Watershed: A Themed Exhibition
Texas Photographic Society is pleased to announce Watershed, a themed juried exhibition exploring a themed juried exhibition exploring water as subject, symbol, tool, and essential aspect of life. Water is never a neutral subject (especially in Texas). Water sustains life, but also holds destructive power. It is also an essential part of the photographic process. From rivers and reservoirs to city pools, desert springs, summer storms, and later summer droughts, the presense (or absence) of water has served as inspiration for photographers since the invention of the camera.
Photographers working in all styles, processes, and approaches are encouraged to apply.
Watershed will be exhibited at the Pool Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas, from July 3rd, 2026 and will continue through July 25th, 2026. An closing reception with the juror will be on July 25th, 2026, time TBA.
This exhibition will be juried by Luther Smith, photographic artist and Emeritus Professor of Art Photography at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Entries due 6/1/26.
IMPORTANT DATES
April 24th, 2026 - Call for Entries opens
June 1st, 2026 - Deadline for Entry (11:59 p.m. Central Time)
June 3rd, 2026 - Selections Announced
June 28th, 2026 – Selections must be received
July 3rd, 2026 - Exhibition Opening
July 25th,2026- Exhibition Closes, Closing Reception
AWARDS
First Place = $400
Second Place = $250
Third Place = $150
Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded
ENTRY FEE and TPS MEMBERSHIP
All entries are processed through the CaFE submission site. The entry fee for current TPS Members is $30 for 5 images, plus $5 for each additional image. The Non-Member entry fee is $40 for 5 images, plus $5 for each additional image. You do not have to be a member of TPS to enter. However, if you enter the competition and join TPS or renew as a member at the same time, you can pay the reduced current TPS Member entry fee of $35.
You may enter up to 12 images.
TPS Member Benefits include member feature opportunities via our Members' Gallery, Member Spotlight, Blog, Members' News, Members' Instagram Takeover, social media accounts and E-Zine, discounted entry fees to most TPS competitions, and discounts to programs and services offered through our partnerships.
If you are not sure of your TPS member status, please contact TPS at cpireland@gmail.com. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable.
ELIGIBILITY
Watershed is open to artists internationally, of all levels, who are at least 18 years old at time of entry. Works exhibited previously in a TPS show are not eligible. Current members of the TPS Board of Directors are permitted to enter but are not eligible for awards.
ABOUT THE JUROR - Luther Smith, photographic artist and Emeritus Professor of Art Photography at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX
Luther Smith is a photographer working out of Fort Worth Texas. He was born in a farmhouse in rural Tishomingo County, Mississippi and lived there for ten years. As a child in Mississippi he chopped and picked cotton, learned to fish and hunt. In 1960 at the age of ten his family moved to Aurora, Illinois where he grew up. He attended college at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and graduate school at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. His first photographs were of people he encountered, friends and family. During college he made photographs of night life using infrared film. Later after returning to the University of Illinois to teach he photographed at the high schools in Urbana and Champaign, Illinois. After moving to Texas in 1983 he began a series on High School Rodeo. The rodeo photographs led to a series of landscape photographs using an 8" X 10" view camera and a 7" x 17" view camera. The Trinity River photographs and Photographs of the American South came from this series. He also works with a 6 cm by 17 cm panoramic camera, a 6 cm by 7 cm camera and a 4" X 5" camera, as well as digital. His current work uses digital cameras and software to create images. He is an Emeritus Professor of Art Photography at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
Luther Smith’s photography has found a home in esteemed public collections, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Library of Congress, and the Dallas Museum of Art. His work has graced the pages of renowned publications such as Photography 9, Photography 8, and Photography 7. Additionally, Smith has made significant contributions to periodicals like Fort Worth Magazine and American Artist Magazine. Noteworthy institutions housing his work include The Amon Carter Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the High Museum, Atlanta.
Watershed is made possible through funding from the support of our TPS Members
IMAGE REQUIREMENTS
Please submit digital JPG files only, minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side and 5 MB maximum. Please remove watermarks from images. For each image, you will need to provide the image title and the process (medium) used to make the image/print (Archival Digital Print, Silver Gelatin Print, Platinum/Palladium Print, Wet Plate Collodian, etc.) To clarify, you will submit a digital file of your image for the contest application; if your work is selected for the show you will print your image, frame it, and ship it to the exhibition venue.
Please note: TPS calls are conducted through CaFÉ. Applicants will need to create a free account with a portfolio of images, and then apply to each specific call with images from your portfolio. All images you intend to use for each application must be uploaded to your portfolio before you begin your application. Later additions to your application cannot be accommodated.
Need help resizing images? You can resize via a Mac or PC computer, or use a number of third-party applications, many of which offer free trials or solutions. Please go here for suggestions.
SALES
TPS encourages the sale of exhibited work and will collect no commission from all prints sold during the exhibition. Please indicate the sales price of your print, including frame/finishing. If your finished piece is not for sale, simply note NFS. If your work is accepted and you do not indicate a sales price, the artwork will be listed as NFS.
IF YOUR WORK IS ACCEPTED
PLEASE NOTE: Update for this exhibition, the framed (finished piece) must not exceed the size of 30" in the longest dimension.
1. Artwork must be ready-to-hang using wire stretched between D-rings on the back. The finished piece must not exceed 30" in the longest dimension (including the frame, due to space concerns). Sawtooth hangers are NOT permitted. Please use white mats and/or white or black frames that are gallery quality and complement your work (color mats are NOT desired). Plexiglass must be used with the frame, NO GLASS ALLOWED. Photographs printed on metal are allowed, but must be framed, with the photograph safely recessed from the front of the frame, and packed appropriately. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, address, telephone number, email address, image title, medium, dimensions and sales price or NFS. TPS reserves the right to exclude works from the exhibition that are not gallery-ready and professional in presentation.
2. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, image title, email address, medium, and sales price or NFS.
3. A prepaid return UPS or FedEX shipping label MUST be provided with your work for prints to be returned to you when the exhibition concludes. The only exception is if you plan on picking up the work at the closing reception. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt.
4. Please ship photographs in a sturdy, flat box (do not use moving boxes) with your last name clearly written on the box (not just on the shipper's label). Packing “peanuts" are NOT permitted. Artwork will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received. If shipping and packing materials are insufficient for safe return, the artist may be charged an extra fee for packing materials provided by TPS or the venue. If additional exhibition venues are added, artists will be notified with location, dates, and other pertinent details, and work will be return-shipped from the final venue.
5. Framed prints with a prepaid return shipping label must arrive at TPS in Fort Worth no later than June 28th, 2026.
6. TPS and the Pool Gallery will exercise all due care in handling your artwork. However, TPS is not liable for loss, theft, damage or replacement of artwork, nor is TPS liable for damage during shipping. The Pool Gallery does not insure artists' work. Please consider insuring your work.
TPS TERMS AND AGREEMENT
You retain all rights to your images. If your image is selected for the exhibition, you grant Texas Photographic Society (TPS) the right, in perpetuity, to use and display your image, image title and process, your name, city, state and country of residence for TPS publicity and promotion. Permissible use includes the display, reproduction and distribution of said information on the TPS website, in TPS exhibitions, presentations, program promotions, artist features, fundraising initiatives and publications, and on social media networks, without further contact from TPS. Please note that we may have to crop images to meet space/proportion requirements for promotional platforms.
TPS will not be held responsible for loss, theft, damage or replacement, whether caused by the negligence of its officers, members or others. TPS is not liable for damage during shipping. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable. Submission entry and payment signifies understanding and agreement to all of the above terms and conditions.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Ireland at cpireland@texasphoto.org.