Our Open Call Exhibition 2026

Competition Categories

The competition features three distinct categories.

1. Single Image

Category Focus: A powerful candid street photograph that captures a unique moment, atmosphere, or narrative in a public space.

What It Means: This category seeks a standalone image that is impactful, well-composed, and tells a compelling story without relying on any other images. Judging focuses on the individual image's strength, timing, and visual execution.

2. Series

Category Focus: A cohesive set of 5 to 10 candid street photographs that explore a specific theme, location, or narrative over time.

What It Means: A Series requires all images to work together to present a deeper perspective or ongoing story. Each image must contribute significantly to the overall statement. The jury will assess the consistency, flow, and combined impact of the collection.

3. Street Portrait

Category Focus: A single photograph focusing on a human subject in a public environment, where the individual is the main focus of the composition.

What It Means: This category celebrates spontaneous engagement with a subject, with minimal or no directorial input, for the purpose of creating an environmental or street portrait. Ideally, the subject should be the one deciding how to present themselves in that moment.

Judging Criteria

Judges must evaluate entries based on a balanced assessment of the following factors being mindful of each category focus:

• Impact and Emotion: Does the image immediately grab attention? Does it evoke a strong emotion, curiosity, or recognition of the human condition?

• Originality and Vision: Does the photograph offer a fresh perspective? Does it move beyond the typical snapshot to demonstrate a unique photographic eye and style?

• Composition and Storytelling: Is the frame well-constructed, using elements like light, lines, and shape effectively? Does the image clearly convey a candid moment, narrative, or connection to the street environment?

• Technical Excellence: Is the focus sharp where intended, is the exposure appropriate for the mood, and is the overall presentation high quality?

• All images will be presented without the photographers name on view.

Selection Process

Preselection Committee: A preselection committee will select a shortlist of entries to be presented to the Main Jury Panel. The preselection committee will consist of the three current winners of DSPF: Tuna Alp Angel, Tom Pitts, and Bouwe Brouwer.

Main Jury Panel: A specialised street photography jury will select the finalists and winners. The panel will feature internationally recognised street photographers: Meryl Meisler, Stuart Paton, Argus Paul Estabrook, and The Bragdon Brothers.

Single Image:

Decisive Moment and Stand-Alone Strength. The image must function powerfully in isolation.

• A shortlist of 250 single images will be selected by the preselection committee (these will be exhibited digitally during DSPF 2026).

• From the shortlist: Each Judge selects 12 Finalists + 10 Alternates (ranked 1 to 10)

• 60 Finalists will be exhibited

Series:

Cohesion and Depth of Narrative. How well the images work together to explore a singular theme or story over time.

• A shortlist of 30 series will be selected by the preselection committee (these will be exhibited digitally during DSPF 2026).

• From the shortlist: Each Judge selects 2 Final Series + 2 Alternates (ranked 1 to 2)

• 8 Finalists will be exhibited

Street Portrait:

Connection and Context. This category celebrates spontaneous engagement with a subject, with minimal or no directorial input, for the purpose of creating an environmental or street portrait. Ideally, the subject should be the one deciding how to present themselves in that moment.

• A shortlist of 150 images will be selected by the preselection committee (these will be exhibited digitally during DSPF 2026).

• From the shortlist: Each Judge selects 8 Finalists + 5 Alternates (ranked 1 to 5)

• 40 Finalists will be exhibited

Why Finalists and Alternates:

Finalists: These are the priority selections that must be included in the final exhibition pool.

Alternates: These images serve as substitutes in the event of any duplicate selections across the judging panel or if a finalist is later disqualified. We strive to include as many photographers in our finalist selection as possible - we will limit each photographer to one entry in the finalist pool of each category (no matter how many images entered into the competition) and alternate selections may be used for this purpose.

Prize Winners Selection

1st, 2nd and 3rd prize in each category will be selected by the Jury Chairperson: Meryl Meisler