© Lori Pond, "Inside Out" 2025
Archival Pigment Paper, Pictorico transparencies, turkey basting pins
© Ann Mitchell, "Expanded Chinatown"
“Chinatown” from the “Impressions of Southern California” series. Pastel over Archival Pigment Print, 2023
L.A. PHOTO CURATOR CALL FOR ENTRY
THEME: THE EXPANDED IMAGE
JURORS: LORI POND & ANN MITCHELL
DEADLINE: JANUARY 18, 2026
--------------------------------------------------------------------
THE EXPANDED IMAGE
We invite photographers from around the world to submit work for The Expanded Image, an exhibition celebrating the bold, the experimental, and the beautifully unconventional. This juried show is dedicated to mixed media and altered photography—artworks that extend beyond the single photographic image and push the boundaries of traditional practice through integration, manipulation, or transformation.
We Are Seeking:
Photographic works that expand, combine, or physically alter the medium through one or more of the following approaches (among others):
Photographic works that expand, combine, or physically alter the medium through one or more of the following approaches (among others):
-
Painting, drawing, or mark-making
-
Collage, montage, or assemblage
-
Textiles or stitching
-
Transfers, encaustic, or printmaking
-
Digital–analog hybrids
-
Sculptural or dimensional photographic forms
-
Experimental surface treatments or material transformations
5% of artist entry fees goes to the charity of the jurors. Lori Pond and Ann Mitchell have chosen Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.
Another 5% will go to the first place winner's choice of charity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All images submitted to L.A. Photo Curator are eligible to be considered for the Top 40 images of the year chosen by Laurie Freitag (Director of L.A. Photo Curator).
One photographer of the year will be chosen from those picks as well by Laurie Freitag.
------------------------------------------------------------
Lori Pond is a visual artist based in Los Angeles. Her photography and mixed
media projects encompass themes such as: good vs. evil, life and death,
the impermanence of all things, how our brains interpret “reality” and, most
recently, experimental techniques. Using ferrofluid, food coloring, magnets,
found objects, saran wrap and sound waves, she produces abstract, mind-
bending images in her series, “The Atlas of Chimerical States.” Her most well-
recognized work is her series, “Bosch Redux.” She replicates details from 15th
century painter Hieronymus Bosch’s works. She recreates every detail by hiring
propmakers, prosthetics designers, models, and costumers to match his paintings. She has also made bodies of work using infrared photography, drones, wet plate collodion, and silver and gold leafing.
Her interest in photography has been lifelong, starting with a Polaroid Land
Camera for her junior high newspaper. She has studied with such luminaries as
Aline Smithson, JoAnn Callis, Richard Tuschman, Keith Carter, Lori Vrba, Dan
Burkholder and Joanne Dugan.
Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Solo shows include:
Griffin Museum of Photography, The Oceanside Museum of Art, The University
of the Arts, Philadelphia, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, Orange Coast College of
Fine Arts, Costa Mesa, CA She is currently represented by 3C Gallery, Los Angeles.
In her life outside of searching for enigmas, she worked in broadcast television
for a very long time. She worked on every kind of show imagineable as a graphic
artist/operator. Such as: “Dancing with the Stars,” “Hard Copy”,”Access Hollywood”, and lots of awards shows.
She still has anxiety dreams about Hollywood.
Ann Mitchell is a Southern California–based artist, curator and educator
whose photography is rooted in narrative storytelling. Through constructed imagery and historic processes, she creates atmospheric worlds that feel part dream, part memory—open-ended visual stories shaped by symbolism, intuition, and the emotional undercurrents that linger beyond the frame.
She received her BFA in Photography from Art Center College of Design and spent over a decade as an award-winning advertising and editorial photographer before earning her MFA from Claremont Graduate University. During that time she also discovered a passion for curating and community building through organizing photography exhibitions and events. Mitchell later joined the Art Department at Long Beach City College, where she taught for more than twenty years and served as Chair and Digital Media Program Coordinator.
Her work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally and
featured in numerous publications. Mitchell continues to create bodies of work that blend the poetic and the constructed, including Impressions of the California
Southland, The Chance Chronicles, and American Triptychs, each exploring themes of landscape, memory, and transformation.
Her curation: www.thinkingaboutphotography.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All images submitted to L.A. Photo Curator are eligible to be considered for the Top 40 images of the year chosen by Laurie Freitag (Director of L.A. Photo Curator).
One photographer of the year will be chosen from those picks as well by Laurie Freitag.
------------------------------------------------------------
First Place winner receives Q&A with the jurors. Jurors review first place winner. The Q&A is all done online and the results are included in a piece about the artist in L.A. Photo Curator's themed exhibition. One or more past jurors may contribute reviews as well. 5% of artist fees goes to the first place winner's charity. The first place image shows on our splash page for a month.
We will waive the fee for 2 entrants per competition. Just contact us at laphotocurator@yahoo.com and make the request.
------------------------------------------------------------
Hit BUY NOW button to check out using paypal as well as credit cards. Cost of submission is $25 for 3 OR 6 images.
Send your paypal transaction ID # with your images to laphotocurator@yahoo.com
(You won't get an acknowledgement email from us until you send all your work. It is imperative that you include the name of the person paying on the paypal account when you submit your work. We have had many problems trying to figure out who paid for what.)
-------------------------------------------------------
Enter in the email Subject box: Your name + The Expanded Image
---------------------------------------------------------
Enter in the body of the email:
1- The title of the competition and your name
Write it like this:
Personal Narrative & Your Name
2- Artist Statement & Bio only (you can insert your career highlights in your bio. CV's are no longer accepted.
(No word docs or pdfs accepted)
ADD YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE END OF YOUR SUBMISSION AFTER 'IMAGES FOR SALE' (if for sale).
Make sure to write out your website like this-
www.lauriefreitag.com
(Links you send don't translate across all media)
Make sure to write out your instagram like this -
www.instagram.com/lauriefreitagphotography
(Writing instagram like this @lauriefreitagphotography doesn't translate across all media)
If you don't have a website just add your email address so viewers will know how to contact you.
---------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO SET UP FILES:
1- Titling images-
Write it out like this example. Don't use all lower or all upper caps.
Your First Name_Your Last Name_Name _of_Image.jpg
2- Size your images-
Jpg files, 1024 pixels on the longest side at 72 DPI, not to exceed 1 MB.
3- Send your images in a zip file.
4- BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR IMAGES PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE EITHER 3 OR 6 IMAGES, NOT 4 OR 5. ALSO PLEASE CHECK THE SPELLING ON YOUR IMAGES, THE FONT AND MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS ON THE JPG. THANKS!
----------------------------------------------------------
IMAGES FOR SALE. This is up to you. If you don't want to list images for sale just say so. All proceeds go to the artist. Make sure to list contact info so viewers can contact you.
List your images like this.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Boy in Boat- 11"H x 14" W
Archival paper
$350 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Your Name and email address
Please only list your contact info once- at the end of the last image.
Please check and recheck how many images you are sending in. It should be EITHER 3 OR 6 IMAGES. I'm receiving many submissions with 5 images.
----------------------------------------------------------------
All information requested must be sent before the contest deadline to be eligible for contest. Non-payment disqualifies an entrant unless they have made arrangements for the entry fee waiver.
Eligibility: The exhibition is open to all photographers world wide, both amateur and professional.
Please do not contact the curator under any circumstances. If you want to get a message to them email us at laphotocurator@yahoo.com and we will get a message to them. Thanks.
By submitting your work to our competitions, you agree to the Terms and Conditions below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Terms and Conditions for L.A. Photo Curator (LA Photo Curator)
All sales are conducted solely between the artist and the buyer.
L.A. Photo Curator does not handle any part of sales or commissions.
By entering, entrants automatically accept the conditions of the competition; they grant L.A. Photo Curator nonexclusive rights to use and reproduce submitted photographs for promotional (e.g.: website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and competition advertising purposes. No royalties or compensation will be paid for these purposes. We also use your image and info to promote your work at random times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
All copyright rights to the photographs remain with the photographer.
Work and entry fee must be submitted by the prospectus deadline date or otherwise not be eligible to participate in competition. There are no refunds.
L.A. Photo Curator reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any photograph that does not comply with the following requirements, even after the photograph appears on the website. You warrant, in respect of the photographs submitted by you, as follows:
1- You are the sole copyright owner and creator of the photographs
2- You have the right to enter your photographs in this competition.
3- To the best of your knowledge, the photographs do not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content.
4- To the best of your knowledge, the photographs do not contain any material that could constitute or encourage conduct which would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
5- The photograph does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity, or violate any person's rights of privacy or publicity, and your photograph does not include: trademarks owned by third parties, copyrighted materials owned by third parties, entries in which you have purchased or secured the rights to use stock images.
6- Due to the limitations of this webhost Icompendium, your images in our online competitions may appear in Google Image Search without your credit. Sometimes Google Image Search will link information to associate images to search results, and other times it will be ignored.
Your image will appear in google and may list the source of the image only; the source being the competition that your image is viewable in.
You agree to fully indemnify L.A. Photo Curator in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of your breaching any of the foregoing.
You indemnify L.A. Photo Curator from and against all claims, suits, demands, actions, liabilities, costs and expenses (including legal costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) resulting from your participation in this competition.
In no event will L.A. Photo Curator be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense including legal costs and expenses (whether direct or indirect) incurred by you in connection with this competition.
By submitting to this competition you understand and agree to the terms & conditions stated above.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To stay in the loop sign up on our CONTACT page.
Join us on facebook and Instagram and check out the past featured entries as well as winners. https://www.facebook.com/laphotocurator/
www.instagram.com/laphotocurator7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Media Partners:
https://artdeadline.com/
www.photocontestinsider.com
-------------------------------------------------------
Enter in the email Subject box: Your name + The Expanded Image
---------------------------------------------------------
Enter in the body of the email:
1- The title of the competition and your name
Write it like this:
Personal Narrative & Your Name
2- Artist Statement & Bio only (you can insert your career highlights in your bio. CV's are no longer accepted.
(No word docs or pdfs accepted)
ADD YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE END OF YOUR SUBMISSION AFTER 'IMAGES FOR SALE' (if for sale).
Make sure to write out your website like this-
www.lauriefreitag.com
(Links you send don't translate across all media)
Make sure to write out your instagram like this -
www.instagram.com/lauriefreitagphotography
(Writing instagram like this @lauriefreitagphotography doesn't translate across all media)
If you don't have a website just add your email address so viewers will know how to contact you.
---------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO SET UP FILES:
1- Titling images-
Write it out like this example. Don't use all lower or all upper caps.
Your First Name_Your Last Name_Name _of_Image.jpg
2- Size your images-
Jpg files, 1024 pixels on the longest side at 72 DPI, not to exceed 1 MB.
3- Send your images in a zip file.
4- BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR IMAGES PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE EITHER 3 OR 6 IMAGES, NOT 4 OR 5. ALSO PLEASE CHECK THE SPELLING ON YOUR IMAGES, THE FONT AND MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS ON THE JPG. THANKS!
----------------------------------------------------------
IMAGES FOR SALE. This is up to you. If you don't want to list images for sale just say so. All proceeds go to the artist. Make sure to list contact info so viewers can contact you.
List your images like this.
IMAGES FOR SALE-
Boy in Boat- 11"H x 14" W
Archival paper
$350 unframed
Limited edition of 15
Signed on back
Contact: Your Name and email address
Please only list your contact info once- at the end of the last image.
Please check and recheck how many images you are sending in. It should be EITHER 3 OR 6 IMAGES. I'm receiving many submissions with 5 images.
----------------------------------------------------------------
All information requested must be sent before the contest deadline to be eligible for contest. Non-payment disqualifies an entrant unless they have made arrangements for the entry fee waiver.
Eligibility: The exhibition is open to all photographers world wide, both amateur and professional.
Please do not contact the curator under any circumstances. If you want to get a message to them email us at laphotocurator@yahoo.com and we will get a message to them. Thanks.
By submitting your work to our competitions, you agree to the Terms and Conditions below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Terms and Conditions for L.A. Photo Curator (LA Photo Curator)
All sales are conducted solely between the artist and the buyer.
L.A. Photo Curator does not handle any part of sales or commissions.
By entering, entrants automatically accept the conditions of the competition; they grant L.A. Photo Curator nonexclusive rights to use and reproduce submitted photographs for promotional (e.g.: website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and competition advertising purposes. No royalties or compensation will be paid for these purposes. We also use your image and info to promote your work at random times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
All copyright rights to the photographs remain with the photographer.
Work and entry fee must be submitted by the prospectus deadline date or otherwise not be eligible to participate in competition. There are no refunds.
L.A. Photo Curator reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any photograph that does not comply with the following requirements, even after the photograph appears on the website. You warrant, in respect of the photographs submitted by you, as follows:
1- You are the sole copyright owner and creator of the photographs
2- You have the right to enter your photographs in this competition.
3- To the best of your knowledge, the photographs do not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content.
4- To the best of your knowledge, the photographs do not contain any material that could constitute or encourage conduct which would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
5- The photograph does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity, or violate any person's rights of privacy or publicity, and your photograph does not include: trademarks owned by third parties, copyrighted materials owned by third parties, entries in which you have purchased or secured the rights to use stock images.
6- Due to the limitations of this webhost Icompendium, your images in our online competitions may appear in Google Image Search without your credit. Sometimes Google Image Search will link information to associate images to search results, and other times it will be ignored.
Your image will appear in google and may list the source of the image only; the source being the competition that your image is viewable in.
You agree to fully indemnify L.A. Photo Curator in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of your breaching any of the foregoing.
You indemnify L.A. Photo Curator from and against all claims, suits, demands, actions, liabilities, costs and expenses (including legal costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) resulting from your participation in this competition.
In no event will L.A. Photo Curator be liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense including legal costs and expenses (whether direct or indirect) incurred by you in connection with this competition.
By submitting to this competition you understand and agree to the terms & conditions stated above.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To stay in the loop sign up on our CONTACT page.
Join us on facebook and Instagram and check out the past featured entries as well as winners. https://www.facebook.com/laphotocurator/
www.instagram.com/laphotocurator7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Media Partners:
https://artdeadline.com/
www.photocontestinsider.com
