War/Conflict Photography
in partnership with
We accept photo projects from around the world that cover local or global conflicts and wars, including projects that focus on historical or socio‑political subjects.
category 1.
Documentary coverage
of war/conflict
Documentary projects are accepted for consideration in this category. The use of AI, photomontages, collages, and visual manipulations that alter the image is not allowed.
category 2.
Conceptual approach
in covering war/conflict
Photographic projects that explore war and conflict through conceptual or artistic approaches are accepted. Visual experiments, photo-montage, collages, and the use of vernacular photography are accepted. Use of AI is prohibited.
intro
Impact Photo Kyiv is a forum on the changing landscape of photographic media affected by local and global conflicts. It will take place in Kyiv from October 15–18, 2026. The forum is organized by the Ukrainian House of Photography with the support of the French Institute in Ukraine and the Embassy of France in Kyiv.
The role of the image is transforming — from a “moment” to a component of a multidimensional database. The number of conflicts worldwide is growing, and protracted wars increasingly disappear from the media field, raising a series of questions: how can a long‑running conflict be visualized without becoming part of the media noise? How can we address inequalities and the violence of war while overcoming algorithmic censorship and avoiding direct graphic depiction?
This Open Call is addressed to authors working both in traditional photojournalism and at the intersection of documentary practice, conceptual art, and emerging technologies. We accept photo projects from around the world that cover local or global conflicts and wars, including projects that focus on historical or socio‑political subjects.
War/Conflict Photography in the Time of the Global Changes
IMPACT KYIV photography forum
October 15 - 18, 2026
participation
Projects are accepted from authors aged 18+ from all countries, except Russia.
Each winner will receive a fee of €300 and an exhibition during IMPACT Kyiv War/Conflict Photography Forum. All exhibition production costs will be covered. The exhibition will run from October 15 to November 7, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
jury
Guillaume Herbaut
Guillaume Herbaut is a French documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Paris, member of Agence VU’ since 2021. His work focuses on “places of memory” and the invisible traces of history, with projects spanning Chornobyl, Auschwitz, Nagasaki, and the war in Ukraine. A three-time World Press Photo laureate and recipient of the Niépce Prize and the Bayeux-Calvados Award for war correspondents, he is the author of Ukraine, Terre désirée (Éditions Textuel, 2022).
Hilary
Roberts
Hilary Roberts, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK) is a British curator specialising in the history and practice of conflict photography. A leading authority on twentieth-century photojournalism, she shaped the photographic collections of the Imperial War Museum over four decades, serving as Head Curator of its Photograph Archive and later as senior researcher. Her exhibitions include landmark presentations of Don McCullin, Lee Miller, Cecil Beaton and she is the author of The Camera at War: 170 Years of Weaponising Photography (Ilex Press, 2025).
Valenzuela Escobedo
Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo is a Chilean-French artist, researcher, and curator working at the intersection of artistic research, critical thought, and exhibition-making, with a focus on photography. Associate curator of Bienal’25 Fotografia do Porto and the Biennale de Guyane 2027, he is known for projects such as Lightseekers, Mapuche at the Musée de l’Homme, and Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation, winner of the Paris Photo–Aperture Book Award. He is the artistic director of doubledummy and a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
Kateryna
Radchenko
Kateryna Radchenko is a Ukrainian curator, photography researcher, and artist based in Kyiv. She is a key figure in the Eastern European photography scene, known for her work at the intersection of history, politics, and visual culture. Currently curator of the Ukrainian House of Photography in Kyiv, she is also founder and director of the international festival Odesa Photo Days and a 2025 Fellow of Magnum Foundation’s Counter Histories Program.
Cynthia
Young
Cynthia Young is an American curator and Director of the Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive at the International Center of Photography in New York. She has curated major exhibitions on the Spanish Civil War work of Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and Chim, as well as projects devoted to Cornell Capa, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Weegee, and climate change.
To participate, please fill out the form
The questionnaire must be completed in English
Project requirements:
Each author may submit one project for consideration.
Projects must consist of 15–20 photographs forming a coherent story or series.
Projects must have been created after 2022.
Technical specifications:
Format: PDF presenting the complete project. Color profile: sRGB or Adobe RGB.
Single, unlocked PDF (no password protection) under 10 MB with no more than 10 pages and no less than 15 images in the series.
Present your images flattened and embedded in the PDF at 150–300 DPI.
Color profile: sRGB or Adobe RGB.
Each file must be named:
FirstName_LastName_ProjectTitle_YearCreated
Schedule:
Deadline: May 30, 2026 23:00 CET.
Results announced after June 20, 2026.
Preparation of the architectural plan: July–August 2026.
Exhibition production: August–September 2026.
Public opening of the exhibition: October 15, 2026.
