PORTFOLIO 2026

The Atlanta Photography Group (APG) invites photographers worldwide to enter images using any photographic process for our upcoming, juried exhibition, Portfolio 2026. This exhibition features strong, cohesive bodies of work.

Our esteemed juror this year is Natasha Egan, Executive Director at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago. Egan will select photographic works from eight artists whose work will be exhibited.

The 8 exhibiting artists will be eligible for the 2026 APG/ Museum Purchase Award of $4,000, which is slated for placement into the High Museum’s permanent collection.

Natasha Egan

Executive Director
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago

Since 2011, Natasha Egan has served as the Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) at Columbia College Chicago, where she previously held the role of Associate Director and Curator since 2000. Under her leadership, MoCP has expanded its role as a leading institution dedicated to contemporary photography, presenting dynamic exhibitions, fostering critical dialogue, and advancing the museum’s global reputation.

Egan has organized over fifty exhibitions with a strong emphasis on contemporary Asian art and artists engaging with pressing societal issues, such as the environment, war, human rights, and economic structures. Her curatorial practice explores photography as a powerful medium for storytelling, activism, and social commentary. She has curated internationally, serving as a guest curator for the 2010 FotoFest Biennial in Houston, the United States Pavilion curator for the 2016 Photo Dubai Exhibition, and a guest curator for the 2019 Lianzhou Photography Biennial in China.

In addition to her curatorial work, Egan has contributed essays to numerous publications, including Beate Gütschow LS / S (Aperture), Michael Wolf: The Transparent City (Aperture), Placing Memory: A Photographic Exploration of Japanese American Internment with photographs by Todd Stewart (University of Oklahoma Press), Black Maps: American Landscapes and the Apocalyptic Sublime with photographs by David Maisel (Steidl), and Taxonomy of Landscape with photographs by Victoria Sambunaris (Radius).

Egan has also been deeply involved in arts education. For over a decade, she taught in the Photography and Humanities departments at Columbia College Chicago, mentoring emerging artists and scholars. She holds a BA in Asian Studies from the University of Puget Sound and both an MA in Museum Studies and an MFA in Fine Art Photography from Columbia College Chicago.

Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) is a premier college art museum dedicated to photography. As an accredited art museum with the American Alliance of Museums, MoCP is a renowned photography specific institution whose mission is to generate ideas and provoke dialogue through groundbreaking exhibitions, innovative programs, and experiential events to cultivate a deeper understanding of the artistic, cultural, and political roles of photography in our world today.

Website: https://www.mocp.org

APG/Museum Purchase Award

One artist will be selected, from those chosen by the juror for the exhibition, to receive the 2026 APG/ Museum Purchase Award of $4000. Each year, a museum curator reviews the exhibition and selects works from one artist for the Museum’s permanent collection. APG purchases the work and donates the pieces to the museum. The Portfolio 2026 purchase award is slated for the High Museum of Art. The purchase award is generously funded by the Massey Charitable Trust.

High Museum of Art

The High Museum of Art is home to the most significant photography program in the American Southeast. The Museum began acquiring photographs in the early 1970s, making it one of the earliest American art museums to commit to collecting the medium. Head Curator, Gregory Harris oversees the photography department, including related exhibitions and programs, as well as its collection of more than 7,000 works spanning the 1840s to the present. With strengths in American modernist and documentary traditions from the mid-20th century and a robust commitment to contemporary practice, the photography collection features a strong base of pictures related to the American South, which are situated within a global context that is both regionally relevant and internationally significant.