Decagon: Something Like Joy

The Exhibition

Not the easy kind. Not the posed smile or the perfect moment. We're talking about the joy that surprises you — that shows up in an ordinary afternoon, in a stranger's face, in light falling just right on something nobody else noticed.

Something Like Joy invites photographers to submit work that finds delight, warmth, wonder, or beauty in the world as it actually is. Big celebrations and quiet moments are equally welcome. So is the complicated happiness that comes after hardship — the laugh through tears, the small victory, the unexpected gift.

If your photography looks for the good — in people, in places, in everyday life — this call is for you.

Juror: Aline Smithson

Aline Smithson is an interdisciplinary artist, editor, filmmaker, and educator based in Los Angeles, California. She has exhibited widely including over 50 solo shows at a variety of international institutions and her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and PDN.

Smithson is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lenscratch, a daily journal on photography. In 2012, she received the Rising Star Award through the Griffin Museum of Photography for her contributions to the photographic community and also received the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award from CENTER. In 2014 and 2019, Smithson’s work was selected for the Critical Mass Top 50. In 2015, the Magenta Foundation published her first significant monograph, Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography, and in 2016, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum commissioned Smithson to create a series of portraits for the upcoming Faces of Our Planet exhibition. In 2018 and 2019, her work was exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of the Taylor Wessing Prize. Kris Graves Projects published her book, LOST II: Los Angeles, and included her work in SOLACE and On Death. Peanut Press released her monograph, Fugue State, in Fall 2021. In 2022, she was named a Hasselblad Heroine.

Smithson has been a juror for numerous organizations and galleries and has served as a reviewer and educator at photography festivals around the world.

Awards

$1,000 in total cash awards, plus a solo exhibition feature for First Place.

First Place: $500 + Solo Exhibition on the Decagon Gallery website
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $150
Two Honorable Mentions: $50 each
Human Presence Nomination: Free entry to a future Decagon open call

All selected photographers receive inclusion in the curated exhibition, a dedicated exhibition page, an Instagram feature, and inclusion in the printed catalog.

How to Submit

$25 entry fee for up to 4 photographs. $5 for each additional photograph. Open to photographers worldwide. All photographic processes and styles are welcome.

Submit JPGs sized to 2100 pixels on the long side, without text, watermarks, or borders.

Preferably under 4 MB.

Name files: FirstName-LastName_Title.jpg