The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy

The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy is an international portrait photography open call organized by the Los Angeles Center of Photography. Juried by Shana Lopes, PhD, Assistant Curator of Photography at SFMOMA, the exhibition considers portraiture as more than representation: it asks how photographs shape visibility, identity, recognition and the relationship between photographer, subject and viewer. Entries close on September 22, 2026.

The call welcomes conceptual, documentary, digital and candid approaches, as well as other photographic practices that engage meaningfully with portraiture. Selected work will appear in a three-month virtual exhibition running from November 19, 2026 to February 19, 2027, with a $500 cash award for First Place and additional prizes for Second and Third Place. Open internationally and to photographers at all levels, the opportunity is particularly relevant to artists browsing photography competitions online with a strong curatorial focus on contemporary portraiture.

Prizes

The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy combines a cash award with LACP benefits and online exhibition recognition:

• First Place: $500 cash prize.
• Second Place: $250 LACP gift card and a one-year LACP membership.
• Third Place: $250 LACP gift card.
• Honorable Mentions: Additional artists will be selected and included in the three-month online exhibition.
• Selected artists: Work will be presented through the LACP website during the virtual exhibition.

The First Place award adds a cash prize to an opportunity primarily centered on curatorial selection and exhibition visibility.

Categories or Themes

There are no separate competition categories. The central theme is portraiture as a way of exploring visibility, identity, empathy and connection.

The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy specifically welcomes conceptual, documentary, digital and candid approaches. Portraits may examine how people are represented through institutional, cultural, personal or social contexts, from formal visual traditions to more intimate or experimental interpretations.

For photographers primarily interested in the genre, the call also fits naturally within Deartline’s portrait photography competitions.

Dates and Entry Fees

Entry fees depend on the number of images submitted. LACP members receive a 50% discount for this specific call:

• 1 image: $25; members $12.50.
• 2–5 images: $50; members $25.
• 6–10 images: $75; members $37.50.
• 11–15 images: $100; members $50.
• 16–20 images: $125; members $62.50.
• 21–25 images: $150; members $75.
• 26–30 images: $175; members $87.50.
• 31–35 images: $200; members $100.

There is no overall limit on the number of images entered. Photographers submitting more than 35 images can repeat the payment process.

How to Enter

Applications are submitted through Submittable. Images should be sized to 1,200 pixels on the long side at 72 dpi. Files must not contain the photographer’s first or last name, as the selection process is blind, and watermarks should not be added.

Photographers do not need to be LACP members to participate. The call is open internationally to all experience levels and to artists working in any medium or style with a meaningful relationship to photography.

If AI has played a role in producing an image beyond simple editing, entrants must disclose that involvement explicitly in the image description or artist statement.

About the Jury

The juror and curator is Shana Lopes, PhD, Assistant Curator of Photography at SFMOMA. Her curatorial work includes exhibitions such as Constellations: Photographs in Dialogue, Sightlines: Photographs from the Collection, Zanele Muholi: Eye Me and Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules.

Lopes has also held curatorial roles at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy, she will evaluate submissions on creativity, originality and quality. The selection is conducted blind, meaning photographer identities are not presented as part of the initial judging process.

Why Enter The Crux of Visibility?

The strength of The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy lies in the way it treats portraiture as a question rather than simply a photographic genre. Images can examine who gets seen, how identity is constructed, what relationships exist between photographer and subject, and how photographs circulate through personal, cultural and institutional contexts. That leaves considerable room for photographers working beyond conventional posed portraits.

The presence of an SFMOMA photography curator also gives the selection a clear curatorial dimension, while the three-month online exhibition offers selected photographers visibility beyond the prize winners alone. For photographers considering the best photography contests to enter, the call is especially relevant for work where portraiture intersects with identity, empathy, social observation or conceptual practice.

Rules and Copyright

We reviewed the official rules of the The Crux of Visibility: Portraits, Vision, and Empathy to summarize the key participation requirements, copyright terms and image usage conditions. Before entering, we recommend checking the complete rules published by the organizer.

Rules

The exhibition is open internationally and to photographers and artists at all levels. There is no stated limit on the total number of photographs that may be entered. Submitted images should meet the published file requirements and must not contain identifying names or watermarks.

Selection is blind. The juror evaluates entries according to creativity, originality and quality. Entrants using AI for more than simple editing must disclose that involvement in the image description or artist statement.

Selected photographers may offer their work for sale during the online exhibition. LACP retains a 50% commission on sales.

Copyright and Image Usage

Photographers retain all copyright in their submitted images. Artists selected for the exhibition grant LACP permission to display their photographs on its website and to use them for promotion of the exhibition, LACP programs and the participating artist.

Selected images may also appear on LACP social media with photographer credit. The published terms do not specify a fixed duration for this permission and state that selected artists grant these uses without requiring further contact from LACP.

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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.