If you’re a photographer, you’ve probably felt that pang of frustration. You find the perfect open call, a grant that could fund your next project, or a competition with an amazing prize, and then you see it. The entry fee. It feels like a cost, a barrier, and an unavoidable expense that stands between you and your goal.
And while the title of this article might seem to promise a secret trick to get around those fees, the truth is, you can’t. But what you can do is something far more powerful: you can change how you think about them.
The secret to “avoiding” entry fees is to stop calling them that altogether. A professional photographer doesn’t see a cost to be avoided; they see a strategic marketing investment.
The Unavoidable Cost of Doing Business
Every business on the planet has marketing expenses. A local coffee shop pays for ads in a community paper. An online store invests in social media promotions. These are not costs to be eliminated; they are necessary expenditures for visibility and growth. Your photography career is no different.
When you submit to a photo competition, a juried exhibition, or an open call, you are paying for a service. That small fee covers a portion of the organisation’s real and legitimate costs:
- Jury & Curation: Paying a respected panel of industry experts, curators, editors, and acclaimed photographers for their time and expertise in reviewing thousands of submissions.
- Logistical & Administrative Costs: Covering the expenses of managing submissions, communicating with photographers, and building and maintaining a professional platform.
- Promotion & Exposure: Funding the marketing of the opportunity itself, including promoting the winners and finalists to their vast network of followers, media partners, and collectors.
You are essentially paying for an audition in front of a highly-targeted audience of people who can directly impact your career. That’s not a cost; that’s the price of admission to a professional stage.
Understanding Your Return on Investment (ROI)
Once you reframe the fee as an investment, the focus shifts from a negative to a positive. You are no longer asking, “How much does it cost to enter?” You are asking, “What is the potential return on my investment?”
The ROI isn’t always a monetary prize. It’s often something more valuable for your long-term career:
- Credibility: Having an “Official Selection” or “Finalist” on your resume is a powerful form of validation from an authoritative source. It’s a signal to clients and gallerists that your work has been vetted and approved.
- Targeted Exposure: Unlike a generic social media post, a feature on an award-winning website or inclusion in an exhibition puts your work directly in front of the people you want to see it, curators, collectors, and art directors.
- Professional Development: The act of preparing a professional submission, writing a compelling artist statement, culling your best images, and presenting your work with a clear vision is an invaluable exercise that sharpens your skills and defines your professional brand.
A $25 fee that leads to your work being seen by a top editor is a fantastic return. An investment of $50 that results in your work being included in a gallery show is an incredible value.
The most successful photographers don’t avoid entry fees. They strategically budget for them. They research each opportunity to ensure it aligns with their goals and offers a substantial potential ROI. They recognise that a photography career is a business, and like any business, it requires an investment to grow.
