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Street Photo Social

Open Call 2026 Terms and Conditions

Street Photo Social is curating a street photography exhibition celebrating Edinburgh through the eyes of local photographers.

The exhibition will run from 27 February to 4 March 2026 at the Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh, curated by Olly Headey, Pete Wands and Andrea Thomson.

Key Dates

  • Submissions close: Friday 19 December 2025, 11:59pm
  • Exhibition dates: 27 February – 4 March 2026
  • Location: Whitespace, 76 East Crosscauseway, Edinburgh, EH8 9HQ

Who Can Enter?

This is a local exhibition, so we're looking for photographers who live in or around the Edinburgh area (e.g. within 30 miles or so) and shoot regularly in the city. The photos must have been taken in Edinburgh.

It's free to enter, and you can submit up to 3 photographs. If you're under 18, just make sure you have a parent or guardian's permission.

What We're Looking For

Street photography that captures your unique view of Edinburgh — its people, its streets, its character. The work should fit the general street photography narrative, candid shots or in-the-moment street portraits. Our definition of atreet photography is:

Street photography is candid photography of everyday life in public spaces, typically featuring people (though not always) and emphasizing spontaneous, unposed moments. The “street” is more metaphorical than literal; it can include parks, beaches, subways, markets, or any public setting.

Typical editing is fine but please don't submit heavily manipulated images. AI-generated images are not allowed.

How to Submit

Submit your photos via the form. Submit only JPEG files, at least 1600px on the longest size.

Winning entrants will be asked to send us high-resolution TIFF files for printing at A3 size, but please don’t submit these for consideration.

We ask for your name and email address as well as location. By submitting, you're confirming that the work is yours.

Selection

All submissions will be reviewed by our panel of photographers: Olly Headey, Pete Wands and Andrea Thomson. They'll be looking at artistic merit, technical quality, and how well the work fits the street photography theme as well as the Edinburgh focus.

Winners will have their work printed, framed, and displayed in the exhibition.

Honourable mentions – photos we really liked but couldn't fit in the final selection – will be featured in the exhibition catalogue.

What Winners Get

  • Your photograph printed and displayed at the exhibition in the Whitespace Gallery.
  • Your photo in the exhibition catalogue.
  • A free copy of the catalogue.
  • You keep the framed print after the exhibition or sell it. We expect the print to be around A3 size and the frame somewhere around 400mm x 500mm. Collection only.

What Honourable Mentions Get

  • Your photo in the exhibition catalogue
  • A free copy of the catalogue

Costs

Entering is free. If you're selected as a winner, you'll need pay to help cover the costs of printing, framing and the catalogue for the exhibition.

We expect this to be around £75, though it may vary a bit depending on final size and framing options (TBC). We'll send you all the details if you're selected.

You get to keep the framed print afterwards — it's yours.

Print Sales

Exhibitors can choose to offer the print for sale during the exhibition. You're under no obligation to sell anything — it's completely optional. You can sell directly yourself, or you can ask the organisers to handle this for you. In this case:

  • You set the price (we'll help you figure out what makes sense)
  • We take 40% of the sale price to help recoup exhibition costs

Your Rights

You keep full copyright of your work. We're not taking ownership of anything.

By entering you give Street Photo Social and the organisers permission to use your photos for promoting the exhibition (social media, press, the catalogue, that sort of thing). We'll always credit you. We won't sell your images or use them for anything beyond promoting the exhibition.

You're free to exhibit, sell, or do whatever you like with your work elsewhere.

The Catalogue

We're producing a zine-style catalogue featuring all the winners and honourable mentions. Winners and honourable mentions get a free copy; we'll also have copies for sale at the exhibition.

The Small Print

By entering, you're agreeing to these terms. We reserve the right to disqualify entries that don't fit the brief or aren't appropriate. If something beyond our control means we have to cancel or change things, we'll let you know as soon as we can. We'll only use your personal details for running the open call and exhibition, and we'll handle everything in line with data protection rules.

Questions?

Drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.