The Griffin Museum recognizes the importance of the craft of photobooks. We celebrate this unique form of artistry and want to see the self published photobooks our creative community is working on. Juried by Karen Davis, Curator and Co-owner of Davis Orton Gallery, and Crista Dix, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum, our 15th Annual (Self Published) Photobook exhibition will showcase up to 50 books in our Griffin Gallery during the summer of 2025. The call for entry will open March 1 and close April 15. Submissions will be held on CaFE.

See the 14th Annual Photobook Exhibition here. 

During the summer of 2025, the exhibition will be online as well as in person. Book covers and links to participants websites will be online to direct patrons to your works. 

Artists included in the exhibition will have the option to participate in a virtual artist talk on June 18, 2025 at 6.30pm EST, as a celebration of your book and the phonebook community.

Additional talks and panels will be held throughout the summer celebrating your creativity as an artist. Those are all yet to be determined and scheduled.

About Karen Davis - 

Karen Davis is a teacher, curator, and photographer. From 2009-2024, she was co-owner/director of Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY, where she exhibited photography, mixed media, and photobooks of regional, national, and international artists. She has been an invited reviewer of portfolios for the New England Portfolio Reviews (NEPR), Photolucida in Portland, OR, FotoFest in Houston, TX, and Critical Mass (online/Photolucida).

 Since 2015, she has taught online for the Griffin Museum of Photography: “The Self-Published Photobook Workshop” and “Portfolio Development and Marketing Your Fine Art Photography.” Previously, Karen taught “Photography Atelier,” a portfolio development course at the Griffin Museum, Radcliffe Institute, and Lesley University, and co-taught “Making Art in Two Languages: Word and Image” at Radcliffe Institute, New England School of Art and Design, Lesley Seminars, and Tufts eXCollege.

Karen’s photographs are in the collections of CPW, Kingston NY, the Lishui Museum of Photography (China), and the Houghton Rare Books Library, Harvard University. They can be seen at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). Her photobook, “Still Stepping: A Family Portrait” (2020), was featured in the photoblogs What Will You Remember?, Lenscratch, and Elizabeth Avedon’s Journal. Blurb selected her photobook, “The McCann Family,” as a “Staff Pick.”

About Crista Dix - 

Crista Dix (She/Her/Hers) is the Executive Director at the Griffin Museum of Photography, assuming that role in January of 2022 after two years as the Associate Director.

Before coming to the Griffin Museum in 2020 she spent fifteen years operating her own photography gallery, wall space creative, closing it in 2020 to make the move to New England and the Griffin. Having a career spanning many paths she has a background rooted in science, business and creative art. This well rounded experience provides a solid background for supporting the Griffin’s mission to encourage a broader understanding and appreciation of the visual, emotional and social impact of photographic art.

Her gallery, wall space, supported emerging and mid-career artists with exhibitions, talks, events and art fairs around the country. As an internationally known gallery, Crista worked with clients all over the world and represented national and international artists. In addition to wall space’s special event and exhibition schedule, it hosted a series of artist lectures, studio and community events.

Ms. Dix, wall space and the artists who were part of its success believed in giving back, creating a charitable giving program called Life Support. In ten years Life Support worked with over 400 artists, donating to charitable foundations Doctors Without Borders, Direct Relief and Habitat for Humanity.

Application Requirements

Eligibility and Details:

Entrants may submit up to three different titles that are self-published photobooks of any size, format, or style. 

The submission will consist of 

• PDF of the Photobook
• Cover of the book
• Up to 5 images from the book

Image size for the cover and images follow the CaFE standard

• File Type: JPEG or JPG only.
• File Dimensions: 1,200 pixels or greater on the longest side.
• File Size: Under 5 MB.
• Color Profile: sRGB

Eligibility Criteria

The only requirement for this call is that your photobooks must be self-published. You must also have a printed copy (hard or soft cover) available, if selected for the exhibition. 

Anyone is welcome to enter.