Still, Life

The Photobook Cafe is a London photography venue with a café, exhibition space, and bookstore focused on photobooks. Rapid Eye Darkrooms is a London photographic printing service. Together they run a quarterly themed open call; Still, Life follows LOVE and Womanhood in the series.

The brief is everyday photography — the moments that sit in the tension between motion and pause, living and lingering, presence and aftermath. Any photographic method is accepted: analog, digital, or alternative process, with images from anywhere in the world.

The guest judge is Elliott Gunn, known for candid, cinematic photographs built on fleeting gestures, shadow and light, and the quiet tension of public spaces.

Selection structure has two tiers. Thirty-five selected photographers are featured in a group exhibition and printed zine at The Photobook Cafe, each receiving a complimentary zine copy and their physical exhibition print to take home. From the 35, three Best in Show winners receive a complimentary group exhibition at the end of the year with curatorial direction from Elliott Gunn.

Submission is through Photobook Cafe's website at £25 per entry of 10 images; multiple entries are allowed. Open to emerging, established, and amateur photographers of any age, background, and identity. The deadline is July 20, 2026 at midnight, with the exhibition opening July 30.