FOTODOKS Open Call 2027: Care

FOTODOKS is a festival for contemporary documentary photography, held every year in Munich, Germany. For its thirteenth edition in October 2027, the festival is looking for existing lens-based documentary stories on the theme of Care. Applying is free, and selected photographers receive an artist fee, travel support and accommodation during the opening week. The deadline is 20 November 2026.

The organisers describe care broadly: it can be emotional, physical or psychological, and it can have social and relational dimensions.

Who Can Apply to FOTODOKS?

Individual photographers, duos, collectives and groups. Applications can be submitted in English or German, and the organisers encourage applicants from all backgrounds. The curatorial team will also invite some artists directly. It is particularly relevant to:

• Documentary photographers and photojournalists with a finished project
• Artists using photography, video or archives to explore care
• Collectives working on social and community projects

What Can You Submit?

An existing lens-based documentary story that engages with care and its meanings: caregiving, health, family, community, migration, labour, ecology or any other perspective on how people look after each other and the world.

Entry Fees

Free to apply.

What Do Selected Photographers Receive?

• Group exhibition at the festival, produced in agreement with FOTODOKS
• Artist fee: €500 for a single photographer, €800 for a duo, up to €1,200 for a collective
• Travel: €150 within Germany, €300 within Europe, €500 from outside Europe
• Accommodation during the festival's four-day opening week
• Inclusion in the catalogue, promotional materials and festival website

Submission Requirements

Apply through the online open call with a selection of images and a project description. Explain clearly how your project relates to care.

Why Apply?

Paid exhibition opportunities with free applications are rare. FOTODOKS has a strong reputation in European documentary photography, and showing in Munich connects you with curators, editors and other photographers.

How to Prepare Your Application

Choose a finished or well-advanced project, and edit it to the images that carry the story. Write a short, specific text: who or what the project is about, how you worked, and why it matters now. Show the relationship with the theme directly instead of stretching an unrelated project to fit.

About FOTODOKS

FOTODOKS is held annually in Munich and presents contemporary documentary photography through exhibitions, talks and events. Each edition is built around a theme and a curatorial team.

Why Care Is a Strong Theme

Care is one of the most urgent subjects of our time: ageing populations, health systems under pressure, unpaid work at home, care for migrants and refugees, and care for the environment. Documentary photography can make this often invisible work visible. Projects that show care from the inside, through long-term relationships with the people photographed, are likely to be the most convincing.

What Makes a Good Documentary Submission

Curators look for projects with depth: a clear subject, time spent with it, and images that go beyond illustration. Sequence your images so they build understanding, and include a few quiet pictures between the strongest ones. Provide context in your text, but let the photographs do the storytelling.

Applications are reviewed by the festival's curatorial team, and selected projects are developed into the exhibition together with the photographers. If you are unsure whether your project fits, read the call text closely and focus your description on care.

Things to Consider

• Free to apply: no fee.
• Theme: Care, in its many meanings.
• Existing projects: the call is for completed or ongoing work.
• Languages: English or German.
• Deadline: 20 November 2026.

Apply to the Open Call

Ready to apply?

Apply to FOTODOKS

For the full call and application form, visit the official open call page.

Looking for more open calls? Browse all competitions and opportunities on Good Stuff Weekly.

Last verified: October 28, 2026