Call for Submissions: PN Awards 2026
Book Prize
Photography Network welcomes submissions for its 2026 annual book prize that honors innovation in photography scholarship, expression, and dissemination. Four hard copies and one digital version of the book will be submitted to the jury for consideration. We accept digital-only submissions in the event that sending a physical copy is logistically or financially prohibitive.
Eligibility
1. Scholarly monographs, edited volumes, or exhibition catalogs published between June 1, 2025 and June 1, 2026. Artist photobooks, zines, exhibition booklets are not eligible.
2. Submissions must be in English and authored or edited by current members of Photography Network*. Not yet a PN member? Join here.
3. Your research or production for the book should not have been supported by a Photography Network Project Grant in the past two years.
To submit an eligible book for consideration, email your name, book title, and a brief description of the publication to Awards Coordinator, Candice Jansen at photographynetworkawards@gmail.com with “PN book prize 2026” in the subject line by June 15, 2026. 5pm EST.
*Note: PN does offer a limited number of free need-based memberships in recognition of the uneven distribution of resources in the field.Project Grant
Photography Network seeks submissions for its annual project grant designed to help emerging scholars, curators, and artists of the Photography Network with funds (up to $1000) needed to complete a work in progress. Grants may be used for activities such as research travel, image reproduction rights, publication and exhibition costs, workshop and conference expenses, etc.
Grant application must include:
- a 500-word description of the project that summarises the larger project and provides details about the activities that will complete the project, for which funds are requested.
- a detailed budget and project timeline that clearly indicates how and by when the grant will be spent, including a list of other funding sourced for the project (if any).
- Current CV (max. 2 pages).
Eligibility
1. Applications should propose activities earmarked for completion by June 31, 2027.
2. Projects that are near completion will make the strongest applications. We rarely grant funding to projects in their early phases, and where we do, it will be for a well-defined need within a plan that indicates a strong path to completion.
3. Applicants must be current members of Photography Network*. Not yet a PN member? Join here.
4. Members with institutional affiliation should make clear that they are applying for a project undertaken in an individual or independent capacity. Institutional projects by PN Members (such as a museum exhibition on which the member is a consultant or curator) are not eligible.
5. Members applying should be able to receive payments to a bank account in their own name in order for the Network to maintain its status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Payments are made from a U.S. bank by Zelle, wire transfer, or check.
Please email project grant applications to Awards Coordinator, Candice Jansen at photographynetworkawards@gmail.com with “PN project grant 2026” in the subject line. Grant proposals are due by June 15, 2026. 5pm EST.
*Note: PN does offer a limited number of free need-based memberships in recognition of the uneven distribution of resources in the field.2026 Jurors
Ileana L. Selejan
Dr. Ileana L. Selejan is a photography scholar, curator and currently Lecturer in Art History, Culture and Society at the Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. A member of the PhotoDemos research collective, she was previously Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at University College London and contributor to the European Research Council (ERC) funded project, "Citizens of Photography: The Camera and the Political Imagination". She has held curatorial, research and teaching positions at various institutions including the Decolonising Arts Institute, Central Saint Martins and London College of Communication at the University of the Arts London, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, the Parsons School of Design, and the Fine Arts Department at West University, Timisoara, Romania. Dr. Selejan is also a member of the experimental arts collective kinema ikon.
Image by Amanda Kirkpatrick
Giulia Paoletti
Giulia Paoletti is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the University of Virginia and Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Art, Film and Visual Studies at Harvard University (2025-26). Her research focuses on the histories of modern art and photography in Africa. Her book Portrait and Place: Photography in Senegal, 1840-1960 (Princeton University Press, 2024) was awarded the 2024 Photography Network Book Award. Her work has appeared in edited volumes and journals including Art History, Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, and Cahiers d'études africaines. Support for her research includes awards and fellowships from American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)/Getty; The Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA); the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian; the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is currently working on her second research project on the intermedial history of photography and textile arts in Africa.
Image by Antoine Tempé
Lucy Gallun
Lucy Gallun is Curator in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, where her most recent exhibitions include Time Travelers: Photographs from the Gayle Greenhill Collection (2025-26), New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging (2025-26), and Life Dances On: Robert Frank in Dialogue (2024-25). In over fifteen years at MoMA, Lucy has organized many collection installations and temporary exhibitions — including multiple iterations of the Museum's Elaine Dannheisser Projects and New Photography exhibition series — and has contributed to numerous publications, within and outside the Museum.
