With great pleasure, PhotoIreland opens for the 5th time the New Irish Works call to all photographers and artists critically engaged in image making, based in Ireland and those Irish artists developing their practice abroad, regardless of age and career stage.
New Irish Works is a unique artist support programme run since 2013 by PhotoIreland in three-year cycles, generating a growing set of professional development opportunities for participant lens-based practitioners.
Throughout the last decade, New Irish Works artists have been presented and showcased nationally across Dublin, Cork, and Limerick, and internationally from Paris, Amsterdam to Madrid, Ukraine, and beyond. The programme published and distributed a book featuring 25 artists in 2013, a collection of 20 solo publications in 2016, and a set of group and solo exhibitions between 2019-2024 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland during PhotoIreland Festival and at The Library Project.
The publications proved to be popular and have sold worldwide; they are now part of many private and public collections, including those of key cultural organisations such as the Hasselblad Foundation Library, the Martin Parr Foundation, and the Centre Culturel Irlandais.
In addition, the New Irish Works programme contributes to international pools of artists such as the Creative Europe FUTURES Photography Platform — of which PhotoIreland is the only Irish member — providing further opportunities to Irish and Ireland-based artists in the international context.
The year 2025 represents a substantial milestone for PhotoIreland’s development providing added opportunities and strengthening the ambition of the New Irish Works programme in the future.
For a balanced and transparent outcome, a jury is set in place to review the submissions and select a number of projects. The jury is strategically composed of national and international experts from a diversity of Art fields and with a variety of specialisations.
TIMELINE
The planned set of events is adaptable to future challenges but is described as:
- 3rd February Call Opens
- 3rd March Submissions deadline
- 4th March-7 April Jury period
- 20th April Communication with artists
- 28th April New Irish Works artists announced
CORE PROGRAMME
During the years 2025 to 2027, PhotoIreland provides a structured programme to contribute to the professional development of the participating artists. Amongst other supports, participants will enjoy:
- Support from our Production and Curatorial staff
- A feature in OVER Journal
- A group exhibitions
- Private workshops with guest professionals
ARTISTS FEES, CONTRACTS, ENGAGEMENT
New Irish Works is not a competition, it does not offer cash prizes nor entices you with exposure and there is no fee for participation. On the contrary, New Irish Works treats the artist as a professional worker, paying them for their labour while providing professional development and guidance.
PhotoIreland treats all individuals it engages with as professionals, as described in PhotoIreland’s publicly available Payments Policy, discussing openly and with clarity, and before any commitments are agreed, the extent of the engagement sought and the conditions involved, from production and marketing budgets to other issues that may arise such as ownership of work and copyrights. In this way, we always offer artists a very clear and concise contract that states the work expected, conditions, fees, and timeline.
CONSIDERATIONS
It is worth noting that:
- New Irish Works artists are automatically considered for the annual nomination of Irish artists for FUTURES Photography Platform.
- The outcome and documentation of the project, including images of your work, will be archived in the long-term at newirishworks.com
- PhotoIreland contributes with all its physical and digital materials to The National Irish Visual Arts Library who archives, stores, and makes these available for future research.
- The duration of this 3-years period allows us to explore and generate further opportunities adapting to the artists’ needs, beyond what is planned.
- As our organisation grows and our networks expands, new opportunities for development may materialise.
We consider our engagement with the selected artists to be a mid to long-term working relationship, not a one-off event, and the consideration of this project as such will be even more beneficial for the artists involved.
The image used to promote New Irish Works 2025 shows from Irish artist George Voronov speaking to a crowd about his work during PhotoIreland Festival 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland.
JURY
The jury for the New Irish Works 2025 will be announced soon.
HOW TO APPLY
Submissions are free and open to practitioners at any stage of their career, specifically to all Irish artists, whether living in Ireland or abroad, and to all artists based on the island of Ireland.
You can submit your work by emailing pif.submissions@gmail.com, with the following, clearly stating ‘New Irish Works’ in the subject headline:
- A completed New Irish Works 2025 Submission Form
- Images or other relevant materials of the proposed project must be sent via WeTransfer, Dropbox, or similar. Images must adhere to the image requirements outlined in the form. They will not be processed otherwise and your application will be returned.
You will receive a confirmation email once your submission has been checked and processed. If you have not received one within 2 working days, please get in touch.
TERMS
- Please, read the requirements well ahead of submission time, so if you have any questions, you give us the chance to address them in a timely manner. Late submissions will not be considered due to technical or other issues if they were not addressed ahead of time.
- PhotoIreland does not extend deadlines.
- Submissions deviating from the requested process are not considered and we will not engage in a conversation to correct submissions. It is up to you as a professional to make sure you read the requirements, address any concerns in a timely manner, and follow the requirements including deadlines.
FAQs
Who can apply?
The New Irish Works call is for artists at any stage of their career and focuses on new work created or significantly developed in the last three years. It aims to represent the wealth and diversity of practices that constitute the contemporary Irish photographic community. It is aimed at what is understood as contemporary lens-based practices, whether you work with traditional photographic methods, digital technologies, interdisciplinary, etc.
It is open to all Irish artists–whether living in Ireland or abroad–and to all artists based on the island of Ireland.
How much does it cost to submit?
Submissions are free.
I am a previous participant of New Irish Works, can I apply again?
Artists who have been selected before are welcome to apply again because New Irish Works is project-focused. Thus, new projects are expected in such cases. A previously submitted project is eligible if it has been continued and developed over the past three years.
How old does my project have to be?
We are seeking new work developed in the last three years, after 2021, by artists at any stage of their career. If the work is ongoing, it must have been developed substantially within the last three years.
Will artists be offered a fee?
PhotoIreland pays fees to all professionals it engages with as described in our Payments Policy. All artists are paid accordingly for their participation in each of the completed elements of the New Irish Works programme, whether for a feature in OVER Journal online or in print, for their participation in the group exhibition, or for any other future project.
How many images should I submit and what are the technical requirements?
You should submit as many images as you want, according to the project at hand and your practice. In our experience, we believe that 20 images should be more than enough to understand a project, so we ask for a maximum of 20 images per project to be submitted. Conversely, there is no minimum number of images. All technical requirements are outlined in the application form and checked upon receipt of submission, so we ask all applicants to adhere to these, as otherwise you will be asked to re-submit the images.
My project is in progress, can I submit it anyway?
Yes, if the project is substantially developed conceptually and you believe it is ready to be presented to the jury.
I want to submit more than one project, do I have to send separate submission forms?
Yes, separate projects will be considered as separate submissions. Please note, it is one form per project.
Will you communicate results with all artists?
Yes, we always maintain clear communications with artists. The results will be emailed on the specified dates to all who have submitted. Once your submission is acknowledged, there is no need to follow up as everyone will be contacted.
I submitted, but haven’t heard back. Has my submission been processed?
All artists submitting work will be contacted within 2 working days to confirm receipt of submission. If you have not heard from us within this time, please reach out, in case your submission did not go through for whatever reason, so we can resolve any issues within adequate time.
What are PhotoIreland and the jury looking for?
New Irish Works aims to evidence the existing diversity of practices in contemporary Irish arts. We are interested in works and practices that are critically engaged with the topics they present. This means the projects must be relevant and consistent, and not random selections of images from archives, and ideally relevant and concerned with contemporary ideas. The overall practice and history of the practitioner are also considered; we would like to see that the practitioners, no matter what stage they are at, are serious and committed to their practice.
It would always be helpful for the submitter to review and research the previous New Irish Works at newirishworks.com to understand more about the opportunities presented and the types of work previously selected.
Further queries can be emailed to pif.submissions@gmail.com
In case you didn’t know already, New Irish Works is a project by PhotoIreland run since 2013.
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