International Mute Photo Festival – Open Call IMPhF 2027

The International Mute Photo Festival invites photographers of all ages and levels worldwide to submit work for its 2027 open call, themed "Nature ate the pixels."

Drawing on Guy Debord's critique of the society of the spectacle, the festival asks: what does it mean to reconnect with the natural world in an age of relentless digital mediation? The answer here is delightfully hands-on — all submitted work must be captured and printed using a children's instant thermal camera.

This is a deliberate artistic provocation. The toy thermal camera's black-and-white, low-resolution output strips away superfluous detail, foregrounding organic form, light, and texture. Imperfections — lines, marks, noise — are not to be corrected; they are the work's identity. The only permitted post-processing is removing timestamps and white borders, and converting to black and white.

Thematic Categories

Submissions must fall into one of four themes

• Landscape – Natural environments free of human presence
• Symbiosis – The human body in harmony with natural elements
• Rebirth – Nature reclaiming urban space; life persisting against adversity
• Future – Children's relationship with the natural world, defined by respect and discovery

Age Categories

• Adult (18+): Submit 6–9 photographs as a series
• Children & Youth (Under 18): Submit 5 photographs; submission must be made by or with explicit consent of a parent or guardian

Selection & Exhibition

The jury will select the top 15 adult series and top 5 youth series. Selected artists' work will be exhibited in July 2027 at the renovated Old Customs Warehouses at Karlovasi Port, Samos, Greece. The festival covers all printing and production costs for enlarged prints of selected work. One artist — the one submitting the most complete series — will have travel and accommodation covered to attend the opening. All selected work is also published in an official printed catalogue.

Artists retain full copyright. Entry is completely free.

To enter, send a ZIP file to mutephotofestival@outlook.com.gr containing your project statement (up to 250 words), contact details, and image files named in the format FirstnameLastname01.jpg.