Photography Now

This Open Call invites submissions for an exhibition exploring how women and non-binary artists use photography to engage with the pressing issues of our time. The exhibition seeks to highlight how the photographic medium—whether central or complementary to an artist's practice—can be used to confront, question, and navigate contemporary socio-political challenges, innovative processes, and evolving technologies. Artists are encouraged to reflect on the critical dynamics of this moment, exploring photography’s role in shaping and responding to urgent global and personal narratives. Photography Now is open to artists who incorporate photography into their work, even if it is not their primary medium. All submitted works must have been created within the last two years to ensure they reflect the timeliness of these conversations.
 

About the Juror: Whitney Bradshaw is an artist, activist, educator, curator, and former social worker living in Chicago. Her work has been shown widely across the United States including solo shows at Atlanta Contemporary, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), the DePaul Art Museum, Villanova University Gallery, the Tarble Arts Center at EIU, the Epiphany Center for the Arts, Wave Pool Contemporary Art Fulfillment Center, Photographic Center Northwest and more. The Museum of Contemporary Photography, the DePaul Art Museum, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Agnes Scott College, the Hall Art and Technology Foundation and Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell collect her work which has been published in Ms. Magazine, GIRLS Magazine, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the BRIDGE Journal and Vogue. In the Fall of 2023, Bradshaw was named one of NewCity Magazine’s top 50 Chicago Artists’ Artists. Both she and OUTCRY are the subject of a documentary film titled OUTCRY: Alchemists of Rage directed by Clare Major which premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in June 2024 and was shortlisted for Best Short Film by the International Documentary Association in 2024. Now curator at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, she was previously the chair of the visual art conservatory at ChiArts, an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago, and curator of the renowned LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, later Bank of America.

The exhibition will be held from May 24 to June 21, 2025 at Woman Made Gallery, 1332 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607.

First Entry Due Date: March 21 | 11:59 PM CST (entry fee: $30) 

Final Entry Due Date (fee increases to $35): March 28 | 11:59 PM CST

Calendar 

Exhibition Dates: May 24 - June 21, 2025 

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 24 from 4 to 7 PM CST 

Artist Walkthrough: Saturday, June 21 from 2 to 4 PM CST 

First Entry Due Date: March 21 | 11:59 PM CST 

Extended Due Date (fee increase to $35): March 28 | 11:59 PM CST

Notification: April 11, 2025

Entry Fee 

*The entry fee is $30 until the first deadline. The entry fee will then increase to $35 per entry. Each entry requires a minimum of one artwork, though up to three artworks may be considered per submission. Entry fees are non-refundable. 

Members at the Enhanced Artist Level ($100) and above receive one free entry annually. Please email general@womanmade.org to receive your one-time code for free entry redemption. 

WMG offers up to 30 fee waivers per exhibition. To acknowledge the historic inequities of wealth distribution, they are mainly reserved for ALAANA/BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+. If you require a fee waiver simply email us explaining your need and we will assist you. Please email WMG at general@womanmade.org to request a fee-waiver. 

Eligibility Woman Made Gallery is a space for women and nonbinary artists, including trans women and femme/feminine-identifying genderqueer artists. We welcome art from women and non-binary artists from our local community, regionally based, and around the world. 

Due to wall size restrictions, artworks must be no larger than 6’ horizontally and under 75 pounds in weight, unless delivered to and picked up from our gallery by the artist. Artists may be additionally responsible for the installation of oversized works. 

New media artworks are eligible. To be considered, artists must submit a sample .mp4 or URL under 10 mins for purposes of consideration. For exhibition, WMG requires a digital transfer (Google Drive, Vimeo downloads, WeTransfer) as well as a USB formatted in .mp4 file format delivered to the gallery. WMG can provide a limited number of screens and projectors with basic speakers. All other new media needs are the responsibility of the artist. 

Art Sales Accepted work may be listed for sale or be not for sale (NFS). WMG will retain a 40% commission on sold works. Work remains the property of the artist until sold. Sold artworks shall remain in the exhibition until the end of the exhibition. Artists will be paid no later than 30 days after the close of the exhibit. Artists may donate any portion of their commission to WMG. 

Terms of Exhibition An artist contract with full terms of the exhibition will be administered at the time of acceptance notification. Artists need to retrieve their work by the date noted in the artist contract or make alternate arrangements. WMG is unable to store work beyond the pick-up date. Artists may donate their art to WMG's fundraising efforts if unable to pick it up. WMG is happy to talk through preparations, offer advice, and recommend resources as requested.