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The Preus Museum Open Call 2026 “Passion” places a broad but demanding idea at the center of its latest international call: the force that can connect people, sharpen convictions, inspire acts of courage, or slide into obsession and polarization. Organized by Norway’s national museum of photography in collaboration with Oslo Negativ Photo Festival, the contest is accepting photographic projects until August 15, 2026.
One winning submission will receive NOK 20,000, approximately €1,840 at the time of writing, alongside acquisition into the Preus Museum collection and a solo exhibition at Oslo Negativ Photo Festival 2026. Exhibition production is covered by the museum, while travel expenses for the winner to attend the festival and take part in a talk are also expected to be supported. These opportunities make the Preus Museum Open Call relevant to photographers browsing the best photography challenges to participate, particularly those interested in project-based work with a strong personal or social dimension.
Artists may submit a single image or a series of up to 15 photographs. Entries can approach passion through tenderness, devotion, love, courage, excess, risk, mania, fanaticism, or other interpretations supported by the submitted project. The standard entry fee is €10, although students and Norwegian photographers can request a code that removes the fee.
Prizes
The Preus Museum Open Call selects one winning photographic project. Its award combines financial support, institutional acquisition, exhibition production, and festival participation.
- Winning submission: NOK 20,000, equivalent to approximately €1,840 at the time of writing.
- Museum acquisition: The selected work will enter the permanent collection of Preus Museum, Norway’s national museum of photography.
- Solo exhibition: The winning project will be presented at Oslo Negativ Photo Festival 2026.
- Exhibition production: Preus Museum will cover the production costs and curate the presentation in dialogue with the winner. When the artist chooses to produce the work independently, the museum may instead contribute toward production and shipping.
- Travel and participation: The museum states that it will do its best to cover the winner’s travel expenses so the artist can attend the festival and give a talk.
The exhibition represents the central professional opportunity within the award and places the selected work in a major Norwegian photography festival. Photographers comparing contests with an exhibition prize may find the museum-led production and collection acquisition especially relevant.
Related Photo Contests
Categories or Themes
There are no separate categories. Every submission must respond to the theme “Passion”. The organizers describe passion as an energy that can inspire exploration, care, creation, connection, and meaningful action, while also acknowledging its more difficult forms.
Projects may examine the movement between devotion and mania, tenderness and excess, courage and risk, or love and intensity. The theme also allows photographers to consider how deeply personal perspectives shape perception and how conviction can either illuminate experience or create tension and division.
Because the Preus Museum Open Call is centered on an idea rather than a specific technique or subject, it may suit work associated with conceptual photography contests, documentary practice, portraiture, staged photography, or other approaches that clearly establish a relationship with the theme.
Dates and Entry Fees
The submission period runs for two months, followed by a relatively short selection and exhibition schedule.
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Submissions open | June 15, 2026 |
| Submission deadline | August 15, 2026, at 9:59 p.m. |
| Winner announcement | August 2026 |
| Oslo Negativ Photo Festival | October 10–25, 2026 |
The standard submission fee is €10 per entry.
Students and Norwegian photographers can request a waiver code by emailing opencall@preusmuseum.no before submitting.
How to Enter
Entries must be submitted through the Picter platform. Artists can apply individually or as a collective and may upload either one photograph or a series containing no more than 15 images.
Each submission must include a project description explaining how the work relates to “Passion”. Applicants need a Picter account to prepare and complete the online submission.
About the Jury
Submissions will be assessed by a jury made up of curators, photography industry professionals, and representatives of the Oslo Negativ festival board.
The selection will focus on two stated criteria: the strength and interest of the project’s relationship to the open-call theme, and the distinct visual qualities of the submitted work. No additional scoring structure or category-based judging system has been published.
Why Enter Preus Museum Open Call 2026 “Passion”?
The selected project receives more than a temporary festival display. It becomes part of the Preus Museum collection, is developed into a solo exhibition with institutional production support, and is presented during Oslo Negativ, Norway’s largest meeting point for people interested in photography.
The 2026 exhibition is planned for the Old National Gallery in Oslo, a listed historic building that gives the museum a distinctive but technically demanding setting in which to develop the presentation. Preus Museum retains creative freedom over the curation, while working in dialogue with the winning artist.
For photographers researching other photo contest prizes, the Preus Museum Open Call combines a cash award with collection acquisition, exhibition production, festival visibility, and potential participation in an artist talk. It is also open to national and international applicants, including individual artists and collectives.
Rules and Copyright
This section about the rules and image rights of the Preus Museum Open Call 2026 “Passion” has been generated automatically. If you are interested in participating in this contest we suggest you review the complete rules provided by the contest.
Rules
- Applications may be made by individual artists or collectives.
- National and international submissions are accepted.
- Applicants may enter a single photograph or a series of up to 15 images.
- The submitted project must explore the theme “Passion”.
- A project description must explain how the work relates to the theme.
- The winner will be announced in August 2026, and all submitting artists will be notified.
- Preus Museum will curate the exhibition in dialogue with the winner and requires creative freedom to adapt the presentation to the festival venue.
Copyright and Image Usage
Images from the selected project may be used by Preus Museum and Oslo Negativ Photo Festival to promote the exhibition, the festival, and related activities. The organizers state that all reproduced images will be credited.
The published terms do not state that copyright ownership is transferred to the organizers. Entrants should nevertheless review the complete terms before submitting, particularly for any additional conditions applied through the Picter platform.
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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
