalog

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Submission Details

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Open to photographers worldwide. All photographic styles and processes are welcome. One photograph only.

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Please submit JPG files sized to 2100 pixels on the long side. Images should not contain text, watermarks, borders, frames, or additional graphic elements. We want the work to be experienced as directly and clearly as possible.
 

Together with your submission, we invite photographers to include one short sentence about the photograph — not explaining what the image shows, when it was taken, or its technical context, but expressing what continues to live inside it.

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Because this exhibition is curated directly by the Decagon team, Decagon reserves the right to accompany selected photographs in the exhibition with a short curatorial phrase, word, or fragment of language written in response to the photographer’s statement and image, while preserving the essence of the original meaning and emotional intention behind it.

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Please name your files "First Name-Last Name_title.jpg'"