Photographed by Neal Oshima. Courtesy of FotomotoPH
For its fourth edition, the FotomotoPH open call invites aspiring photographers to look back on history and memory.
Two hundred years ago, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured the world’s first permanent image, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras.” And 185 years ago, the medium arrived on Philippine shores, with pioneer Félix Laureano becoming the first Filipino photographer. Since then, contemporary photographers made their mark: George Tapan, Eduardo Masferré, Hannah Reyes Morales, and Ezra Acayan, to name a few.
In celebration of photography’s history in the Philippines and around the world, FotomotoPH’s 2026 Open Call invites photographers to look back. With the theme “Seen Before: Seen Again: Philippine Photography Across Time,” the fourth edition challenges creatives to engage with the past by responding to archival images, referencing them to create new works.
During a conversation with co-founder Neal Oshima, Sandra Palomar conceived the idea. “I remembered I said, I’m tired of seeing images on the screen, even printing on paper. We’ve been doing that for years. What if we start seeing everything else that’s related to photography?” Palomar shares during the open call’s media launch.
She continues, “Photography, in a way, is a form of documentation. But how do we make our participants get into that mode where photography is not just about the click of a shutter, but it’s about starting off from the original, wherever that idea came from? And lastly, where that original has brought you to today.”
“Photography has always asked something of us, not to look, but to look again, more carefully, more honestly, and more of ourselves that is present in the act,” says Veejay Villafranca, co-founder. “So, ‘Seen Before, Seen Again: Philippine Photography Across Time’ is an invitation to do exactly that. To sit with an old image, find your way back in a place or moment, and make something new from that encounter.”
From March 23 to July 7, photographers can submit with either of two formats: a single image that responds to the archival or a series of archival and contemporary images that form a coherent dialogue. The open call is open to all photographers based in the Philippines and the diaspora, welcome to all professionals, hobbyists, students, and first-time photographers who are 18 years old and older.
Joining Palomar in the jury are FotomotoPH co-founders Oshima and Gio Panlilio, along with curator, writer, and artist Angela Glashow Shaw, Matca managing editor and program coordinator Ha Dao, Parallax Photo Journal photographer Tom White, and Daegu Photo Biennale creative director Jeauk Kang.
For information, visit FotomotoPH’s official website.
