Time(s) - 6:00 am - 10:00 pm
Location
Atlanta Photography Group
#filmisnotdead is a celebration of the timeless beauty and artistry of analog photography. This juried exhibition will showcase the unique and evocative qualities that can only be captured through traditional film. We invite photographers from all around the world to submit their best analog images for a chance to be part of this exhibition.
This call for entry is open to photographers of all levels, both amateur and professional, who work with analog photography techniques, including but not limited to film, wet plate, cyanotype, and other traditional processes. Images which are captured on film and then scanned to digital are acceptable for this exhibition, as well as digital/inkjet prints.
This is an open call with no theme for the subject matter of the images.
Thirty (30) images will be selected to be installed in our Main Gallery.
Michael Behlen
Founder and Publisher, Analog Forever Magazine
Michael Behlen is a photographer, curator, and publisher whose practice is grounded in metaphysical and mystical inquiry, exploring perception, temporality, and presence. He approaches photography as a contemplative discipline rather than a descriptive or documentary act, treating the medium as a phenomenological instrument capable of registering states of stillness, uncertainty, and internal awareness. Drawing from transcendentalist, existential inquiry, and mystical traditions, Behlen situates image-making as a slow, ritualized engagement: an encounter where meaning emerges through attention, surrender, and patience rather than immediacy or spectacle. In this sense, his work operates as a quiet resistance to contemporary visual culture, challenging the acceleration, disposability, and frictionless consumption endemic to the digital era.
Behlen’s work is inseparable from the material and conceptual constraints of Polaroid instant film. Its finite frames, volatile chemistry, and unrepeatable prints resonate with his engagement with impermanence, contingency, and the passage of time. Rather than treating these characteristics as limitations to overcome, he embraces them as essential components of meaning: streaking, chemical drift, and unplanned marks become expressive devices, emphasizing incompleteness, ephemerality, and the inherent unpredictability of experience. His landscapes are deliberately unresolved, resisting narrative closure and denying the viewer easy comprehension. Each print functions as a contemplative object, a physical trace of attention and presence that can be held, revisited, and inhabited. Through these material qualities, the Polaroid becomes both a record and a site of philosophical and mystical inquiry. The resulting images blur the boundary between representation and experience, transforming photography into a ritualized engagement with both the world and the self.
Alongside his photographic practice, Behlen has cultivated an extensive career as a publisher and curator. He is the founder and publisher of Analog Forever Magazine (2018–present), an international platform devoted to analog photographic practices and material-based image-making. A passionate advocate for the film photography community, he has spent years championing the work of emerging and established artists. Prior to Analog Forever, he launched PRYME Magazine and PRYME Editions (2014–2017), both focused on the art and practice of instant film. Across these initiatives, Behlen has curated and showcased the work of over 300 artists worldwide, organizing gallery exhibitions, publishing print magazines and books, and producing in-depth online interviews and features.
Collectively, Behlen’s work, whether photographic, curatorial, or editorial, articulates a coherent ethos: photography as a metaphysical practice, a tactile experience, and a refuge from the relentless acceleration of contemporary visual culture.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
CFE Dates: April 2 – May 1, 2026
Early Submissions: April 2 – 10, 2026
Members: 2 works: $35, 4 works: $50, 6 works: $60, 8 works: $75
Regular Submissions: April 11 – 26, 2026
Members: 2 images: $40, 4 images: $60, 6 images: $70, 8 images: $85
Late Submissions: April 27 – May 1, 2026
Members: 2 images: $50, 4 images: $70, 6 images: $80, 8 images: $95
Student Submissions:
Members: 2 images: $30, 4 images: $45, 6 images: $55, 8 images: $70
Please note that submissions close on May 1, 2026 at Midnight ET.
ALL WORK MUST BE UPLOADED BY Midnight ET ON May 1, 2026, OR THEY WILL NOT BE INCLUDED.
SCHOLARSHIPS
4 scholarships are available for this call for entry. APG offers need-based Scholarships for all of our exhibitions that will cover the submission entry fee. Don’t let a lack of funds prevent you from sharing your vision with the world. Be a part of the photography community and show your work today. Click HERE for more details.
Selected work can be up to 34” on the longest side for the exhibition. WHITE OR BLACK FRAMES ONLY.
Images which have been shown in either the Main or Maloof Galleries within the last 3 years are not eligible.
IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline For All Submissions: May 1, 2026, Midnight, ET.
Notifications of Selections: On or about May 9, 2026.
Prints Due at the APG Gallery: June 12, 2026, 4PM, ET.
Exhibition Dates: June 16 – July 17, 2026
Artist Talk: TBD
Open to APG members – Join or Renew Now!
FILE PREPARATION
- The juror will be selecting the images from all entries.
- Export images as .jpg. Resize to 2100 px on the longest side.
- Rename files to the titles of each work exactly as you wish it to appear (example: My Great Photo.jpg) Your name will be automatically prepended to the file upon upload.
- Create a text file with your Personal Info (name, email, phone, website/social media), Artist Statement (500 words max), Bio (250 words max), and Image list (in this order: Title, Year piece was created, Print/Image Size (H x W), estimated Framed Size (H x W) Medium (archival pigment print, inkjet print, silver gelatin, cyanotype, etc.), and save this file as a Word doc or PDF.
- The link to upload your files will be sent to you in your payment confirmation email. You will receive two emails after you pay. One will have the upload link. If you don’t receive two emails, check your spam folder.
In order to submit your work you must be a current APG member. Join or Renew Now!
All entries must be completed ONLINE. Do NOT email any image files
- Complete Online Registration & Payment
- The link to upload your files will be sent to you in your payment confirmation email. You will receive two emails after you pay. One will have the upload link. If you don’t receive two emails, check your spam folder.
- Once you get this link, you must be logged into the website in order to successfully upload your work.
- Upload Files to the Dropbox link found in the payment confirmation.
- If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact – gallery@AtlantaPhotographyGroup.org
