Having built an international reputation as a home for cutting-edge contemporary and conceptual photography, with locations in Stockholm, Berlin, New York, Shanghai, Tallinn and Oslo, Fotografiska has now launched a global Emerging Artists Platform that aims to dissolve the boundaries between digital visibility and institutional recognition.
10DE’s Arts Editor Milly Burroughs caught up with Fotografiska’s Emerging Platform Lead Editor Sophia Emmerich to find out more.
MB: Fotografiska’s new emerging artists platform is a great opportunity for creatives, can you tell us a bit more about how it works?
SE: It really comes from something that has always been at the core of Fotografiska: showing emerging and established artists side by side. It’s a curatorial approach we’ve followed since opening in 2010 and, with this platform, we’re simply taking that idea further and giving it a more global dimension.
At its heart are open calls, which feel like one of the most direct and accessible ways to connect with new talent. They allow emerging artists to submit their work and be considered for a range of opportunities, whether that’s editorial features, curatorial feedback or even exhibitions and presentations at institutions around the world, including our own museums.
Beyond that, artists can create their own portfolio on the platform. Once approved, their work becomes part of a curated public space where it can be discovered by a much wider audience.
What feels particularly important to us, though, is that the platform isn’t just about visibility. It’s about building an ecosystem, one that creates meaningful connections between artists, institutions and audiences. Ideally, those connections can have a lasting impact and help shape a career rather than just offering a brief moment of exposure.
A key decision in all of this was to keep the platform curation-driven instead of algorithm-driven. Visibility is based on the quality of the work, not on follower counts or engagement metrics. In a landscape where those numbers often take over, that felt like an important distinction to make.
MB: Why is it important to Fotografiska to open up more industry access points for artists?
SE: The idea of inspiring new perspectives has always been at the heart of what we do – and supporting emerging artists is a big part of that. From the very beginning, we’ve been committed to showing new voices alongside more established names across all of our museum locations and programmes.
With Fotografiska Emerging, we’re building on that foundation and opening it up further. The platform creates new ways to access what we do, making it more transparent, more inclusive and ultimately more global. It’s about extending something that has always been part of Fotografiska, but now on a much larger scale and in a way that reaches a broader community of artists.
What feels especially important to us is the idea of participation. The more voices that are part of the conversation around contemporary image-making, the more interesting and nuanced that conversation becomes. Emerging artists are often at the forefront of cultural and social shifts, and creating more space for their work to be seen and engaged with feels both like a natural next step for us and something that genuinely matters.
MB: In the age of AI, when the concept of image-making is going through a radical transformation, what role do creative institutions such as Fotografiska hold, and what are their responsibilities when it comes to upholding artistic integrity?
SE: At a time when image-making is being so fundamentally reshaped by AI, it feels important for institutions like us not to shy away from that shift, but to engage with it in an open and thoughtful way. Photography has always evolved alongside technology and AI is clearly part of that ongoing development.
For us, that means creating space for experimentation and for new forms of artistic expression, while also being mindful of the questions that come with it; around authorship, transparency and how artists’ work is used in training these systems.
That’s where artistic integrity becomes especially important. If artists choose to work with AI, it should be a conscious and transparent decision. Being open about those processes matters, both for audiences and for the broader conversation around what photography is becoming.
Rather than trying to define fixed answers, we see our role as creating a space for dialogue — one that encourages critical thinking, openness and a willingness to learn alongside the artists and communities we work with.
MB: The new platform is all about emerging talent. What are the most exciting characteristics and creative approaches you’re identifying in today’s new wave of image makers?
SE: What we’re seeing most immediately is a really strong desire to tell stories that feel meaningful. Even before the official launch of the platform, our first open call for International Women’s Day received over 1,700 submissions, which already says a lot.
For many of these artists, themes like identity, community, and social experience aren’t just a backdrop, they’re very much at the centre of the work.
We’re noticing something similar through Foto of the Day, our weekly feature that we introduced ahead of the launch. A lot of the work we’re seeing is deeply rooted in personal experience, whether that’s the artist’s own life or the communities they’re part of.
At the same time, it’s worth asking whether this is entirely new. Photography has always been a way of capturing and sharing one’s own perspective on the world. What does seem to be changing, though, is access.
MB: One of the objectives of the platform is to bring more visibility to the emerging artists involved. Do you have any advice or tips for creatives when it comes to boosting their own visibility?
Coming from a background in photography and art myself, before joining Fotografiska Emerging as Lead Editor, I’ve experienced firsthand how challenging it can be to get your work seen and to be taken seriously within the industry.
Being on the other side now, and seeing artists submit to Foto of the Day, build their presence on the platform, and take part in open calls, has really reinforced something that often gets overlooked when we talk about visibility: it’s not just about how many people see your work, but about who sees it.
I find that the artists who show up consistently tend to stand out. Over time, I start to recognise their names, their visual language, their way of seeing. That kind of recognition — in the right context and by the right people — is often what can actually help move a career forward.
So I think it’s worth being intentional about what visibility means to you. If the goal is to build something long-term, it can be more valuable to focus on reaching the right audience rather than the largest one. That might mean engaging with platforms, publications, and spaces that are genuinely committed to supporting emerging talent.
MB: What do you think established artists can learn from those coming up today?
SE: Emerging artists are in a unique position in that they haven’t yet had to define themselves as a “brand”, and that comes with a real sense of freedom. There are no fixed expectations around their work, no established audience they need to cater to, and often fewer of the commercial pressures that come with being more established.
That space allows for a level of experimentation that feels increasingly rare. There’s such a strong focus today on building and maintaining a recognisable identity that genuine creative risk-taking can sometimes fall by the wayside. And understandably so, established artists often have more at stake and more to protect. But that can also make it harder to stay open to new directions.
What emerging artists seem to embody, often quite intuitively, is the idea that art is, at its core, about exploration. And that’s not a naive perspective. If anything, it’s a very honest one.
Maybe that’s the most valuable thing to take from this new generation: the reminder that trying something unfamiliar, stepping outside of what feels defined, and not knowing exactly where it will lead isn’t a weakness. It’s actually where some of the most meaningful work can begin.
MB: What are the key dates those interested in the emerging artists platform need to know about?
SE: There’s quite a lot coming up in 2026. On 11 May, we’ll be launching a portfolio review open call, giving artists the opportunity to receive direct feedback from our curatorial team. The deadline for submissions is 15 June – and it’s something we know many emerging image-makers are really looking for, so we’re excited to be able to offer it.
Then, on 12 July, the deadline closes for our open call in partnership with Photography4Humanity and the United Nations, centred around the theme of ‘home’. In a time shaped by displacement, migration and climate disruption, the idea of home feels more relevant than ever. We’re inviting emerging photographers from around the world to engage with that theme in their own way. The open call is guest-curated by James Nachtwey and the selected works will be exhibited at the UN Headquarters in New York on Human Rights Day, 10 December 2026.
