FORMAT International Photography Festival is delighted to announce that in March 2027 its FORMAT27 biennale will explore the theme of PLAY.

Our Open Call invites exhibition and event proposals from artists, collectives, and curators worldwide to respond to the festival theme with diverse, imaginative, and innovative projects. An eminent panel of international experts, together with the FORMAT Curatorial team, will review submissions and select up to five projects to be exhibited at FORMAT27 in Derby between 11 March and 11 April 2027.

Invited from around the world, the Advisory Jury includes:

Jean-Christophe Godet (Guernsey/France), Diane Smyth (UK), Caroline Hunter (UK), Alex Kahl (UK), João Kulcsár (Brazil), Jenni Grainger (UK), Yining He (China/UK), Wang Peiquan (China).

From its origins, photography has been rooted in experimentation, trial and error, and the exploration of the unknown. The desire to record the world around us as closely as the eye can perceive it has always driven the evolution of the medium. From Niépce’s first image to the Albumen print, photogram, cyanotype, and collage, the creation and continued transformation of photography have developed through the act of PLAY — experimentation as play.

PLAY lies at the heart of the creative process, regardless of the subject or idea. Exploration is what fuels artistic discovery. FORMAT27 will examine this theme in its broadest sense, inviting participants to rethink and challenge their understanding of PLAY. It can be joyful, curious, experimental, provocative, imaginative, spontaneous, subversive, engaging, or rule-breaking. Camera play, questioning the photographic medium itself, documenting acts of play, experimenting with new technologies, play as sport, challenging notions of truth and reality, the politics of play, and the loss of freedom to play are just some of the many possible interpretations of this theme.

The creation of an artwork through interaction with an “other” — whether an individual, advanced technologies, or nature and its materials — is deeply connected to the collaborative and experimental nature of play. The rapid development of digital technologies such as AI is transforming the possibilities of image-making and raising new questions about the future of photography. At the same time, as our lives become increasingly digital, there is a renewed desire for the tangible, tactile, and natural qualities of analogue processes. Explorations of more sustainable approaches to image-making and display, including materials, techniques, and darkroom practices, are becoming increasingly important in addressing ecological challenges.

PLAY, as both a creative strategy and a critical tool within contemporary photographic practice, is essential to innovation. Creativity cannot exist without curiosity, risk-taking, and the willingness to explore the unknown through playful investigation. In this sense, PLAY becomes a vital method for rethinking how photography is created, shared, and experienced today.

Throughout the festival, FORMAT27 will explore PLAY through experimentation, improvisation, and rule-breaking, using humour, performance, games, and participation to question power, authorship, identity, and the politics of images. We invite artists to interpret the theme broadly and submit projects ranging from archival research to highly contemporary and conceptual approaches. Submissions are welcomed across all image-based genres, including long-term documentary projects, multimedia works, VR, moving image, installation, publications, online projects, interactive works, performance, participatory projects, mobile, and experimental formats.

Selected artists will have the opportunity to exhibit at FORMAT27 and be considered for one of the festival awards. All submissions will be reviewed by the FORMAT Curatorial team, and up to 250 shortlisted projects will receive the opportunity to be viewed by our panel of industry experts.

Awards, Prizes & Opportunities

All submitting Artists/Photographers will receive:

* Submission review by the FORMAT Curatorial team and a diverse jury of international industry professionals.
* Opportunities for project exposure through festival materials, social media, website features, and press outreach.

Up to 5 winning Artists/Photographers or Collectives will receive:

* Exhibition during FORMAT27, 11 March - 11 April 2027.
* A group exhibition of selected works at Photofusion Gallery in London in May 2027, organised by the Photofusion team.
* Artist fee of £1,000.
* Reimbursement of travel costs up to £300.
* Accommodation during the festival launch weekend.
* Full production costs for the exhibition.
* Feature in and a copy of the FORMAT27 festival guide.
* Feature on the FORMAT27 website and social media accounts.
* Free access to all FORMAT27 events.
* 20% reduction on the FORMAT27 International Portfolio Review fee.
* Opportunity to win one of the FORMAT27 Open Call awards.

FORMAT27 Open Call Awards

* FORMAT27 Open Call Award: £2,500 towards exhibition production costs.
* The Genesis Metro Award: £1,000 credit for photographic printing and finishing services.
* Glaz Photography Festival Exhibition Award: A selected artist will have the opportunity to exhibit at the next edition of Glaz in Rennes, France.
* Lishui Photography Festival Exhibition Award: A selected artist will have the opportunity to attend and exhibit at the next festival in Lishui, China.