AZPA Online Juried Theme Gallery Call: The Natural World

Arizona Photography Alliance (AZPA) is celebrating its third year of Juried Theme Gallery Call Online Exhibitions. This is an open call to all current AZPA members* and non-members. Non-members are welcome to join to become eligible for the reduced rate.

The third Theme Gallery call in 2026 is, The Natural World: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water are primordial forces that shape the natural world we inhabit. Each contains within it both beauty and the potential for immense havoc.

Submit your best photographic work that supports this broad topic!

If you would like to join us, view memberships here.

AZPA Online Juried Theme Gallery Exhibitions

Several times during the year, calls for entry are announced with a rotating theme. Photographers are asked to submit their best photographic work that speaks, supports or expresses the selected theme. The juror will select ONE image from each entrant that best represents the theme. Each of those images will be displayed in an online gallery like this one from our first theme Show Us Your Muse.

The Third Theme Gallery Call in 2026

The Natural World: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water are primordial forces that shape the natural world we inhabit. Each contains within it both beauty and the potential for immense havoc.

Fire provides warmth and light yet possesses the power to consume and transform. Water can be calming and meditative, reflecting light and sustaining life, yet it can also become a devastating force of flood and demolition. Wind may gently move the leaves of a tree, carry seeds across a field, or shape a landscape over time, but it can also gather into a gale capable of immense ruination.

These elements are neither simply benevolent nor destructive. They are dynamic, powerful, and enduring. They shape the land over geological time while also transforming it in an instant.

Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water are among the fundamental forces that have shaped — and continue to shape — the natural world around us.

Submit your best photographic work that supports this broad topic!

AZPA Board members may not submit to the Theme Gallery Exhibitions. 

RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

Our independent juror, Richard Laugharn, will choose one first-place winner to receive a cash award of $100, plus two more honorable mention recipients that will be featured on our website and social media platforms.

AZPA Board members may not submit to the Theme Gallery Exhibitions. 

ABOUT THE JUROR

Juror: Richard Laugharn

Juror Bio:

Richard Laugharn is an artist with an interest in the natural and cultural histories of the Sonoran Desert Borderlands. He holds an MFA in photography from Arizona State University. Richard’s work is held in numerous public collections including the Nelson Atkins Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. In addition to his photographic work, Richard is an author and the lead artist for A Deeper Map, a public art project that takes the form of a map-based mobile app. He was a coauthor of Among Unknown Tribes, Rediscovering the Photographs of Explorer Carl Lumholtz, published by the University of Texas Press. His photographic work has been shown at Etherton Gallery and Lisa Sette Gallery as well as the Tucson Museum of Art and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Please read this prospectus and requirements carefully, once entered there are no refunds.

• Submit up to three images Images no larger than 2MB in size
• File size: 1,500 pixels on the long side
• Medium: All Photographic — analog, digital, or alternative processes are welcome.
• AI photography is NOT accepted.
• All entrants can offer their chosen image for sale. Any sales must be handled directly by the member, NOT through
• Arizona Photography Alliance.
• All entrants will be represented in the virtual gallery (the juror will select one image from each submission).

Key Dates

Call Opens: November 1, 2026
Call Closes: November 15, 2026
Jurying Dates: November 17 – 23, 2026
Notifications: November 30, 2026
Exhibition Opens Online: December 1, 2026

The call is open to members and non-members. To receive a discounted rate, become a member today.

Patron and Benefactor members, enter your coupon code at checkout. Proceed as paying, enter code at the end of the process.