THE ROOM NEXT DOOR

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR 
is an international juried photography call from Decagon Gallery.

Juror: Susan Bright

We seek photographs that live in nearness: a lit window across the courtyard, a bedroom no one sleeps in anymore, a voice through the wall. Images that suggest more than they show: mysterious, never obscure, and always offering the viewer a way in. Documentary, staged, conceptual, color or black and white, all welcome.

Selected work will be exhibited online at Decagon Gallery, January 10 – March 10, 2027.

Deadline: December 15, 2026.

Notification: January 1, 2027.

$1,000 Cash Prizes.

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR
A Decagon Gallery Spotlight open call

Juror: Susan Bright

$1,000 in cash prizes
Deadline: December 15, 2026
Notification: January 1, 2027
On view: January 10 – March 10, 2027

You can hear it before you see it. A voice rising and falling through the wall. A door closing somewhere you can't place. Light under a threshold, a shadow crossing it.

The room next door is the one we almost know. It sits beside our own lives, shares our walls, and holds its secrets just out of sight. It's the neighbor's lit window across the courtyard. It's the bedroom down the hall that no one sleeps in anymore. It's the hotel room whose occupant you will never meet, or the room you grew up in, now someone else's.

For this call, we're looking for photographs that sit in that space between knowing and not knowing: images that suggest more than they show, and invite the viewer to imagine what is on the other side.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Work that is mysterious but not impenetrable. Photographs where something is withheld, but a way in is offered. Think of the pull of a half-open door, of an overheard conversation, of a place that feels charged even when it's empty.

Interpret the theme as broadly or as literally as you like. Some possibilities:

• Interiors, thresholds, doorways, windows, and walls
• Neighbors, strangers, and the lives we glimpse but never enter
• Absence and presence: rooms after someone has gone, rooms waiting for someone to arrive
• Memory, family, and the rooms of the past
• Intimacy, privacy, and secrecy
• Psychological and imagined spaces
• Staged, constructed, or surreal work that builds its own adjacent worlds

Documentary, fine art, conceptual, and experimental approaches are all welcome. So are color and black and white, film and digital, and any process you choose.

ABOUT THE JUROR
Dr. Susan Bright (Aus/UK) is a curator, art historian, writer and lecturer with over two decades of experience curating exhibitions featuring both major international and emerging contemporary artists. While maintaining a broad curatorial practice, she specializes in lens-based art and has developed a reputation for strong scholarship combined with imaginative, intuitive and rigorous collaboration.

ELIGIBILITY
Open to photographers of all levels, anywhere in the world. Work must be your own. [Add rules on previously exhibited work, AI-generated imagery, and so on, if applicable.]

AWARDS AND EXHIBITION
$1,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. Every selected photographer is exhibited in THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, an online exhibition on the Decagon Gallery website, plus promotion through our newsletter and social media. 

ENTRY FEE
$25 for 4 images
$5 for each additional image

KEY DATES
Submission deadline: December 15, 2026
Notification of results: January 1, 2027
Exhibition: January 10 – March 10, 2027

ABOUT DECAGON GALLERY
Decagon Gallery is an independent online fine art photography gallery presenting juried exhibitions with named jurors, cash prizes, and printed catalogs. Our calls are designed to give photographers a thoughtful theme, a respected juror, and a presentation worthy of the work.​​​​​​

Awards

First Place: $500
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $150
Two Honorable Mentions: $50
Human Presence award: Free entry to a future exhibition

All selected photographers receive inclusion in the curated exhibition on a dedicated exhibition page, Instagram feature, and inclusion in the printed catalog. The exhibition will be promoted through Press Releases in appropriate channels.

​How to Submit
$25 entry fee for 4 photographs. $5 each additional photograph. Open to photographers worldwide. All photographic processes and styles welcome.

​Submission Details:

Submit jpg files at least 2100 pixels on the long side without any text, watermarks, borders, or frames. We want the work to be seen as it is, without any added elements that might distract from the image itself.

What Selected Photographers Receive

• Inclusion in the curated online exhibition
• Permanent exhibition page on Decagon Gallery
• Feature on Decagon’s Instagram
• Inclusion in the exhibition catalog

Photographers retain all rights, including copyright, to their photographs.

• Work: Submit up to images that you believe capture the essence of the "SELF" theme.
• Format: JPEG or JPG, size at least 2100 px on the longest side.
• Entry Fee: $25 for 4 images, $5 for each additional image.
• Deadline: All entries must be received by November 17
• Online Exhibition Dates: December 6, 2026 through February 6, 2027 then archived on our gallery

About the Gallery

Decagon Gallery is an online photography gallery dedicated to thoughtful, contemporary photographic work by artists worldwide. The gallery emphasizes strong curatorial vision, professional presentation, and meaningful engagement with photographers at all stages of their careers.

Open to photographers worldwide, 18 years and older.