NO THEME

OPEN CALL

Have you been working on a project that you love? Or do you have some knock-out images you want to share?

Now is the perfect time!

To celebrate Oakland Photo Workshop’s 5th year anniversary, we are hosting a NO THEME open call!

NO THEME

✳︎

OPEN CALL

✳︎

NO THEME ✳︎ OPEN CALL ✳︎ 

Lumen print by Jacqueline Walters

Important dates

Digital Photo by Nate Love

  • May 1st 9:00AM- Submissions Open

  • May 21st 11:59PM - Submissions Close

  • June 21st - Acceptance Notifications

  • Mid-July - Artwork Due (see FAQ for details)

  • August 7th 6-9PM - Opening Reception

Polaroid by Michael Behlan

Office Hours

Do you need technical help with your submission? Join a virtual office hours session!

Wednesday, May 6th 5:30-7PM

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Tuesday, May 19th 5:30-7PM

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Silver Gelatin Print by Sasha-Mylan Williams

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Submission Fees

  • The submission fee is $35 and includes submission of up to 3 images.

  • Due to the unrestricted theme of this open call, we are limiting all submissions to 3 entries.

  • We have scholarships available! Please email exhibitions@ebpco.org with the subject line: “Open Call Scholarship.”

  • EBPCO Basic, Premium, and F-Stop Members receive a discount on submission fees!

    If you are a current EBPCO member, please visit the member portal on our website. The 2026 password was emailed to all members in December and to any new members in their confirmation email.

    If you are NOT a current EBPCO member, you can learn more about the member benefits and sign up here.

    If you are unsure of your membership status, email exhibitions@ebpco.org. Please allow us 48 hours to respond.

Application Requirements

  • Artists must be 18 years or older to submit and must be in or around the Bay Area.

  • This system does not have a specific file size requirement. We recommend uploading images that are at least 1200px on the longest side.

  • We require the frame size, printed medium, and creation year of each piece.

    If your photographs are untitled, please add a note in parentheses so we can differentiate each image. For example, Untitled (Bear) vs Untitled (Portrait).

  • Your framed artwork cannot exceed 24” wide.

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 guest curator Liam O’Donoghue and the Oakland Photo Workshop gallery team. Outside of screening to ensure the application requirements are met, there is no pre-screening; jurors thoughtfully review each submission and conduct multiple rounds of jurying.

  • We typically accept 30-45 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. 

  • 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, etc.

    All errors must be fixed by the submission deadline unless otherwise stated in the email notification.