Outside the Box: Cameraless Photography
Organization:
PhotoSynthesis
Location
East Hartford, CT
Entry Fee
Paid Entry
Deadline
March 31, 2026
Exhibition
May 30
- Jul 11, 2026
Photographs are typically made with a camera, but that isn’t a requirement. The word “photograph” is derived from Greek words meaning “light drawing.” So a photograph is any means of using light to record an image onto a photosensitive surface.
Anna Atkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Man Ray were all practitioners of cameraless photography.
One method of making cameraless images is the photogram, where objects are placed onto a light-sensitive surface, exposed to light, and processed accordingly. Cameraless images don’t necessarily require objects, though, and can be made through the actions of light and chemistry alone.
Common mediums for this process are lumen prints, chlorophyll prints, phytograms, anthotypes, cyanotypes, and silver gelatin photograms.
We are seeking images, in any photographic medium, in which an element of cameraless photography is incorporated. Full cameraless images are great. Composites made partly with a camera and partly without are acceptable. We invite you to think outside the box. Thirty to forty pieces will be chosen by the juror to be exhibited at PhotoSynthesis and on our website.
Anna Atkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Man Ray were all practitioners of cameraless photography.
One method of making cameraless images is the photogram, where objects are placed onto a light-sensitive surface, exposed to light, and processed accordingly. Cameraless images don’t necessarily require objects, though, and can be made through the actions of light and chemistry alone.
Common mediums for this process are lumen prints, chlorophyll prints, phytograms, anthotypes, cyanotypes, and silver gelatin photograms.
We are seeking images, in any photographic medium, in which an element of cameraless photography is incorporated. Full cameraless images are great. Composites made partly with a camera and partly without are acceptable. We invite you to think outside the box. Thirty to forty pieces will be chosen by the juror to be exhibited at PhotoSynthesis and on our website.