Theme for Guest Room

Guest Room aims to inspire collaboration and creative exchange. In this edition, Gagosian Director of Photography Joshua Chuang, partners with American artist and photographer Barney Kulok.

Together, they introduce the theme for your submissions:

"Close Call"

“A ‘close call’ is commonly understood as a narrow escape, often interchangeable with the term ‘near miss.’ For our open call, we’re expanding this definition by breaking it into its parts: in photography, a close-up denotes the physical proximity between lens and subject. A ‘call’ might be a cry, a command, or a form of communication, something that designates, demands, or directs. To look closely through a camera is, in itself, a call: an invitation to the viewer to pay attention. To say, ‘Look, this matters.’”

Why submit to Guest Room?

• Be discovered by an expert in contemporary art and photography
• Get published in an online showcase on Der Greif alongside emerging artists from all over the world
• Submit for free or pay a voluntary donation of 10€
• Please note: Images which have been selected for a previous Der Greif opportunity are not eligible for re-submission. We want to support the broadest range of photographers possible and therefore encourage you to submit work that has not yet been selected by our past Guest Curators. Any images which do not comply with these terms will be removed from the selection process.

Voluntary donation

Der Greif is a registered non-profit. In these challenging economic times – especially for arts organizations and artists – we are convinced to provide a vital platform for our community. If you're in the position to support this mission, we value your support.

Since launching Guest Room in January 2015, we've invited a broad range of professionals (gallerists, editors, curators) to create opportunities for artists to share their work and get it in front of an international network they might not have access to otherwise. We are more commited than ever to continue this work.

We suggest a voluntary 10€ donation to help us sustain these efforts. If you'd like to support us further, we also accept regular donations via our Raisely page.

If you're unable to contribute financially, please email voucher-guestroom@dergreif.org to receive a 50% or 100% discount code. Your artistic and financial contributions enable our continued growth.

Joshua Chuang

Joshua Chuang is a curator, writer, and editor who is currently Director of Photography at Gagosian. He has held positions at the New York Public Library, Center for Creative Photography, and Yale University Art Gallery, and served as chair of the Hasselblad Award jury in 2022-23. Exhibitions he has curated – including “Robert Adams: The Place We Live” (2011); “Santu Mofokeng: Stories” (2019); and “Judith Joy Ross” (2021) – have been shown at Museo Reina Sofía, Jeu de Paume, LACMA, FOAM, Fotomuseum Winterthur, LE BAL, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art among other venues.

Gagosian

Gagosian is a global gallery for modern and contemporary art, founded by Larry Gagosian in 1980. With 18 spaces across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, it represents major artists like Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, and Jenny Saville, and estates including Warhol and Twombly. The gallery is known for ambitious exhibitions and has published over 600 art books. It also produces Gagosian Quarterly and pioneered online viewing rooms with transparent pricing. Designed by renowned architects, its spaces host exhibitions, talks, and performances. In 2018, it launched a legacy program to help artists plan for the future.

Barney Kulok

Barney Kulok is an American artist and photographer born and living in New York City. He holds a B.A. from Bard College. His work has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally and is held in various public and private collections. In 2012, his first monograph Building was published by Aperture Foundation, and in 2016, he founded Hunters Point Press in Long Island City, NY, where he has edited and published monographs on the work of artists Jared Bark (2016), Janice Guy (2018), B. Wurtz (2020), and Baldwin Lee (2022), in addition to a collection of poems by Jeremy Sigler (2020), and selected writings by art historian Svetlana Alpers (2024). Kulok is represented by Galerie Hussenot, Paris.

Hunters Point Press

Hunters Point Press, established by artist and photographer Barney Kulok in 2016, is a New York–based independent publisher specializing in limited edition books by artists, writers, poets, curators, and architects . Kulok, a Bard College graduate, is known for his minimalist photography and deep engagement with visual culture . Notable publications include Baldwin Lee, a monograph showcasing Lee’s poignant photographs of Black Americans in the American South, and Jared Bark: Photobooth Pieces, which revives Bark’s innovative photobooth art from the 1970s. Through Hunters Point Press, Kulok fosters a platform for underrepresented voices and overlooked works in contemporary art and photography.​

About Der Greif Guest Room

Guest Room is a monthly online exhibition with open submissions curated in real-time by personalities from the international photography scene. Der Greif is an award-winning organization for contemporary photography. It is print-publication, online-publication, curatorial team and joint project all at once. Der Greif connects the digital and the analogue, exploring and expanding the borders and limits of image-distribution and -reception in the digital era.