CALL FOR ENTRY: SLIDESLAM, A LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY EVENT

PRESENTED BY PHOTOALLIANCE & PRETTY GRITTY


PhotoAlliance and Pretty Gritty invite photographers to submit work for So Slammed: A Necessarily Excessive Group Photography Event, a high-energy live slideshow presentation celebrating contemporary photography and artist storytelling.

Selected photographers will present a 10-image series from a single body of work during a live Slide Slam event on April 25 at Pretty Gritty in San Francisco. This fast-paced format is part artist talk, part performance, and part community party — similar in spirit to karaoke or a short-form lecture — where photographers present their work live in front of an audience, then enjoy a meet and greet at Pretty Gritty. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for artists to hang work from any project on an approx. 3x4’ wall space, on a first-confirmed basis.

Up to 24 photographers will be selected by our juror pool to participate in the event.

click below to submit your work:

PURCHASE ENTRY


Submission Guidelines:

  • Submit 8-10 images from one cohesive body of work

  • Images should be ordered as you would like them presented during the live slideshow

  • Work must be original and created by the submitting artist, with the right to present them

SUBMISSION DEADLINE:

April 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM

Event TIMELINE:

Acceptance Notification:
 April 14, 2026

Artwork Delivery & Installation (to former Rayko Building, 428 3rd St, San Francisco, CA):
 April 21, 2026 at 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM

LIVE EVENT:

So Slammed Live event at Pretty Gritty (former Rayko Building, 428 3rd St, San Francisco, CA):
 April 25, 2026 at 7:00 – 9:00 PM

EVENT FORMAT:

Accepted photographers will present their work live during the event in a structured slideshow format.

Each artist presentation includes:

  • Intro title slide

  • Artist’s 10 images presented in sequence

  • Approximately 3.5 minutes to speak about the work

  • Final slide with contact information

Presentations will run consecutively, with each artist introduced before their slideshow begins.

At the conclusion of the event, contact information for all participating photographers will be shared with attendees and published online.

An online exhibition of accepted work will also be hosted at PhotoAlliance.org.

EVENT SCHEDULE:

Saturday, April 25 - NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds entry, i.e. donation-based). Free for all artists who submit.
 Gallery open — Noon
PhotoAlliance Slide Slam — 7:00–9:00 PM
Live Music Performance — 9:00 PM onward

Sunday, April 19 - free
 Gallery open — Noon–5:00 PM
Film screening — 2:00 PM

Optional Print Exhibition: “So Slammed” pin-up wall

Accepted artists will also have the opportunity to participate in a print exhibition at Pretty Gritty during the event weekend.

Details:

  • Up to 3' × 4' wall space per artist, with unlimited # of prints

  • Installation will be on a pin-up wall in the event space; casual installation and framed works accepted

  • Wall labels will be provided by PhotoAlliance unless artists prefer to supply their own

Space and time is limited and will be allocated to accepted artists on a first-confirmed basis.

In addition to the So Slammed pin-up wall, there will be a Pretty Gritty-curated section with guest curators, the judges' own work, work by Bill Daniels, and (of course), a pin-up section for walk in random stuff posted by weekend attendees.

Venue & Community Event

This Slide Slam is part of a broader weekend of programming at Pretty Gritty.

Events at Pretty Gritty are NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds). Artists who submit to this call will have the NOTAFLOF venue admission fee waived.

75% of proceeds from Saturday’s program will benefit PhotoAlliance.

Event Support

This event is generously supported by Fort Point Beer Company and Underdog Film Lab.

Underdog Film Lab will host a booth during the event weekend at Pretty Gritty on Saturday, April 25.

About our Slide Slams

The Slide Slam format celebrates the voice of the photographer, combining visual storytelling with live presentation. It creates a dynamic environment where artists share work directly with audiences, collectors, curators, and peers, getting immediate feedback and recognition. We embrace this format as a way to showcase more of our local emerging photographers, and share their work with our community.

This Slide Slam encourages submissions from photographers working across styles, processes, and approaches—from documentary to conceptual, from analog to experimental to digital.