CURRENTS is the annual PhotoNOLA Showcase exhibition at Ogden Museum of Southern Art which highlights 8-10 portfolios of diverse photographic work created by New Orleans Photo Alliance Members.

Our juror this year is, Brian Piper, Freeman Family Curator of Photographs at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Brian Piper, PHD is the Freeman Family Curator of Photographs, Prints, and Drawings at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). At NOMA, his exhibition credits include Called to the Camera: Black American Studio Photographers, Picture Man: Portraits by Polo Silk, Show & Tell: A Brief History of Photography and Text, and Nicholas Floc’h: Fleuves-Océan, Mississippi Watershed. His current research and writing interests include the history of African American picture magazines, self-portraiture, chemigrams, and the everyday lives of photographs. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

CURRENTS is a showcase exhibition featuring up to 4 images per selected photographer, and is designed to give an overview of contemporary photographic practices and projects.

The exhibit will be open from December until January at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, for the PhotoNOLA festival.

Call Description

Entry Deadline: 10/20/25
Jury Dates: 10/20/26 – 11/05/25
Event Dates: 12/12/25 – 2/1/26

Application Requirements

You must be an active member of the New Orleans Photo Alliance to enter. Before jurying process begins NOPA team will verify membership status.

Submission Fee (for Members) : $25 
Submission Fee + NOPA Membership: $60

Minimum pieces per entry is 4. Maximum pieces per entry is 10. Files must be in jpg format. Maximum file size 5 mb. Resize images to be 1800px on the SHORT dimension so that photographs are large enough to be viewed properly by the juror and used in promotion if selected.

CURRENTS will open on December 12th and remain on view through the end of February 1st, 2025.

Entry Deadline: 11/1/25

The Michael P. Smith Fund for Documentary Photography (MPS Fund) was created to honor the life and work of Michael P. Smith, one of New Orleans’ most legendary and beloved documentary photographers. The MPS Fund awards cash prizes and exhibition opportunities to Gulf Coast photographers whose work combines artistic excellence and a sustained commitment to a cultural documentary project.

Application Requirements

• A portfolio of 10 to 20 images. These images can originate in any format, but you must submit them digitally via the online application process
• Each image file must be in jpg format at 150 dpi and 1800 pixels on the short side.
• Name your files with your last name, then first name and a title (can be abbreviated).
• Use an underscore to separate the names and title.
• At the end of the file name, add sequence numbers starting with 01 – Example: Doe_Jane_The Farm_01.jpg, Doe_Jane_The Farm_02.jpg, Doe_Jane_The Farm_03.jpg 
• Add a short caption or descriptive information as well as the year that you created the image.
• Enter and upload each image file and its accompanying information one at a time. After you have uploaded all of the files, you will be able to review and rearrange the sequence of your portfolio.

A concise description of your work (2-4 sentences that could summarize your project), limited to 260 characters maximum , which the juror will see alongside your portfolio. The description of works not the project statement.

A written project statement of not more than 530 words, explaining your project’s scope and significance. Please include your plans on how you would use the grant. The best practice is to write your statement beforehand, and then copy and paste your text into the Statement box.

A biography or resume/CV of not more than 530 words, describing awards, publications and other career highlights.

All entry fees support the mission of the New Orleans Photo Alliance, a non-profit organization.

In 2013 PhotoNOLA established the Collectors Club series as a fundraising initiative with a mission to encourage collecting. Through this program we offer the public an opportunity to collect works by great contemporary photographers at an accessible price point. All proceeds support the programming initiatives of PhotoNOLA, a volunteer-run photography festival.

Each year we partner with a photographer to create a limited edition print. The editions of 100 (plus five artist proofs) are beautifully crafted archival pigment prints on 8×8” hot press, 100% cotton rag paper. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist.

Maude Schuyler Clay was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. After attending the University of Mississippi and the Memphis Academy of Arts, she assisted the photographer William Eggleston. She moved to New York City and worked at LIGHT Gallery and then as a photography editor and photographer for Esquire, Fortune, Vanity Fair, and other publications.

Maude Schuyler Clay started her color portrait series “Mississippi History” in 1975 when she came upon her first Rolleiflex 2¼ camera. At the time, she was living and working in New York and paid frequent visits to her native Mississippi Delta whose landscape and people continued to inspire her. Over the next twenty-five years, the project, which began as “The Mississippians,” evolved into an homage to Julia Margaret Cameron. A definitive pioneer of the art of photography, Cameron lived in Victorian England and began her photographic experiments in 1863, after receiving the gift of a camera. The expressive, allegorical portraits of her friends and family as well as Maude Schuyler Clay’s artful approach to capturing the essence of light are the driving forces behind Clay’s nostalgic recollection of carefree moments of family life and play in Mississippi in the 1980s and ’90s.

When Maude Schuyler Clay returned to live in the Mississippi Delta in 1987, she continued her color portrait work, for which she received the Mississippi Arts and Letters award for photography in 1988, and in 1992. In 1993, Maude Schuyler Clay began a series of black and white photographs of the Delta landscape. She received the Mississippi Art Commission’s Individual Artist Grant in 1998. The University Press of Mississippi published her widely recognized monograph DELTALAND in 1999, which received the Mississippi Arts and Letters Award in 2000. Maude Schuyler Clay was the Photography Editor of the literary magazine The Oxford American from 1998-2002.

Maude Schuyler Clay’s photography is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The National Museum for Women in the Arts, among others. Maude Schuyler Clay continues to live in the Delta with her husband, photographer Langdon Clay, and three children.

Purchase your pass here

Timeline:

5:00 – Depart International House Hotel – 221 Camp St
5:20 – Arrive Julia Street Stop (Walk from 400A to 615 Julia)
Ferrara Showman – 400A Julia Street – Manifest: An f/504 Annual Exhibition
BOULIER Gallery – 618 Julia Street
GRYDER Gallery – 615 Julia Street – Intimate Fictions
6:10 – Leave from 615 Julia Street for Ashe Cultural Center
6:40 – Leave from 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd for New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery
7:30 – Leave from 7800 Oak Street, 70118 for the French Quarter
8:15 – Leave from 131 Decatur Street for Paper Machine
9:00 – Leave from 6330 Saint Claude Avenue, 70117 for Kolj Institute + Second Story + St. Roch Food Hall
9:50 – Leave from 2374 St. Claude Avenue for Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club 1931 St. Claude Avenue
11:15– Arrive International House Hotel, 221 Camp St., 70130

Visiting:
Julia Street Galleries:

Ferrara Showman – 400A Julia Street – Manifest: An f/504 Annual Exhibition – Featuring Jeremiah Brown, Patrick Davis, Eric Dominguez, Franck H. Godefroy, Frank Gelormini, Joshua Huval, Leon Ledet, Maya Miller, Joliet Morrill, Joseph Ryan, Tesla Wolf, and Chris Wickline.
BOULIER Gallery – 618 Julia Street – David Joshua Jennings & Brittany Lauback: The Colorful South
Gryder Gallery – 615 Julia Street – Intimate Fictions – featuring
photography by Alexis Martino, A. R. Havel, and Meg Turner

Uptown:

Ashe Cultural Center – 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. – Southern Hospitality: Community Spirit, curated by Pro$per Jones
New Orleans Photo Alliance – 7800 Oak Street, 70118 – Group Show: Abstract, Sur-real

FQ:

A Gallery for Fine Photography – 241 Chartres Street, 70130 – Josephine Sacabo: Invented Truth

Downtown:

Claire Elizabeth Gallery – 131 Decatur Street, 70130 – Ashleigh Coleman: The Keepers

Paper Machine – 6330 Saint Claude Avenue, 70117 – Chandra McCormick, Keith Calhoun & Polo Silk: Honoring and Remembering a Resilient Community
Kolaj Institute – 2374 St. Claude Avenue #230, 70117 – Camera & Collage Second Story Gallery in the New Orleans Healing Center – 2372 St. Claude Avenue, 70117 – Heather Weathers: Gravitas
Sweet Lorriaine’s Jazz Club -1931 St. Claude Avenue – L. Kasimu Harris: King and Blue: Vanishing Black Bars and Lounges

Saturday, December 14
11 am – 5 pm
Patrick F. Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Menu:
mushroom arancini / preserved lemon aioli
crab boil croquette / pineapple relish
housemade chorizo sliders / aioli / manchego / pickled veg
mushrooms a la plancha / bourbon smoked togarashi / soy cured egg yolk

Adam moved to New Orleans in 2017 after 7 years spent cooking in NYC and a life-changing 18 month stint cooking abroad including 6 months at Mina Restaurante in Bilbao, Spain. Started in 2020, Txow Txow (@txowtxowpintxos) aims to bring the world’s greatest bar snacks (pintxos!) to the world’s greatest bar city, New Orleans! They pride themselves on sourcing high quality ingredients from smaller producers across the Gulf South whenever possible, and showcasing the bounty of our region in a way that’s fun, approachable, and of course delicious. Txow Txow draws on Chef Adam’s diverse experience across Mediterranean cultures and fold in the flair and flavor of the Crescent City to create a cuisine that’s uniquely their own.

Submission Guidelines:

Eligibility: Open to any artist who has published a photobook within the past 5 years (December 2020-December 2025). Self-published titles are welcomed and encouraged!
Special Consideration: The Louisiana Award of Excellence will be allocated to a Louisiana resident, ensuring continued support for our local artist community. Louisiana applicants will be considered for all three prizes.

Prizes:

Grand Prize
$500
Silver membership to the New Orleans Photo Alliance
Commemorative trophy
A projected exhibition of selected photographs from the winning book during the PhotoNOLA Photobook Fair reception on Saturday, December 14, 2024.
Opportunity to be included in the 2025 Photobook Prize table at the 2026 PhotoNOLA PhotoWALK and Photobook Fair

Award of Excellence
Silver membership to the New Orleans Photo Alliance
Commemorative trophy
A projected exhibition of selected photographs from the winning book during the PhotoNOLA Photobook Fair reception on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
Opportunity to be included in the 2025 Photobook Prize table at the 2026 PhotoNOLA PhotoWALK and Photobook Fair

Louisiana Award of Excellence
Silver membership to the New Orleans Photo Alliance
Commemorative trophy
A projected exhibition of selected photographs from the winning book during the PhotoNOLAPhotobook Fair reception on Saturday, December 14, 2024.
Opportunity to be included in the 2025 Photobook Prize table at the 2026 PhotoNOLA PhotoWALK and Photobook Fair

Apply Below:

Deadline: Sunday, November 17, 2025, 11:59pm CST

Is it possible for a portrait to be abstract? What defines a portrait: the clarity of every detail captured in a photograph or can abstraction obscure recognizable features? What about the surreal, the real, and the interplay with three-dimensional space? This exhibition seeks to explore the multifaceted nature of portraiture through lenses of abstraction, surrealism, realism, and spatial depth.

Spanning the evolution of photography, from abstract portraiture to surrealism and realism, this exhibition will juxtapose diverse works, engaging in a dialogue with work by Franck Godefroy and Joliet Morrill. While traditional photographs will adorn the walls, our focus extends beyond the confines of two-dimensional prints. We seek photographs that transcend boundaries, incorporating mixed media. Feel free to interpret this how you please. Mixed media prints are not required.

This call invites submissions from across the spectrum. We welcome striking portraits brimming with emotion, enigmatic photographs that challenge viewers to discern their subjects, and portraits that push the boundaries of human form, embracing surreal elements.

Join us in redefining the essence of portraiture and exploring the endless possibilities of visual storytelling.

Application and Fee
NOPA Member Submission Fee: $20
Non-member Submission Fee: $30

Francis Crisafio – Palace of Anxiety 08, featured in CURRENTS 2018

Call for Entries: CURRENTS 2024: NOPA Members Showcase

Photographers are invited to submit work for consideration in CURRENTS 2024. CURRENTS is a PhotoNOLA showcase exhibition featuring work from active members of the New Orleans Photo Alliance.  The exhibit will open in December at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, in conjunction with the 2024 PhotoNOLA festival.

Curator: Liv Constable-Maxwell, Commissioning Editor at the London-based publishers MACK.

Deadline: September 30, 2024

CURRENTS is the annual PhotoNOLA showcase which highlights 8-10 portfolios of diverse photographic work created by New Orleans Photo Alliance Members.

The exhibition features up to 5  images per selected photographer, and is designed to give an overview of contemporary photographic practices and projects.

The exhibit will be open from December until January at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, for the PhotoNOLA festival.

About the Curator:
Liv Constable-Maxwell is Commissioning Editor at the London-based publishers MACK.

Her recent projects include Stephen Shore’s Modern Instances: The Craft of Photography; Tee A. Corinne: A forest fire between us, RaMell Ross’ Spell Time Practice American Body, Francesca Woodman’s The Artist’s Books, and Exteriors: Annie Ernaux and Photography.

Ashton Thornhill – Plainview Parking Lot – featured in CURRENTS 2014

Eligibility: Submissions are open to all current New Orleans Photo Alliance members, and applicants may join at time of entry. However, we ask that you do not enter if your work was accepted for CURRENTS 2023, or resubmit any images that have been featured in previous CURRENTS exhibitions. Different images from a previously featured series are eligible. Please note that selected artists typically have multiple pieces accepted into the show.

Submission Fee: $25
Submission Fee + NOPA Membership: $60
Enter here: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=13905

Riley John Watson – Dominican Cowboy – featured in CURRENTS 2010

Exhibition Timeline
Deadline: September 30, 2024
Receipt of artwork: Nov 15, 2024
Exhibition Dates: December 11, 2024 – January 26, 2025
Opening Reception & Juror’s Talk: Friday, December 13, 5-9 pm

Submission Guidelines:
-Open theme.
-Submit 5-10 jpegs, from a cohesive body of work.
-Artist statement + brief project description are also required.
-You will have to create an account through CaFÉ in order to submit your entry.
-All art submitted must be original work, created by the applicant.
-New Orleans Photo Alliance reserves the right to use selected images online and in print for exhibition-related publicity purposes; NOPA will properly credit the photographers.
-Accepted works should be presented professionally, wired and ready to hang.

Submission Requirements
1. $25 application fee.

2. An artist statement or project description, to be pasted into the appropriate box when prompted at beginning of entry process – in creating your Entry Thingy profile.

3. A concise description of the work, limited to 260 characters, which will serve as an introduction to your work, visible to juror alongside the thumbnail images. Can include title of series and a brief explanation of the project. (Think elevator speech)

4. A portfolio of 5 to 10 images. Images can originate in any format but must be submitted digitally through an online application process.

5. Each image submitted should be in jpeg format, 10 inches wide, sized at 72 pixels per inch (720 pixels). Name your files with your last name then first name and image title using an underscore to separate the names. Example: Doe_Jane_ImageTitle.jpg,

6. Each image submitted will also require a title, dimensions, medium, and year created. Each image file and its accompanying information will be entered and uploaded one at a time.

7. Images exhibited in previous CURRENTS exhibitions are not eligible for submission.

The New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) reserves the right to reject any delivered art that does not match the online submission, or fails to meet framing and matting requirements. Artists should pack work in REUSABLE shipping containers and refrain from using packing peanuts. Neither NOPA nor the Ogden Museum are liable for any damages to artwork, or for artwork left after the closing of the exhibition.

Ogden Museum of Southern Art
925 Camp Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
www.ogdenmuseum.org

Questions? Email Seth Boonchai at: seth@neworleansphotoalliance.org.
Please read the guidelines and application requirements thoroughly.

See NOPA website for membership details: neworleansphotoalliance.org

Shipping address:
New Orleans Photo Alliance
3436 Magazine Street, #134
New Orleans, LA 70115

NOPA Gallery address:
(for hand-delivered work only)
New Orleans Photo Alliance
7800 Oak St
New Orleans, LA 70118

In 2013 PhotoNOLA established the Collectors Club series as a fundraising initiative with a mission to encourage collecting. Through this program we offer the public an opportunity to collect works by great contemporary photographers at an accessible price point. All proceeds support the programming initiatives of PhotoNOLA, a volunteer-run photography festival.

Each year we partner with a photographer to create a limited edition print. The editions of 100 (plus five artist proofs) are beautifully crafted archival pigment prints on 10×12” hot press, 100% cotton rag paper. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist.

Ben Depp is an artist and National Geographic Explorer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Much of Ben’s work has centered around environmental issues and his environmental photography has been funded by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, the Ford Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.

In 2014, Depp began making aerial images by powered paraglider, which allows for hours of exploration, a low flight path and the time-intensive search for surprising compositions. He learned to pilot a powered paraglider for his ongoing work documenting wetland loss and coastal erosion in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. This work has been shown at A Gallery for Fine Photography, Claire Elizabeth Gallery, Ann Connelly Fine Art, the Louisiana State Museum, and twice at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The project was a 2017 Communication Arts Annual winner, and was published by Smithsonian Magazine, the Sierra Club, Audubon, Scientific American, Photography Forum and National Geographic.

Depp completed an artist-in-residence at Court 13 Arts, where he built a wood sailboat to replace the worn antique wood boat he used to access remote parts of South Louisiana which are too remote to fly to.

Exhibition List

• Tide Lines, New Orleans Photo Alliance, solo exhibition, 2023
• Ben Depp, Walter Anderson Museum, solo exhibition, 2023
• Ben Depp and Mia Kaplan, Ann Connelly Gallery, group exhibition, 2023
• Knowing Who We Are, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, group exhibition, 2023
• Tide Lines, Claire Elizabeth Gallery, solo exhibition, 2023
• Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, group exhibition, 2022
• Imaginal Stage, A Gallery for Fine Photography, solo exhibition, 2022
• Tide Lines, Southeast Center for Photography, solo exhibition, 2021
• Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, group exhibition, 2019
• Louisiana from Above, Louisiana State Museum, solo show, 2019
• Tide Lines, A Gallery for Fine Photography, solo show, 2018
• Currents, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, group exhibition, 2017
• Bayou’s End, A Gallery for Fine Photography, solo show, 2017
• Canadian Museum for Human Rights, group exhibition, 2013
• NIU Anthropology Museum, group exhibition, 2013
• BD Photography Award, Look 3 Festival of the Photograph, group exhibition, 2011

Collections

• Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans

Price: $100 +$12 shipping & handling* | Purchase An Oak Tree here

ELIGIBLE PHOTOGRAPHERS:  Open to anyone; NOPA membership not required; all ages accepted; may be local, or national or international.

ELIGIBLE WORK:  Works submitted must be legal and the photographer assumes responsibility for having the legal right to exhibit and sell the images.  Fine arts nudes and implied nude works are acceptable.  This exhibition will include work that has been digitally manipulated (PhotoShop).

INELIGIBLE WORK: Anything that has been exhibited previously at Arabi Visual Arts, anything that is illegal, and any work not created by the person submitting it.  We will not be accepting any form of art that is not primarily photography.

ENTRY FEE:  $45 for the first five submissions then a 50% discount will apply to subsequent submissions.

Acceptance Guarantee:  At a minimum one of each five pieces submitted will be accepted.

EASY TO EXHIBIT:  We are not requiring framing (but not prohibiting), and are allowing for works to be submitted to Professional Color for printing which can be done electronically.  It will be picked up on your behalf.  Photographers who do not wish to pay for shipping on return work can opt to donate it to a short film in which all work will be destroyed by fire in a documentary about the difficulty of making it as a photographer (i.e. the costs of exhibitions, submissions, shipping, etc.).  All donors will be credited and have access to the film which will be released in the spring of 2024.

DEADLINE:  The deadline to submit work is Sunday November 26, 2023.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Visit the website at https://curious.artcall.org/

Paper submissions will not be accepted.

About the Curator

Christopher Ryan is an international conceptual photographer and owner of Arabi Visual Arts.  Christopher’s works often focuses on the unusual such as his series “Youth and Urban Decay” (featuring kids and teens in abandoned structures), “Focus on Feet“, and an intimate/unique self-portrait series.  His works have been exhibited throughout the USA as well as Thailand and have won several first place awards in the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in 2022 and 2023.  In 2022 Chris created “Violated Metropolis” which took place during the 2022 PhotoNOLA Festival.

His fine arts nude work is featured on The Model Society.

About the Venue

Arabi Visual Arts is a 47′ X 24′ space with 20′ ceilings and is part of the St. Claude Arts Building.  When exhibitions are not going on this is also the working studio for Christopher Ryan.  Arabi Visual Arts is part of the St. Claude Arts Campus which includes a variety of other artists as well as Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge which will host Reel Bear during the same time period.

CONTACT

Please direct any questions to Christopher Ryan at 504-373-9476 or via email to info@arabivisualarts

Sincerely,

Christopher Ryan

Arabi Visual Arts

cell: 504-373-9476