2023 Invitations Have Been Sent
CENTER’s premier juried portfolio review event, the Review Santa Fe Photo Symposium, is a conference for photographers and lens-based artists seeking audience expansion, critical discussion, and community connection. One of the oldest portfolio review events in the U.S., Review Santa Fe, enters its 22nd year, in 2023. The conference programs include portfolio reviews with juried photographers, lens-based artists and esteemed Reviewers, Project Presentations, Scholar Lectures, and more.
View the 2023 event schedule.
2023 PROGRAM | Review Santa Fe is scheduled to take place on November 16-19, 2023, in historic downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. We are planning on hosting in-person events and offering some online components. Please note: CENTER reserves the right to make the necessary changes to the programs and participant registration status to ensure the safety of its staff, participants, and the public. Thank you for understanding.
PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY | Sign-language interpretation, program guides, assistive listening devices, and other guest facilitation are all available upon request. Please contact us to inform us of your needs.
SELECTION PROCESS
This program stands out amongst other portfolio reviews because it is carefully vetted by a selection committee, ensuring the quality of the work. Each year a new independent committee ranks all of the submissions, with the highest-ranking submissions receiving an invitation. Along with the vetted photographers, the annual awards and grants recipients join to participate in Review Santa Fe. It is a blind judging process, and many different types of lens-based projects are invited to attend, including documentary, fine art, black and white, reportage, and interdisciplinary projects. Learn More
CENTER has launched many now-famous photographers’ careers, including Alec Soth (2003), Julie Blackmon (2006), Tamas Dezso (2011), Cristina de Middel (2012), and many others. This event helps photo-based storytellers bring their work to completion and have it seen by industry leaders, editors, curators, and publishers who are portals to broad international audiences.
Read the Selection Committee Statements:
View the Review Santa Fe Listings:
REVIEWERS
The Reviewers are carefully selected curators, editors, book publishers, gallery and festival directors. At Review Santa Fe we work hard to research and include reviewers that are offering more than feedback, but also opportunities for career advancement and placement of your work in a supportive and friendly environment.
2023 Reviewers | 2022 Reviewers
PROJECT LAB SEMINARS
© Matt Suhre
The 2023 Project Lab Seminars offer guidance on best practices and community impact through platforms tailored to each participant — providing access to career advancement workshops and seminars discussing grant writing, editing, and portfolio review preparation.
Hosted online over the course of 2 days, the 1st day is open to any and all interested lens-based artists and will focus on the presenter’s course discussion. The 2nd day provides an added experience for a portfolio critique that offers participants the opportunity to discuss their projects and receive feedback from each other and the course instructors. Pre-registration is required as there are a limited number of spaces available for the 2nd day. Learn More
• Preparing for Portfolio Reviews – registration details tba
• Editing for Impact – registration details tba
PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
© Luis Corzo, 2022 Social Award recipient
WHERE: Hosted Online with Zoom – details tba
HOW: Free & Public
Highlighting excellence and innovative contributions to the field each year with the annual Awards and Project Grants, the selected lens-based artists, chosen by a blind jury comprised of new image professionals each year, receive financial support, publishing, presentation, and exhibiting opportunities made possible by CENTER and our Partners.
The 2023 Award, Grant, and Blue Earth Fiscal Sponsorship winning artists will discuss their projects and share an intimate view of their process. Further details on the event and registration are TBA.
PORTFOLIO WALK & BOOK FAIR
WHEN: Friday, November 17, 2023
WHERE: Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Pavilion
HOW: Free & Public
The Review Santa Fe Portfolio Walk & Photographic Book Fair brings together a global network of 100 selected lens-based artists and 50+ representatives from museums, publications, book publishers, and media outlets each year. This lively event offers a chance to view a broad range of photographic projects encompassing today’s social, environmental, and political issues as well as stellar contemporary art projects. Notable photographic book publishers, indie publications, and art-book enthusiasts are invited to join us and showcase newly released publications for sale.
THE DEMOCRATIC LENS: SCHOLAR LECTURES
© Warren K. Leffler
WHEN: Sunday, November 19, 2023, from 10:30am – 1:30pm MT
WHERE: Livestream & In Person
HOW: Free & Public
The Democratic Lens is a six-part discussion series examining how images have shaped America’s collective memory and inspired individuals to participate in civic life. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the lectures include Dr. Makeda Best, Curator of Photography, Harvard Art Museums, and Dr. Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, followed by a Q&A with the audience moderated by Holly Stuart Hughes, Independent Editor & Grant Writer. Learn More
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
General Application Guidelines
SUBMIT
• 15 – 20 images
• Project statement limited to 325-words
DISCOUNT DEADLINE: February 15, 2023
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15, 2023
FINAL DEADLINE: March 19, 2023
EARLY DISCOUNT APPLICATION FEES: $45 CENTER Member // $55 Non-Members
GENERAL FEES: $55 CENTER Member // $65 Non-Members
APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED
ELIGIBILITY
All of CENTER’s Calls for Entry opportunities accept submissions from national and international photographers and lens-based artists. Work can have been made at any time and work that has been previously submitted may be re-submitted as we invite new jurors each year. Work derived from all photographic processes is accepted, and mixed media that is photo-based. Only the Multimedia Storytelling Award and Review Santa Fe accepts video, multimedia files, or still images for submission.
• REVIEW PACKAGE: up to 9 portfolio reviews, inclusion in the Review Santa Fe Listing & Archive, participation in the Portfolio Walk* public expostion, access to Presentations, Panel Discussions, and other programs. | *Please note, the scheduled in-person programming is subject to change, and CENTER reserves the right to make the necessary changes based on the latest studies and updates regarding the COVID-19 virus and its variants to ensure the safety of its staff, participants, and public.
• EVENT: You must receive an email invitation from us directly in order to attend the review event. With this in mind, there is a waitlist that is determined by the selection committee voting. After invitation, you will be provided with an event schedule that includes your schedule for portfolio reviews, and a list of the available programs throughout the weekend.
• REVIEWER SELECTION: Reviewer preferences are selected via an electric lottery system two weeks prior to the event. Please note, occasionally there are additional portfolio reviews that become available during the weekend’s event, and are available for as first-come-first-serve during the review weekend.
• SCHOLARSHIPS: Scholarship applications open after invitations have been sent out. If selected for financial assistance, the provided scholarships range in the amount of either half or full-tuition. Please be prepared to pay the remainder should you not receive a scholarship.
CRITERIA & THE JURY PROCESS
Q: WHAT ARE THE SELECTION CRITERIA?
A: 1) Projects, as well as all submitted text, should be examples of excellence within the discipline, both visually and conceptually.
2) The award winner should be at a place in their work and career where they can benefit from the exposure, networks, and opportunities that CENTER offers.
3) The photographer must be committed and able to ensure the advancement of the project with the support received.
Q: DO YOU “PRE-SCREEN”?
A: No, all work submitted is seen by the jurors only.
Q: WHAT ARE JURORS LOOKING FOR?
A: The jurors are looking for cohesive, compelling bodies of work, or singular images, that are ready for international recognition.
Q: WILL I RECEIVE FEEDBACK ON THE WORK?
A: Due to the number of submissions the committee is unable to provide specific feedback at this time but we will let you know if the work advances to the higher rounds of judging.
Q: MAY I SEND MY BOOK, POSTER, EXHIBITION ANNOUNCEMENT, ETC.?
A: Websites, prints, books, posters, announcements, and other physical/emailed materials sent to us will are not be reviewed for submission. You must submit your work within the online submission portal for your work to be reviewed by the categories juror.
Q: CAN WE APPLY AS A DUO OR GROUP?
A: Yes, please use one artist’s name and information on the application, and in your project statement note that this is a collaboration. To ensure a blind jury process, please do not list the group of artists’ names in the project statement. Please note that winners will receive one slot at Review Santa Fe, so the group would sit together in front of each reviewer.
APPLICATION FAQs
Q: WHEN IS THE DEADLINE?
A: February 15, 2023, for the discounted entry fees and March 19, 2023, for the final submission deadline.
Q: WHERE DO I APPLY?
A: You will apply within our online submission system that is sent to you via email once your payment has been processed.
Q: WHAT ARE THE FILE REQUIREMENTS?
A: All images and files must be uploaded through our online submission system. We accept JPG, PDF, TIFF & PNG files for all application categories. JPGs must be sized at 1400 pixels on the longest side with a 125 maximum dpi. Keep any TIFF or PDF documents under 5MB. Additional accepted file types for only the Multimedia Award, Review Santa Fe, and Blue Earth Fiscal Sponsorship include MP3, Mp4, and MOV. Video and Audio files should be under 3 minutes and limited to 200 MB each. Video files should be hosted on Vimeo, Youtube, or a similar service. If they are password protected, be sure to include credentials for the jury.
Q: HOW SHOULD I LABEL MY FILES?
A: To successfully order files during upload, we suggest you rename files before uploading them as they are uploaded and organized in alpha order. Begin the filename with a lower-case alphabetical letter and include the title in the filename after the letter and underscore [ex: a_Title.jpg, b_Title.jpg].
Q: MAY I SUBMIT TWO OR MORE BODIES OF WORK?
A: Yes, you can submit more than one portfolio to the same category, however you must pay for an additional entry. This applies to all categories open for submission.
Q: MAY I COMBINE BLACK & WHITE AND COLOR IMAGES INTO ONE BODY OF WORK?
A: Yes, all types of image processes are allowed within each submission.
PROJECT STATEMENTS:
The first sentence of your project statement should include a short synopsis of the project. Statements are limited to 325-words. As our jurying process is blind, please do not include your name, any website links, or emails in your statement.
Q: WHERE DO I UPLOAD MY STATEMENT?
A: You will upload your artist statement within our online application form along with your images.
Q: TO WHICH DIMENSIONS ARE YOU REFERRING TO?
A: The dimensions of the final product when ready for exhibition. For instance, if you print 20″x24″ Cibachrome and are submitting 8″x10″ digital prints please indicate the final version of the work.
Q: WHERE CAN I INCLUDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROCESS AND MEDIUM OF MY WORK?
A: We have included a new section for you to indicate the process and the medium used for your project, series, singular images, or multimedia project. Previously requested in the project statement section, we have moved this inquiry to its own section to avoid taking away from the project statements’ word count.
Visit our application FAQ’s & guidelines page for more information. Have additional questions? Contact us directly.
PROGRAM GUIDE ARCHIVE
2022 Program Guide // Cover image from the series Blue © Heather Evans Smith
2021 Program Guide // Cover image from the series As we play God © Leah Dyjak
2020 Program Guide // Cover image from the series The Dadabyte Theater © Brandy Trigueros
2019 Program Guide // Cover image from the series Strange Land © Cody Cobb
2018 Program Guide // Cover © Joel-Peter Witkin
2017 Program Guide // Cover image from the series Promising Waters © Mila Teshaieva
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