2026 Foto Forum Santa Fe Photography Award

Foto Forum Santa Fe is pleased to announce an open call for the 2026 Foto Forum Santa Fe Photography Award, an annual international competition open to emerging and established artists. The award was conceived to support photographers by giving them an opportunity to have their work viewed by outside jurors as well as in-house curator Executive Director Sage Paisner, to give the winner the chance to share their work in the photography-friendly city of Santa Fe, and to put a little money in their pocket to help in the production of the work. This year's juror is Ray Potes, who began his obsession with shooting photos and making zines at age 14 in San Diego and now runs Hamburger Eyes, both a magazine and publishing house dedicated to black and white photography.

The First Place Award receives a two month solo exhibition in the Santa Fe gallery down the street from SITE Santa Fe located in the Railyard Art District and $2,500 in Cash and Prizes: $1,000 Cash Prize, $1,500 Gift Certificate to Visions Photo Lab, plus a $500 stipend towards delivering the work to the gallery and having the work returned to the artist. Photographers are invited to submit up to twelve images at least 1mb in size but not bigger than 2mb files or videos from a related body of work that is ready for exhibition. Jurors will choose the winner based on creativity, cohesion, maturity, and quality of the work.

Entry fees are $30 for early bird entry (November 8, 2025 to January 22, 2026), $40 for standard entry (January 23 to February 24, 2026), and $45 for late entry (February 25 to March 5, 2026). Students and Foto Forum Santa Fe Members can email for a 20% discount coupon. All applicants must submit a portfolio of 6 to 12 photographic images or videos, an Artist's Statement, Bio, C.V., and a title of the show. The competition is open to all artists 18 years or older internationally.