Photobook Features

Der Greif invites publishers and artists to submit recently published photobooks and artist books for consideration. This open call is conceived as a space of encounter between practices, geographies, and ways of thinking through the book as a critical and poetic form.

Photobooks are more than containers for images. They are sites of authorship, collaboration, circulation, and resistance. They shape how work is read, shared, and remembered. In a moment defined by accelerated image flows and shifting economies of attention, the photobook remains a place for slowness, intention, and depth, where visual language can unfold on its own terms.

We welcome submissions that challenge, expand, or reimagine what a photobook can be: from intimate self-published works to experimental editions, collective projects, and press-led releases. We are interested in publications that engage critically with contemporary life, visual culture, and the politics of representation, as well as those that foreground materiality, design, and storytelling as integral to the work.

This call is open-ended by design. Rather than prescribing a theme, we invite you to contribute to an ongoing conversation about contemporary photobook culture. We are asking how books are made, why they matter, and what becomes possible through them.

What winners receive

Selected photobooks will be featured in Der Greif’s Articles section, including a dedicated editorial feature highlighting the project, its context, and the maker(s). This offers international visibility within the Der Greif community and beyond, alongside long-term archival presence on our platform.

How to Enter

• Submissions will be reviewed by the Der Greif team based on the following criteria:

• Conceptual clarity: Strength of the project's underlying idea and its articulation through the photobook format.

• Engagement with the book form: Thoughtful use of sequencing, pacing, layout, materiality, and structure as integral to the work.

• Visual and editorial coherence: Consistency and intentionality in how images, text, and design elements interact.

• Originality and relevance: Distinctive artistic voice and meaningful engagement with contemporary photographic, cultural, or social questions.

• Execution and potential: Quality of realization relative to the project's intent, including both finished publications and compelling dummies or works in progress.

• Documentation requirements: Submissions must include photographs of the physical book or dummy itself. Digital spreads or screen-based mock-ups alone will not be considered.

• Upload a vertical book flip-through video. Max. 2 minutes of video playtime in 1080x1920px MP4 format.

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-special@dergreif.org to receive a 50% or 100% discount code. Your artistic and financial contributions enable our continued growth.

About Der Greif

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.