In 2026/27, photography will celebrate its 200th anniversary. In 1826, the Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce succeeded in producing the world’s first permanent photographic image. Since then, photography has, more than any other medium, become the defining visual medium of the present day. At the same time, it was slow to gain recognition as an artistic medium and remains – even today – subject to market fluctuations to a greater extent than almost any other visual art form.

The EMOP GALLERY CONCEPT AWARD 2026/27, a one-off prize offered by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises and organised as part of EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography, aims to honour the work of those galleries that consistently focus on the medium of photography within their exhibition programmes and that repeatedly place the work of artistic photographers at the centre of attention through compelling exhibition concepts – thereby making a decisive contribution to the critical and reflective mediation of photography within society.

The EMOP GALLERY CONCEPT AWARD is organised by EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography. The biennial photography festival derives much of its significance from its location in Berlin: a city where the history, present and future of photography intertwine in a unique way. Documentary, artistic, journalistic, commercial and institutional practices coexist here, interact with one another and continue to shape the history of the medium. In this context, the EMOP Berlin photography festival continually creates spaces for exchange, professional development and networking, whilst also promoting Berlin’s significance as a centre of cultural production and economic activity – by combining artistic visibility with structural consolidation, international networking and economic momentum, thereby making photography an important component of Berlin’s cultural and economic appeal.

• All galleries based in Berlin that have been operating professionally for at least three years are eligible to participate. The year of business registration is decisive. The gallery’s programme must focus on the primary market for contemporary art.
• The gallery must be actively engaged with contemporary artists and its programme must include artists who work in photography.
• The gallery meets the requirements of a professional gallery operation, i.e. it has exhibition spaces in Berlin specifically suited to the presentation of visual art, which are accessible to visitors free of charge on at least three days a week; it organises at least four exhibitions per year; it publishes catalogues, invitation cards or other publicity measures to raise the profile of the artists permanently represented in the gallery’s programme; and it places these artists’ works in private and public collections and/or in museums of contemporary art both in Germany and abroad.
• The gallery will launch its exhibition programme at the start of the festival month during the opening weekend from 4 to 7 March 2027.

• The proposed exhibition involves one or more artists who are regularly featured in the gallery’s programme, or presents a new artist being introduced to the gallery’s programme.
• The proposed exhibition is clearly linked to the gallery’s programmatic profile.
• The artistic and curatorial decisions are convincingly justified and demonstrate an ongoing engagement with contemporary artistic photography.
• The exhibition proposal demonstrates an appropriate approach to serial, installation-based, documentary or experimental forms of photography.
• The exhibition proposal may draw on traditional or conventional forms of presentation, but where appropriate also demonstrates links to other media – such as film, installation, performance etc. – as well as a critical and reflective engagement with newer imaging technologies and modes of circulation.

An exhibition concept or project description, taking into account the criteria set out above, must be submitted by the deadline of August 28, 2026 (23:59). For digital submissions only, EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography provides a Typeform form on its website. The form requests, amongst other things:

• a concept text for the planned exhibition project (maximum 4000 characters including spaces)
• a list of participating artists and their biographical details
• illustrative material
• where applicable, the name and profile of a curator
• a list of the names of the artists permanently featured in the programme, with those working in photography clearly identified
• the opening date and duration of the planned exhibition project
• a copy of the extract from the commercial register or business registration, showing the year the gallery was founded

The jury consists of

• Nela Eggenberger, Founding Editor of P.IN.E.A – Photography, Intermedia, Et Al., Vienna
• Florian Ebner, Head of the Photography Collection at the Musée national d’art moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Maren Lübbke-Tidow, Artistic Director of EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography, Berlin

From the submissions, the jury will select ten galleries whose concepts meet the criteria and are deemed particularly worthy of an award.

The EMOP GALLERY CONCEPT AWARD 2026/27 will be presented during a networking event held as part of Paris Photo fair in November 2026. The ten exhibition concepts will then be realised at the upcoming EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography in March 2027.

The galleries will be informed of the selection of their exhibition proposals following the jury meeting at the end of September.

The presentation of the EMOP GALLERY CONCEPT AWARD 2026/27 will take place as part of a networking event organised by EMOP Berlin at the Paris Photo fair in Paris between November 12 and 15, 2026. The top three winning gallery owners, along with the jury, will be invited to Paris for this networking event and the accompanying awards ceremony.

The winning exhibition concepts will open during the opening weekend of EMOP Berlin – European Month of Photography (March 4–7, 2027).