About

Project Groundswell invites photographers and lens-based artists to submit projects on the theme of climate action.

Project Groundswell is an opportunity to deepen understanding, amplify hope and inspire further action by making visible what is being done to address climate change.

What's the theme?

We invite artists/photographers to submit work that engages with any of the wide range of climate actions that are currently underway anywhere in the world. To give just a few examples, we welcome critical explorations of how individuals, grassroots movements or wider societal initiatives are tackling climate change by reducing carbon emissions, assisting circular economies, promoting biodiversity, exposing greenwashing, or enabling climate justice.
What approaches?  In addition to documentary, independent photoreportage and socially-engaged practices, we also welcome more oblique, personal, diaristic or conceptual approaches. So long as the work is relevant to climate action, we want to see it!

Please note: Raising awareness about the effects of climate change is not enough. This Call is for photographic/video projects that make visible how individuals, communities or wider social groups are working to combat climate change.

What winners receive?

Four Overall Winners each receive:

• A fee of €5,000
• Museum-quality printing and framing of their work for a major curated four-person touring exhibition.
• Publication of the work as a monograph photobook, with an introductory critical essay about the work.
• Exhibition presented in the core programmes of Fotohof, Photo Museum Ireland, Cortona On The Move Festival and Imago Lisboa Festival in 2026.
• Support of up to €800 for travel and accommodation for the Overall Winners to attend two exhibitions.
• At the close of Project Groundswell, one set of exhibition prints will be given to the artist, the other set will be held in the Fotohof Archive for posterity.

Twelve Finalists each receive:

• A fee of €1,000

• Mentoring and support for the development of their work into a short audio-visual piece.

• Inclusion in the premiere projection event at Imago Lisboa and at events in Fotohof, Photo Museum Ireland and Cortona on the Move.

• Inclusion and promotion of the work on the Groundswell website.

• Promotion on the organising partners' platforms.

• The chance to be selected as one of the four Overall Winners.

What can be submitted?

• 8-15 images from projects using lens-based media (photography, video/film). The work can include other art forms (literature, sculpture, performance, new media) but should be primarily image-based.

• Projects can be completed, or can be works-in-progress.

• A completed project will not be eligible for an overall award if it has already been exhibited as a solo exhibition in a major gallery or museum or in the form of a book, or if such an exhibition is scheduled for the period 2025-26. Some images of the work may have been previously published in magazines or group exhibitions. The entire body of work must not have been awarded prizes in other competitions at the time of application.

• The Jury will only consider proposals for projects that have not yet been started if a compelling reason has been given for this and where the artist can evidence a strong track record of completed projects.

• For video work, submit 8-15 screenshots and include a link to an extract of max 3 minutes duration in the Project Description.

• There is no restriction on the date of creation of the work.

• Images generated by AI, including generative fill, will not be accepted. The exception is where AI is specifically the focus of investigation in the project and in this case the use of AI to generate such images must be clearly indicated.

• No single images.

Who can submit?

• Artists of any nationality based in Europe. This includes:

• All the EU Member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden)

• Plus: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK.

• Artists of all backgrounds and experience levels who are at least 18 years of age at the time of application.

• Proposals from artists' collectives and collaborations, as well as individual practitioners are welcome. In the case of collectives, please nominate a single overall representative/contact person.

Judging criteria

The Jury will assess the submissions along four criteria:

1. Relevance to the theme of climate action.
2. Innovation / dynamism of the proposed approach.

• Potential Impact: The project's capacity to engage audiences and inspire meaningful dialogue.

3. Practicability: does the project's ambition align with Project Groundswell's timeframe?

What does it cost?

Free