2020 Aperture Summer Open

About the 2020 Aperture Summer Open: 

How can photographs provide information at a moment when ideas about truth and power have been disrupted? The curators of the 2020 Aperture Summer Open, Information, seek new bodies of work by photographers and lens-based artists who seek to portray experiences of globalization, technology, and politics, and the dynamic changes to personal and social identity charted by mass media today. Inspired by the Museum of Modern Art's 1970 exhibition Information, in which artists directly engaged with pressing global issues, this year's Summer Open seeks exciting works that broadcast new ways of viewing our present---and our future. As Kynaston McShine, curator of the original Information, famously asked, "What can you as a young artist do that seems relevant and meaningful?"

The Aperture Summer Open is an annual open-submission exhibition presented by Fotografiska New York, featuring a wide variety of work by photographers and lens-based artists from around the world. Selected by a jury of leading editors, curators, and writers, the exhibition seeks to reveal and report on key themes and trends driving contemporary photography. The exhibition opens the doors to photographers of all ages, at all points in their careers, as we seek to promote new ideas and talent.

The 2020 Aperture Summer Open is curated by Brendan Embser, managing editor of Aperture magazine, with Farah Al Qasimi, artist; Amanda Hajjar, director of exhibitions at Fotografiska; Kristen Lubben, executive director of the Magnum Foundation; and Paul Moakley, editor at large for special projects at TIME.

This year, Aperture is excited to announce that the Aperture Summer Open will be exhibited at Fotografiska New York.

What Winners Will Receive: 

Winners of the Summer Open will be exhibited in a group show at Fotografiska New York, opening August 4, 2020*. Winners will also be exposed to Aperture's global online audience, profiled on aperture.org, and featured across Aperture's social media channels.

*Due to the current situation with COVID-19, the Aperture Summer Open exhibition may be moved to the Fall. At this time, both Aperture and Fotografiska New York are closely monitoring the situation. We thank everyone for understanding.

Entry Fee: 

$30