Open Call: ghost in the loop

About the Open Call

This free open call marks the beginning of a new collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery and Goethe-Institut London. Together, we seek to explore the cultural, societal, emotional, and aesthetic implications of creating art for — and with — machines. The resulting research and artworks will be presented on _Unthinking Photography_, our platform exploring photography's automated, networked life. Through this open call and future discussions, workshops and opportunities, we hope to make visible and interrogate where this next generation of photography is situated, what form it takes and how its symbolism, data and networks reconfigure the visible worlds being built around us. The opportunity is open to artists and collectives engaged in photography and visual practices. Each selected proposal will receive a fee of €1,500. We are particularly interested in proposals that consider: How cultural practices shift within computational environments, How feedback loops shape artistic production, The implications of making work for machine viewers. Proposals may address (but are not limited to) themes such as: Human-in-the-loop, Ghost in the machine, Machinic audiences: artworks created for systems or non-human agents (e.g. social media bots, automation, digital twins, AI companions), Emotion detection and affective computing, Anthropomorphic intelligence, Synthetic cultures, Training, reinforcement, or continuous learning systems, Intersections between creativity and AI-driven infrastructures, computation pipelines between creativity and other uses of AI, Prompt engines, Geographical restrictions of knowledge and censored response, Emerging aesthetics shaped by AI, AI psychosis and machine hallucination, Collective intelligence and distributed cognition, Computation and data colonialism. The Photographers’ Gallery explores how photography is connecting, captivating and radically changing our world today. Since 2012, TPG's extensive work around digital and new technologies has been pioneering in thinking through photography's relationship to computational culture. The Gallery’s programmes have supported artists commissions, exhibition, academic research and public events through the Gallery and the online platform Unthinking Photography that explores photography's increasingly automated, networked life. The Goethe-Institut London places a strong emphasis on exploring the intersection of art, technology, ecology and society. Through exhibitions, residencies, commissions, workshops, discursive programmes, publications, and interdisciplinary collaborations, it supports cultural practitioners and institutions engaging with digital culture, experimental media, and critical perspectives on technological change. Recent areas of focus include artistic and theoretical explorations of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), blockchain, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies — particularly in relation to their potential impact on civil society. The programmes foster dialogue between German and UK-based practitioners and aims to create space for forward-thinking, socially engaged artistic practices. The Photographers’ Gallery and Goethe-Institut London are initiating a new R&D collaboration to investigate the cultural, societal, emotional and aesthetic implications of producing art for machines. In developing this programme, we are interested in the radical shifts in image and content generation where the idea of the end user has changed, and work is no longer made specifically for human audiences. For example, in computer science labs and tech companies, digital creators are employed to design and produce cultural content (such as images, video games and music) specifically for AI systems to interact with and be tested on. This could be seen as an ‘inversion’ of cultural production – rather than creating work for human audiences, humans produce work for the stimulation and testing of machine learning. The work in producing these works are rarely exhibited or seen outside of labs, or not recognised as a creative practice or output. The micro-commissions will be selected by members of The Photographers’ Gallery, Goethe-Institut London and an external selector. This includes Sam Mercer (Curator, Photography and Technologies, The Photographers’ Gallery London), Mario Schruff (Visual Arts Programme Manager, Goethe-Institut London). The two micro-commissions will be selected by 1 December 2025. A schedule will be drawn up with the artist(s) with the work expected to be completed in December 2025 and January 2026. We are not conducting interviews, however if any questions arise during the shortlisting process about your proposal, we may be in touch. The grants will be offered to artists upon signing the contract, and the selected micro-commissions will be presented on Unthinking Photography in early 2026. Forming part of this R&D project, micro-commissions are intended to support the production of small-scale, experimental works that are suitable for online presentation. Applicants are encouraged to propose work that is feasible within these financial parameters. The micro-commissions will be displayed on the platform Unthinking Photography, run by The Photographers’ Gallery as a resource that explores photography's increasingly automated, networked life. The selected artists will be expected to provide a schedule of work with timelines, information and images for communications in a timely manner, as per the contract, as well as taking part in a public presentation/event and video interview.

What is Offered

Each selected proposal will receive a fee of €1,500.

Requirements

The open call is open to all practitioners over the age of 18 based in the UK and Germany. There is no need to have studied at an educational institution in the UK or elsewhere. TPG encourages applications from all individuals and groups who meet the criteria and whose work shows outstanding talent, originality and innovation. The Photographers’ Gallery is committed to equal opportunities and we encourage applications from all persons without discrimination. Open to artists and collectives engaged in photographic and visual practices, such as photography, moving image, digital and computational arts. Applicants are allowed to use human-machine collaborative projects of their own creation. Adaptations of pre-existing works are accepted. One submission by each person or group will be accepted.

How to Apply

Applications are now open and accepted through the Submittable platform. If you have any accessibility requirements and would like to send an application in any other format, please contact us at digital.programme@tpg.org.uk. Each submission should include: 1. Your name and contact details, 2. A project proposal, addressing how your proposal links to the open call and likely outcomes, including technical requirements and how will you make this or what support will you need (around 400 words), 3. Examples of previous work and/or a link/attachment to a portfolio. The selection process will be undertaken in English. Artists, groups and collectives are able to submit. Applicants are also allowed to use human-machine collaborative projects of their own creation. Adaptations of pre-existing works are accepted. One submission by each person or group will be accepted. All submissions are free.