Conservation

What would you save?

Conservation is an open call for photographs of the land, buildings, species, and traditions you most want to still be here in the future.

Submit Work

Black Eyes Gallery Call for Entry

Submission Deadline

10/23

Artist Notification

10/27

Exhibition Dates

11/3 - 11/28

Cost of Entry

$40 per entry (an entry is up to 5 photos)

Prospectus

Show us what you would not survive losing.

The preservation of land, plants, wildlife, historic structures, our traditions, and our very humanity is more threatened than ever. Cottonwoods along the U.S.-Mexico border have stood for over two hundred years. Thousands of acres of the Amazon, gone. Plants and animals lost daily, most of them never photographed. Buildings torn down faster than anyone can record them. People threatened with destruction.

Sometimes we are powerless against the erosion of time, the force of nature, or the will of other people. What we are not powerless against is the record. A photograph outlasts what it points at. It is the one form of keeping available to almost anyone.

We want to see what you consider most important to conserve. Bring us the photographs of it.

Selection & Exhibition:

  • 25 images will be selected for Conservation and will be printed, professionally matted, and framed for exhibition from November 3rd - 28th.

  • Images will be included in a permanent Online archive of Black Eyes Gallery exhibitions, with the artist's name, image title, and social link.

  • Promotion through the Black Eyes Gallery socials, email list, and website

  • A feature on the Black Eyes Instagram page.

  • Artists will be notified on or before 10/27

  • Any entry that is not selected will qualify for $5 off their next entry.

  • Entry Fees help support the administrative, promotional, and production costs (including printing, matting, and framing) of the exhibitions.

  • We want all artists to have the opportunity to submit, regardless of their financial situation. A reduced fee of $20 is available for two artists per Call. A reduced-fee form will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to artists who contact Black Eyes Gallery before submitting.

Ready to Submit?

Submit Now

Meet Your Juror

Douglas Fur is a nationally exhibited artist and photographer based in Tucson Arizona with fifteen years worth of photography experience. He graduated with his BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in 2006.

For the past two years he has worked for Decode Gallery in Tucson’s Barrio Viejo neighborhood, and is the current Artist Liaison and Gallery Manager for Tucson Erotica. Douglas is passionate about helping artists connect with other artists, buyers, and industry professionals.

A man with glasses and a beard wearing a white button-up shirt and gray pants sitting on stairs under a blue door frame, with a white wall on either side and brown tiled floor.

Before You Submit

  • The One is the inaugural exhibition at Black Eyes Gallery. We're asking for your best shot. The one you obsess over. The one that opens your portfolio. The one where everything aligned.

    While the theme is “The One”, you can submit up to five photos for this entry.

  • Any genre. Documentary, portrait, landscape, abstract, conceptual — we don't care what category it falls into. We care that it's the strongest thing you've made. As long as it is photographic or lens based.

  • Work created entirely or substantially with artificial intelligence will be disqualified.

  • Photographers worldwide. As long as the work is original and belongs to you, or was made under your direction

    Black Eyes Gallery cannot accept submissions or provide services where doing so would violate applicable United States sanctions, export, payment-processing, or compliance restrictions

    • Submission deadline: 10/23

    • Artist notification: 10/27

    • Exhibition: 11/3-11/28

  • $40 for up to five images, or $50 for up to ten.

  • Entry fees cover the administrative, promotional, and production costs of the exhibition — including printing, matting, and framing every selected image at gallery expense.

  • A reduced fee of $20 is available to a limited number of artists per call, on a first-come, first-served basis. Reach out to us before submitting, and we'll send you the reduced fee form.

  • Any entry that doesn't result in a selected image earns $5 off your next entry.

  • JPG or JPEG, minimum 1200 pixels on the longest side, between 500KB and 5MB where possible. Label each file: lastname_firstname_title.jpeg

  • Review criteria vary by juror, but in general we're looking at creativity, originality, interpretation of the theme, and how an image works in relation to the exhibition as a whole.

    Where possible, submissions are reviewed blind. Your CV and bio will most likely not factor into selection — the image is what's being judged.

  • It's optional, and we know some images stand on their own. But a short note on meaning or backstory often elevates a picture. Include one if it helps.

  • Twenty-five.

  • No. Black Eyes Gallery prints, mats, and frames every selected image at our cost. You submit a file; we handle production.

    • Black Eyes Gallery will Print, Mat, and frame your image for exhibition to be shown publicly September 26 – October 31

    • Permanent inclusion in the Black Eyes Gallery online exhibition archive, with name, image title, and social link

    • Promotion across Black Eyes Gallery social channels, our email list, and our website

    • A feature on the Black Eyes Gallery Instagram

  • Yes, and we encourage it. Listing for sale isn't required, but part of what we're doing at Black Eyes is connecting artists with collectors, not just with industry.

  • You do. In our experience, work priced between $200 and $500 tends to sell best.

  • Black Eyes Gallery retains 50% on gallery sales.

  • We will make one exhibition print.

    We may approach selected artists about offering small prints — 5×7 at $20, 8×10 at $35. Other arrangements can be made individually. No print is ever made without your explicit permission.

  • You do. Artists retain full copyright. Black Eyes Gallery will retain non-exclusive right to reproduce your image for jurying, exhibition presentation, archival documentation, and promotion of the exhibition. That may include our website, social media, email newsletters, exhibition catalogs, and related promotional materials.

    We credit artists whenever work is displayed or promoted, wherever feasible. You may request removal from future promotional use in writing.

  • We will reach out to selected artists with a form containing additional information. You will send over your high resolution file and confirm the sizing of the image for print.

    • If the image contains identifiable models, will need to confirm you have a signed model release on file.

  • Prints are held in the Black Eyes archive for two years.

    At the end of the two years, we destroy the print.

  • Where is the gallery?
    Black Eyes Gallery is located at 485 S. Stone, Suite 1, Tucson Arizona 85701.

    We are open Wednesday - Saturday from 11-6.

  • Get in touch with us at info@blackeyesgallery.com.