TPS 32: The International Competition

Texas Photographic Society is proud to announce the call for entry for our flagship exhibition, TPS 32: The International Competition, juried by María Beatriz H. Carrión, Assistant Curator of Photography at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

This call is open-themed and submissions from artists of all levels internationally are welcomed. TPS 32: The International Competition will open at the Cain Art Gallery, Del Mar College, in Corpus Christi, Texas, on September 20, 2024.

May 24, 2024 - Call for entry opens
Tuesday, July 16, 2024 - Deadline for entry (11:59 p.m. Mountain Time Zone)
August 2, 2024 - Exhibiting artists announced and emails sent to all entrants
August 31, 2024 - Work due in Corpus Christi 
September 20, 2024 - Exhibition opens at the Cain Art Gallery, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, with opening reception from 6 to 8 pm 
November 22, 2024- Exhibition closes

AWARDS

First Place = $500

Second Place = $300

Third Place = $200

Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded

ENTRY FEE

The entry fee for current TPS Members is $30 for 5 images, plus $6 for each additional image. The Non-Member entry fee is $38 for 5 images, plus $6 for each additional image. You do not have to be a member of TPS to enter. However, if you enter the competition and join TPS or renew as a member at the same time, you can pay the reduced current TPS Member entry fee of $30.

You may enter up to 12 images. (This call requires a minimum of five images; if you need to submit fewer, you may submit mulitples of the same image to reach the minimum.) 

TPS Member Benefits include member feature opportunities via our Members' Gallery, Member Spotlight, Blog, Members' News, Members' Instagram Takeover, social media accounts and E-Zine, discounted entry fees to most TPS competitions, and discounts to programs and services offered through our partnerships.

If you are not sure of your TPS member status, please contact TPS at ann@texasphoto.org. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable.


JUROR'S STATEMENT

Photography is a complicated medium. Since its inception in the nineteenth century, it has been linked to stories of surveillance, the exploration and definition of the “other,” and the creation of national and individual fictions. However, the camera has also simultaneously allowed for the democratization of representation, the depiction of realities that our eyes cannot capture, and the documentation of events that we may want or refuse to see. As such, I am particularly drawn to pictures that embody and/or demonstrate awareness of the tensions between the possibilities and limitations of the medium and between its ability to tell or conceal the so-called truth. I am honored to study your work in my capacity as a juror for TPS 32: The International Competition. Thank you for entrusting me with your submission.

ABOUT THE JUROR

María Beatriz H. Carrión is a historian of the art of the Americas and a specialist in photography. She has worked at several cultural institutions in the U.S., South America, and Europe including Quito’s Center of Contemporary Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Morgan Library and Museum, and the Rijksmuseum. Currently, she serves as Assistant Curator of Photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. Her research examines issues of racial representation, ecocriticism, and colonialism in photography and has been supported by the Terra, Mellon, and Cisneros foundations. She has also received research funding from the Huntington Library, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, CUNY’s Early Research Initiative, and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. Carrión obtained her M.A. in Art History at Tulane University and her B.A. in Liberal Arts at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador). She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. 
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TPS 32: The International Competition - and all of TPS programming -  is made possible through funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts, a partnership with Fujifilm, and the support of our TPS Members.

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SALES

TPS encourages the sale of exhibited work and will collect a 30% commission from all prints sold during the exhibition. Please indicate the sales price of your print, including frame/finishing. If your finished piece is not for sale, simply note NFS. If your work is accepted and you do not indicate a sales price, the artwork will be listed as NFS.

IF YOUR WORK IS ACCEPTED

1. Artwork must be ready-to-hang using wire stretched between D-rings on the back. The finished piece must not exceed 20" in the longest dimension (including the frame). Sawtooth hangers are NOT permitted. Please use white mats and white or black frames that are gallery quality and complement your work (color mats are NOT acceptable). Plexiglass must be used with the frame, NO GLASS ALLOWED. Photographs printed on metal are allowed, but must be framed, with the photograph safely recessed from the front of the frame, and packed appropriately. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, address, telephone number, email address, image title, medium, dimensions and sales price or NFS. TPS reserves the right to exclude works from the exhibition that are not gallery-ready and professional in presentation.

2. A prepaid return UPS or FedEX shipping label MUST be provided with your work for prints to be returned to you when the exhibition concludes. Work WITHOUT return shipping will NOT be included in the exhibition and will NOT be returned. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt. Packing peanuts are NOT permitted. Please ship prints in a flat box (do not use moving boxes) as our storage space is limited. Prints will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received. If additional exhibition venues are added, artists will be notified with location, dates, and other pertinent details, and work will be return-shipped from the final venue.

3. Framed prints with prepaid return shipping label must arrive at the Cain Art Gallery, Del Mar College, in Corpus Christi, Texas, by August 24, 2024.

TPS and Cain Art Gallery/Del Mar College will exercise all due care in handling your artwork. However, TPS is not liable for loss, theft, damage, or replacement of artwork, nor is TPS liable for damage during shipping. Cain Art Gallery/Del Mar College does not insure artists' work. Please consider insuring your work.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, please contact TPS Executive Director Ann T. Shaw at ann@texasphoto.org.

Application Requirements

IMAGE REQUIREMENTS

Please submit digital JPG files only, minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side and 5 MB maximum. Please remove watermarks from images. For each image you will need to provide the image title and the process (medium) used to make the image/print (Archival Digital Print, Silver Gelatin Print, Platinum/Palladium Print, Wet Plate Collodian, etc.) To clarify, you will submit a digital file of your image for the contest application; if your work is selected for the show, you will print your image, frame it, and ship it to the exhibition venue.

Need help resizing images? You can resize via a Mac or PC computer, or use a number of third-party applications, many of which offer free trials or solutions. Please go here for suggestions.

Eligibility Criteria

TPS 32: The International Competition is open to artists internationally, of all levels, who are at least 18 years old at time of entry. All photography-based work is encouraged including digital, silver, and alternative processes. Works exhibited previously in a TPS show are not eligible. Current members of the TPS Board of Directors are permitted to enter but are not eligible for awards.