Rotterdam Photo x Amarte
Dutch Talent Project Grants – The Netherlands
Deadline: October 4, 2026
Submission: Free of charge
Rotterdam Photo is pleased to collaborate again with Amarte fonds to present the Dutch Talent Project Grant. This initiative gives emerging photographers the opportunity to create new work exploring the festival’s theme: Vibrance – The Pulse of a Living World. Selected artists will receive financial support, artistic mentorship, and a platform to showcase their projects during Rotterdam Photo 2027.
Part of the Rotterdam Photo 2027 Open Call programme. Photographers may apply to multiple categories. Each submission is reviewed separately by the selection committee.
Submit your application
Submission: Free of charge
Rotterdam Photo is pleased to collaborate again with Amarte fonds to present the Dutch Talent Project Grant. This initiative gives emerging photographers the opportunity to create new work exploring the festival’s theme: Vibrance – The Pulse of a Living World. Selected artists will receive financial support, artistic mentorship, and a platform to showcase their projects during Rotterdam Photo 2027.
Part of the Rotterdam Photo 2027 Open Call programme. Photographers may apply to multiple categories. Each submission is reviewed separately by the selection committee.
Submit your application
Theme 2027: VIBRANCE – The Pulse of a Living World
Vibrance is an exploration of energy in its many forms – from the intimate to the collective, from physical presence to digital intensity.
In a time where narratives are often shaped by crisis and fragmentation, this theme turns toward what continues to move, connect, and generate meaning. Vibrance is not only movement, but tension, rhythm, resistance, and transformation. It exists in bodies coming together, in cities in flux, in cultural expression, and in the invisible forces that shape everyday life.
We invite photographers to interpret Vibrance freely – as a social condition, emotional state, visual rhythm, or conceptual framework.
What selected photographers receive
Five selected artists receive a €3,000 production grant to develop their project into a work-in-progress exhibition at Rotterdam Photo 2027, with a dedicated exhibition space, curatorial guidance and international visibility through Rotterdam Photo and its partners.
Selected artists receive:
Five artists will be selected to develop their project for a work-in-progress exhibition, presented during Rotterdam Photo 2027. The exhibition will be curated in collaboration with a guest curator and will be on view during Rotterdam Art Week, from 17-21 March 2027.
The selected photographers can expect the following:
– A grant of €3.000 to develop their project.
– Coaching and artistic guidance.
– Participation in Rotterdam Photo Talks and networking events.
– Video profiles documenting the artists and their process, shared via YouTube and social media.
– Publication and inclusion in the official festival programme.
– Long-term representation and promotion by Rotterdam Photo, consisting of continued visibility across our website, social media channels, and future festival – communications beyond the 2027 edition.
The selected photographers can expect the following:
– A grant of €3.000 to develop their project.
– Coaching and artistic guidance.
– Participation in Rotterdam Photo Talks and networking events.
– Video profiles documenting the artists and their process, shared via YouTube and social media.
– Publication and inclusion in the official festival programme.
– Long-term representation and promotion by Rotterdam Photo, consisting of continued visibility across our website, social media channels, and future festival – communications beyond the 2027 edition.
Who can apply
This open call category is open to applicants who are based in the Netherlands, currently studying there, or have completed their education in the Netherlands. Eligible applicants are:
– Third- and fourth-year photography students at an art academy.
– Recent alumni (since 2022) of photography or related visual arts programmes.
– Self-taught photographers with a maximum of five years of professional experience.
Please note: Projects developed during studies are eligible, provided they are further expanded or deepened outside the academic context.
– Third- and fourth-year photography students at an art academy.
– Recent alumni (since 2022) of photography or related visual arts programmes.
– Self-taught photographers with a maximum of five years of professional experience.
Please note: Projects developed during studies are eligible, provided they are further expanded or deepened outside the academic context.
Selection
A selection committee consisting of professional experts selected by both Amarte and Rotterdam Photo will review the submissions and select five artists. The selection will be based on artistic quality and the relevance or urgency of the project proposals.
The jury will assess on the following criteria:
– Artistic quality: whether the work is visually compelling, well executed, and innovative.
– Conceptual clarity: the effectiveness of visual communication in conveying conceptual ideas.
– Resonance: the extent to which the work connects to broader personal themes or urgent societal issues.
– Thematic relevance: the strength with which the work reflects Vibrance – The Pulse of a Living World.
Meet the Selection Committee
The jury will assess on the following criteria:
– Artistic quality: whether the work is visually compelling, well executed, and innovative.
– Conceptual clarity: the effectiveness of visual communication in conveying conceptual ideas.
– Resonance: the extent to which the work connects to broader personal themes or urgent societal issues.
– Thematic relevance: the strength with which the work reflects Vibrance – The Pulse of a Living World.
Meet the Selection Committee
