Kuala Lumpur Photography Award - Autoportrait 2025: Portrait Prize / Experimental Self-Portraits

• Kuala Lumpur Portrait Award

• Deadline: October 31st, 2025

• Category: Experimental Self Portraits

• Prize: €1,000 + Exhibition in Malaysia

• Entry Fees: Yes

• REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE

Building on the enthusiastic response to our inaugural AUTOPORTRAIT open call last year, we are delighted to present the 2025 Interim Edition, once again dedicated to the theme of Experimental Self-Portraits. This edition continues our exploration of a genre that encourages photographers and visual artists to move beyond conventional notions of self-portraiture, pushing the limits of imagination and craft.

Experimental self-portraiture invites participants to question what it means to represent the self, often through unexpected processes, unusual materials, or inventive visual strategies. Rather than simply capturing a likeness, these works may examine the deeper layers of identity, memory, and emotion, offering new and abstract interpretations of the self.

At KLPA, we welcome all forms of experimentation—whether analogue practices such as film manipulations, darkroom techniques, and mixed media, or digital explorations that reimagine portraiture through layering, distortion, and unconventional editing. The only clear limitation is that AI-generated images are not permitted, ensuring that the submissions remain grounded in the artist’s direct creative process.

For this year’s edition, a newly appointed panel of selectors will review the entries. They will be looking not only for technical skill but also for originality, innovation, and the strength of the story each work conveys as an independent artistic statement.