PORTAL-at the edge of becoming

A portal is not simply an opening. It is a condition.
We are interested in photographs that hold a viewer at the edge of something—where a shift is imminent but not yet complete. This may appear as a physical passage, but it does not have to. What matters is not the presence of a doorway, but the presence of tension.
The strongest images will resist resolution. They will not describe transition-they will embody it.
This might take the form of:
– a figure caught between visibility and disappearance
– a space that suggests entry but withholds access
– a moment suspended before or after an event
– an image that feels structurally unstable or psychologically unsettled​
Literal interpretations (doors, windows, tunnels) are welcome only when the photograph itself carries this tension. A door is not a portal unless something is at stake.
We are not looking for symbols. We are looking for photographs that operate as thresholds.
Juror​: Douglas Stockdale is a visual artist, editor, and educator focused on the photobook as a central form of contemporary photographic practice. He is the founder and publisher of PhotoBook Journal, a respected platform for critical photobook reviews, and writes the long-running blog Singular Images.​ His work is held in the collections of Museo d’Art Contemporanea di Roma, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and Reminders Photography Stronghold.