Application Deadline: May 31, 2025
In 1933 the Hungarian-French photographer Gyula Halász, better known by his pseudonym Brassaï, published “Paris de Nuit”, a collection of images exploring nocturnal Paris in the early 1930s. These images were made during Brassaï’s lengthy nighttime wanderings through the streets, cafés and hidden corners of Paris, revealing a mysterious, sometimes seedy city not meant for tourists: prostitutes, lovers in shadowy corners, empty rain-slicked streets, night workers. Brassaï’s revolutionary work elevated night photography to an art form and continues to influence artists to this day.
Conjuring Brassaï’s spirit, we put forth this call to all photographers whose souls resonate with the night. Brassaï once prowled the rain-slicked cobblestones of Paris capturing moments never meant for daylight. Nearly 100 years later, we turn our gaze to New Orleans, where beneath the veneer of revelry and tourism beats a heart equally profound and enigmatic.
We call to those who feel night photography is not merely documentation, but alchemy – a transformation of the ordinary into the ethereal through the interplay of darkness and light. The true New Orleans night reveals itself only to the patient and courageous, those who stray beyond the safety and comfort of the daylight. Wander where tourists fear to tread. Linger where instinct tells you something unseen pulses. Capture New Orleans’ nocturnal soul not as an outsider looking in, but as an ingrained accomplice in its mystery.
This call is open to all photographers, however, the images must be taken in New Orleans.
This call accepts images that are digitally manipulated, however, AI generated photos are not permitted for submission.
Jurors
David Joshua Jennings is an award-winning documentary photographer who has spent much of his adult life on the road, traveling through more than 70 countries. For the past ten years he has been based out of New Orleans, where he works primarily in the documentary tradition.
Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes
Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes is a New Orleans musician, former park ranger with the NPS, actor, photographer, author, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American, and former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs).
Barnes’ many careers have taken him far and wide – has traveled to over 53 countries playing his own style of what he calls Afro-Louisiana music, incorporating blues, zydeco, gospel, Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies. He is a multi-instrumentalist, and along with his musical group, Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, he has performed at festivals and concerts across the US and around the globe. Sunpie has recorded 7 critically acclaimed CDs with his compositions currently featured in 16 Hollywood film productions.
Barnes is deeply involved in New Orleans’ parade culture and co-authored the 2015 critically acclaimed book “Talk That Music Talk” – Passing On Brass Band Music In New Orleans The Traditional Way, which features over 300 of Sunpie’s photographs. Le Kèr Creole is his latest book, which also has a 15 song disc of music composed in Louisiana Creole. Exhibitions featuring Barnes’ photography include “Called to Spirit: Women and Healing Arts in New Orleans” at the Ogden Museum; Bywater Biennial I & II, at the New Orleans Art Center; “An Everyday Tradition”, a permanent exhibit of Bruce Sunpie Barnes’ black and white photography at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park’s Visitor’s Center; and Seeing Black: Black Photography in New Orleans 1840 & Beyond, at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans.
Bruce has also served as Ethnographic Photographer, Photography Editor and Professor of Practice with the Neighborhood Story Project at the University of New Orleans, where he helped develop a body of fine art photography with in-depth ethnographies of culture throughout South Louisiana. Barnes has also contributed and helped curate multiple exhibitions at the New Orleans African American Museum and the Ashé Museum.
He is the Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, one of the oldest existing Black Carnival groups in New Orleans, as well as a member of the Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club, and President of the New Orleans Photo Alliance Board.
Application Requirements
Submission Fee (for Members) : $25
Submission Fee (for Non-Members) : $35
Submission Fee + Basic NOPA Membership: $60
Submission Fee + Silver NOPA Membership (Includes online portfolio listing): $85
https://neworleansphotoalliance.org/membership/
Maximum pieces per entry is 5. Files must be in JPEG or JPG, under 5MB with a minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side so that photographs are large enough to be viewed properly by the juror and used in promotion if selected.
New Orleans de Nuit will open on July 12, 2025 and remain on view through August 3, 2025 at the Second Story Gallery (2372 St Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117)
Application Deadline: May 31, 2025
Artists Notified of Acceptance: June 14, 2025
All work must be delivered to the New Orleans Photo Alliance framed and ready to hang no later than June 30, 2025.
Second Story Gallery is a public space. Neither the New Orleans Photo Alliance nor Second Story Gallery is responsible if artwork is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Eligibility Criteria
Submissions are open to all photographers; NOPA membership not required; all ages accepted.
Works submitted must be legal and the artist assumes responsibility for having the legal right to exhibit and sell the images. Fine arts nudes and implied nude works are acceptable. This exhibition will include work that has been digitally manipulated (PhotoShop). AI generated photos are not permitted for submission.
Photographers are responsible for all shipping fees.
Sales will be divided as follows, The Second Story Gallery receives 10%, The Photo Alliance Receives 15%, and the artist receives 75%of the retail price of works sold.
NOTES FOR SELECTED ARTISTS
All work must be delivered to the New Orleans Photo Alliance framed and ready to hang no later than June 30, 2025.
Shipping:
Return Label Required
**Please be sure to ship to this mailbox service. Packages are not guaranteed at our gallery address**
New Orleans Photo Alliance
3436 Magazine Street #134
New Orleans, LA 70115
Drop Off:
New Orleans Photo Alliance
7800 Oak St
New Orleans, LA 70118
Feature Image:
Trenity Thomas @504degrees