NYC4PA - "Monochrome" International Juried Photography Open Call 2026

• New York Center for Photographic Arts

• Deadline: October 18th, 2026

• Category: Monochrome Photography

• Prize: $4,000 Prize Pool + Online Exhibition

• Entry Fees: Yes

• REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE

KODAK, ILFORD, and FUJI once defined the landscape of photographic image-making. For generations, photographers followed a familiar sequence: shoot the film, develop the negatives, and make the print. Creating a successful black-and-white photograph was a process that unfolded through cameras, darkrooms, enlargers, trays, chemicals, paper, and countless creative decisions. For many, memories of those spaces and rituals still inspire a smile—the glow of the safelight, the careful timing of each step, and the remarkable experience of watching a photograph emerge before your eyes.

Today, the tools of photography are more varied than ever. Film continues to thrive alongside digital cameras, alternative processes, scanning technologies, sophisticated editing tools, and smartphones capable of producing extraordinary images. The methods may have evolved, but the enduring appeal of monochrome photography has not.

There is something uniquely powerful about an image built from variations of light and dark. By reducing or eliminating conventional color, monochrome photography can bring greater attention to form, texture, contrast, atmosphere, gesture, and emotion. A black-and-white image can feel timeless and immediate. A sepia-toned photograph can suggest history, warmth, or memory. An image created through shades of a single color can establish an entirely different mood and visual experience.

For this call, we are seeking outstanding monochrome photographs in all their forms. We welcome classic black and white, sepia, and images created primarily through gradations of a single color. Subjects and genres are completely open, from portraiture and landscape to architecture, street photography, documentary work, abstraction, still life, nature, and experimental image-making.

Your original image might have been captured on TRI-X film, made with a digital SLR or mirrorless camera, created through an alternative photographic process, or taken with your phone. It may have been developed in a traditional darkroom or refined through contemporary digital tools. The equipment and process are not what define the work.

What matters is the final image: a photograph in which monochrome becomes an essential part of its visual and emotional power. If your work uses gradations of light and dark to reveal beauty, texture, atmosphere, or emotion, we invite you to submit it.