2026 EBPCO Member’s
OPEN CALL
Oddly Familiar
Image by Kendra LuckOddly Familiar
“Oddly familiar" is a term usually used to describe the feeling of déjà vu, or the eerie, nostalgic sensation of looking at liminal spaces—places that look exactly like memories from your childhood, but you can't quite place where or when you saw them.
Look beyond the literal and look up, around, and under; look for the faces in the clouds and those unusual moments or perspectives that are unexpected and yet tell us so much. If you are looking for inspiration, think less Ansel Adams and more Edward Weston. Less Martin Scorsese, more Quentin Tarantino. Less Steven Spielberg, more Wes Anderson.
EBPCO members can submit up to 5 images for free for consideration. This is a juried exhibition, submission does not guarantee entry.
Jump to: Important Dates | Meet the Jurors | Eligibility
Important Dates
Submissions Open - Monday, Sept 7th 9AM PT
Submissions Close - Monday, Sept 28th 11:59PM PT
Notification Date - Sunday, Oct 11th
Artwork Drop-off - Mid-November*
Exhibition Dates - Dec. 4th through Jan. 17th
Opening Reception - Friday, Dec. 4th 6-9PM
*exact dates shared with accepted artistsBear Image by Kevin FlynnNeed inspiration?
We want to see YOUR interpretation of the theme!
But if you need inspiration, look at some of these photographers:
Poodle image by Kendra Luck
Meet the Jurors
-
Kendra Luck
BOARD MEMBER | MEMBERSHIP EVENTS COORDINATOR
Kendra Luck has degrees in journalism and art from San Jose State University and has spent 13 years as a photojournalist around the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2002, Kendra became known as the Dogumentarian, photographing black and white documentary style dog portraits. She has photographed hundreds of dogs for private, commercial, and print commissions.
-
Kevin Flynn
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR
Kevin Flynn has a Bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz in Photography. His work career was managing a division of Dun & Bradstreet that specialized in retirement planning and with a small technology company that manufactured tools for monitoring the cold chain for quality control. He has also volunteered with two non profits in the East Bay: the Oakland Heritage Alliance and the Friends of the Rockridge Library.
Submission
Guidelines
& Restrictions
Your artwork should be..
Recent (from the last 3-5 years)
Photography-based (traditional, digital, alternative processes, etc)
NOT created using generative AI
NOT previously exhibited at Oakland Photo Workshop
FRAMED dimensions CANNOT exceed 24”
Your submission should include
ONE image file per artwork (for diptychs or triptychs, please submit as one image)
Artwork title - if your image(s) are untitled, please add an identifier in parenthesis so we can differentiate image(s) (ex: untitled (red hat), untitled (banana), etc)
FRAMED artwork dimensions (not pixels or a note that you can frame at any size). Artwork cannot exceed 24” wide. Artwork must be framed and ready to hang upon delivery.
Medium (ie how the artwork is printed: silver gelatin, cyanotype, collage, archival inkjet, etc NOT ‘photography’ or ‘film photography’ etc)
Price, if you would like to list it for sale
DO NOT INCLUDE any identifying information in the artwork captions, titles, or descriptions. To keep our open calls fair, we use a blind jury.
Labels and catalog information will be created from your submission. Please review the FAQ or email exhibitions@ebpco.org if you have any questions.
Please allow up to 48 hours for a response.Eligibility
Submission is FREE for all current EBPCO members, regardless of membership tier. Membership MUST be active through December 4th, 2026.
Unsure of your membership status? Email memberships@ebpco.org or review the FAQ below.
Office Hours
Do you need technical help with your submission? Join us for a virtual office hour session on Tuesday, September 15th 5:30-7:30PM PT.
Still have questions? Unable to attend office hours? Take a look at the FAQ below or send us an email anytime! Please allow us 48 hours to respond.
Frequently Asked Questions
Membership
-
Log into Zeffy, our membership platform, using the email address you use for donations and communications with EBPCO.
Check the 2026 and 2025 tab for a purchase titled East Bay Photo Collective | Your EBPCO donation keeps community arts alive and kicking!
If you have set up a recurring payment OR the purchase date is on or after December 4th, 2025, you are an active member and eligible to submit!
If your membership expires before December 4th and does NOT auto-renew, please renew your membership.
-
Here is our membership page with a list of benefits and a form to sign up!
Save the confirmation email! It has a link to the membership portal which includes discounts and other membership information.
-
If you do not have auto-renew set up, you will be asked to renew your membership if it expires before December 4th, 2026.
If you enabled auto-renew, you are all set!
Submission
-
No! If you do not already have an account, you can create one for free following these instructions.
-
We recommend uploading images that are at least 1200px on the longest side.
High resolution files are encouraged. If accepted, this is the file that will be in the exhibition catalog and online gallery.
-
ONE image file per artwork (for diptychs or triptychs, please submit as one image)
Artwork title - if your image(s) are untitled, please add an identifier in parenthesis so we can differentiate image(s) (ex: untitled (red hat), untitled (banana), etc)
FRAMED artwork dimensions (not pixels or a note that you can frame at any size). Artwork cannot exceed 24” wide. Artwork must be framed and ready to hang upon delivery.
Medium (ie how the artwork is printed: silver gelatin, cyanotype, collage, archival inkjet, etc NOT ‘photography’ or ‘film photography’ etc)
Price, if you would like to list it for sale
DO NOT INCLUDE any identifying information in the artwork captions, titles, or descriptions.
-
Your framed artwork cannot exceed 24” wide.
All artwork must be ready to hang (framed, with a wire on the back)
-
Your application was returned to you because of an error. Please review the email notification for details.
Errors could include: missing information, images formatted incorrectly, expired membership, etc.
All errors must be fixed by the submission deadline.
Other Questions
-
We set up office hours to answer questions you may have regarding the application or to help with technical assistance.
If you are unable to make office hours, email your questions to exhibitions@ebpco.org.
Please allow 48 hours for a response.
-
You will receive a confirmation email from Artwork Archive! You can also check your application status by logging into Artwork Archive and clicking “Call Submissions” in the menu.
-
Submissions will be juried blind by a group of jurors. Outside of screening to ensure the application requirements are met, applications are not pre-screened; jurors thoughtfully review each submission and conduct multiple rounds of jurying.
-
We typically accept 30-50 pieces for the gallery exhibition, depending on the artwork sizes, and an additional 10-20 pieces for the online exhibition. Online gallery exhibitions are hosted on our website indefinitely, and all accepted pieces will appear in an exhibition catalog, which will be available for sale after the exhibition opens.
-
Our open calls are juried exhibitions, which means that not every piece can or will be accepted for either the gallery exhibition or online exhibition. We typically receive over 200 images per open call, our exhibition space is limited, and our volunteer jurors spend weeks reviewing entries.
If your image(s) were accepted for the online gallery, but not the gallery exhibition, or were not accepted at all, it does not necessarily mean your submission was off-scope or of lower quality than other submissions. We are constantly reviewing our jurying process to ensure that we are as fair as possible, however we are unable to accept more artwork at this time.