Expand and Contract 2026: American Documentary Photography in the 21st Century (Virtual)

About

Winners will be invited to display their work in a curated exhibition at LACP’s gallery in Little Tokyo, in addition to being featured online on the LACP website alongside other selected works.

The third edition of Expand and Contract marks USA’s 250^th anniversary and the second quarter of this century by focusing on American documentary photography today. This open call invites submissions for images that consider how America sees itself, what it highlights and what might be missing from the frame.

Expand and Contract is a series of exhibitions that explore the transformations of contemporary photographic practice, and its meeting points with both conceptual legacies and technological innovations. (See the 2024 edition here and 2025 here). By turning its attention to documentary photography, it suggests that documentary is a highly complex, historically and socially contingent field of vision. The exhibition turns a documentarian lens toward life in America and invites an understanding of the collective through a kaleidoscopic view of the everyday.

It also asks to observe a photographic tradition that prioritizes a connection—between photographers and their subjects, whether those are human or part of the natural world. With that in mind, submitted photographs can reflect the present or the past, and represent a panoramic array of documentarian approaches—from reportage to street, from long-form to candid snaps. At this moment, which seems to have been defined by a sense of fragmentation and alienation, documentary seems to carry a critical potential for a needed point of contact.

The Juror

Rotem Rozental, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Center of Photography. Between 2016-2022, she served as Chief Curator at American Jewish University, where she was also Assistant Dean of the Whizin Center for Continuing Education and Senior Director of Arts and Creative Programming. Her book, Pre-State Photographic Archives and the Zionist Movement (Routledge, 2023) was named recipient of the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Award by the Association for Jewish Studies.

Rotem is a lecturer at USC Roski School of Art and Design Critical Studies Department. She mentors artists worldwide and contributes regularly to exhibition catalogues, magazines, journals and. Her writings about contemporary art, visual culture, technology and image-based media were published in Artforum, Artillery, Photographies, Jewish Currents, Tablet and Forward, among other outlets.

Eligibility and Guidelines

The exhibition is open internationally to all levels. The juror will select works based on creativity, originality, and quality. LACP invites artists working in all mediums and styles with a relationship to photography to take part in the exhibition.

When you submit, please remember this call is meant for both virtual and in-person exhibitions. The in-person exhibition at LACP will include works by the top prize winners in addition to artists curated by the juror. We highly encourage to consider the size of the work you choose to submit and its logistical needs, including shipping and handling.

Please note explicitly in your image description and/or artist statement if AI was involved in the image production process for more than simple editing.

The deadline to send digital files for consideration is Tuesday, June 16, 12:00 midnight, 2026.

Acceptance Notice

The selection process will be blind. Once the juror has made selections, all entrants will receive an email from LACP with a list of images and artists selected for the show. The selected images and artists’ names will be posted on LACP’s website.

LACP is not responsible for connecting the selected artists with the juror. In addition, LACP reserves the right not to use a particular selected image(s) for promotional purposes if the image(s) is deemed inappropriate for use on LACP’s social media, newsletter feed, and/or on in any other marketing material.

Entry Fee

$25 for 1 image ($12.50 for LACP Members)
$50 for 2-5 images ($25.00 for LACP Members)
$75 for 6-10 images ($37.50 for LACP Members)
$100 for 11-15 images ($50.00 for LACP Members)
$125 for 16-20 images ($62.50 for LACP Members)
$150 for 21-25 images ($75.00 for LACP Members)
$175 for 26-30 images ($87.50 for LACP Members)
$200 for 31-35 images ($100.00 for LACP Members)

Click HERE to enter and pay. You will be taken to Submittable to create your submission.

NOTE: Please DO NOT watermark your images when submitting. Thank you.

Not an LACP Member? To become a Member, click HERE

All winning works accepted for exhibition must be presentation ready, if a print: printed and framed professionally, wired on the back with eyelets, and labeled on the back of the frame with your name, image title, and contact information (email and phone). Please mount wire and eyelets a third of the way down the from the top of the frame. There are no specifications on printing and/or framing. Similar requirements for sculptural pieces. Further, there are no size restrictions (but keep shipping in mind). Artists will be required to submit an artist statement, materials/techniques used, and size/dimensions of each artwork when entering. Exhibiting artists will be expected to either drop off their work or pay for round-trip shipping of their work. You will be required to send us a prepaid express mail label for the return of your artwork. We take no responsibility for damage during shipping, so we suggest that your insure the work during mailing.

Each photographer retains all copyrights to their images & works. Photographers whose submissions are chosen for the exhibition grant the Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP) the right to use their images for display on LACP’s website and for the purpose of promoting exhibitions, promoting LACP’s programs, and promoting the artist. Promotions and images may also be placed on social networks for LACP with artist credit. Artists grant the use of their image(s) as stated without further contact from LACP. The artist understands that LACP will not be held responsible for loss, theft or other damage, whether caused by the negligence of its officers, members, or others. Photographers are welcome to sell their photos during the online exhibit, with 50 percent commission to LACP. Submission of application will constitute an agreement to all these terms and conditions.

For questions please email info@lacphoto.org