Call Detail
Days remaining to deadline: 30
Entry Fee (Member Entry Fee): $35.00
Entry Fee (Non-Member Entry Fee): $40.00
Media Fee(Additional Media): $5.00
Images | Minimum:Min. 5, Maximum:Max. 12
Total Samples | Minimum:Min. 5, Maximum:Max. 12
Eligibility: International
State: Texas
Jury Dates: 5/31/25 - 6/8/25
Texas Photographic Society is honored to announce the call for entries for The Shape of Light, a juried exhibition of abstract photography, which will be juried by Michael Mulvey, a fine art and editorial photographer, and instructor at Tarleton State University.
The Shape of Light will be exhibited at the Arlington Museum of Art in Arlington, Texas. This call encourages any interpretation of abstract photographic work and welcomes submissions from artists of all levels internationally. Please also read the Jurors' Bio below. The Shape of Light will open at the Arlington Museum of Art in Amarillo, Texas, on July 18, 2025, alongside the Museum's exhibit of M.C. Escher's work. TPS is excited to bring this opportunity in what promises to be a surreal summer of art in Arlington, TX.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 29th - Call for Entries opens
May 30 - Deadline for Entry
June 10th - Selections Announced
July 9th - Work Due at the AMA
July 18 - Exhibition Opening / Reception
August 12 - Exhibition Closes
August 13th-19th - Work is Shipped Back
AWARDS
First Place = $400
Second Place = $250
Third Place = $150
Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded
Application Requirements
The entry fee for current TPS Members is $35 for 5 images, plus $5 for each additional image. The Non-Member entry fee is $40 for 5 images, plus $5 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 $35.
You may enter up to 12 images.
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 cpireland@gmail.com. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable.
Eligibility Criteria
The Shape of Light is open to artists internationally, of all levels, who are at least 18 years old at time of entry. 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.
All photography-based work using any process is encouraged. We encourage artists to submit images that communicate through composition, mood, and visual language, instead of focusing on recognizable subject matter. Great abstract images can include objective subject matter, but we are looking for images where that is not the first thing you might notice. For this exhibition, we seek work that embraces experimentation — photographs that challenge perception, prioritize aesthetics over narrative, and transform ordinary or unfamiliar scenes into something unexpected. Whether through close-up detail, intentional distortion, creative use of light, or digital manipulation, the work we are looking for should evoke emotion, provoke thought, and invite viewers to see the world through a different light.
ABOUT THE JUROR
Artist, educator, and journalist Michael Mulvey’s work is rooted in the visualization of sociological practices. His research interests range from capturing the cultural divide along the border with Mexico to the gentrification of West Dallas Neighborhoods, using methods of the documentary, alternative process, and conceptually constructed still lives to create various pathways to access cultural complexities. His practice includes the use of analog and digital devices as well as site-specific installation and photo sculpture. His most recent work features pictograms made in cameraless space on the film of items collected from the land during the gentrification process. They represent the memory of what came before and are now in a permanent visual record formed in historic photographic processes.
Michael earned the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2006 while a staff photographer with The Dallas Morning News. The award was for coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, America's most costly weather event, and the beginning of the global warming trend resulting in extreme energy super storms.
Michael holds an M.F.A in Studio Art from the College of Visual Arts at Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas, and a B.S in Journalism from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. He is currently an Instructor of Photography at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX.
The Shape of Light is made possible through funding from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the support of our TPS Members