Funded by the University of Manchester Hallsworth Fund and the British Academy Conference Fund

Deadline for Photo Submission: 30th June, 2025

As migrants traverse borders, their bodies become sites of agency, struggle and transformation. Gendered norms surrounding female and male bodies shape the embodied, everyday experiences of migrants at every stage of the migration cycle. Yet much of what we know about migration focuses on the movement of people from the Global South to the Global North, obscuring the experiences of those migrating within the Global South. This call for photographs aims to present new visual materials from countries of origin, transit and destination in the Global South. Photos will shed light on the gendered and racialized bodily strategies of migrants and their families as they encounter, resist and transform embodied manifestations of power and discrimination before, during and after their migration journeys.

We are particularly interested in photos that take an intersectional approach. In other words, we seek photos that examine the interplay between identity forms (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, class, religion) and migrants’ experiences of migration governance, notions of power, the patriarchal state, (bodily) surveillance, nativism, belonging, self-care, etc. How do these varied experiences shape migrant aspirations, journeys, and reception? How do they impact their families in the homeland?

We are interested in photographs that are original, creative and innovative. Photos should not have been previously published and should not have been entered into other photo competitions. We seek to amplify the voices of emerging and diverse photographers, particularly those representing or whose works feature countries in the Global South. Selected photos will be featured at a conference on the Migrant Body hosted by the University of Manchester later this year.

 

Photo Submission Requirements

• Photographers participating in this competition should be 18 years old or older.
• One submission per person.
• A submission could be one photo or a group of photos (no more than three).
• Each submission should illustrate one idea or concept.
• All submissions should be digital.
• High-quality photographs are preferred

 

Submission Details

Please submit your photos to this email gdi@manchester.ac.uk and fill in this form (one form per submission).

All photographs must be received by 30th June 2025.

If your files are too large, please share WeTransfer access to this email gdi@manchester.ac.uk

Please email with any queries regarding submission criteria or other details prior to the deadline.

 

Selection committee

The selection committee will be composed of photographers and researchers working on transnational migration. The committee will assess the submissions on the basis of the concept or idea conveyed by the photograph/s.

 

Organisers

Tanja Bastia, Professor of Migration and Development, University of Manchester

Erika Busse, Associate Professor, Sociology, Macalester College

María Calderón-Muñoz, Independent researcher

Verónica Castro, Visual Anthropologist and Film Director

 

Prizes

£ 500: First prize

£ 300: Second prize

£ 200: Third prize

 

Timeline

Application Submission deadline: 30th June, 2025

Selection Notification: 15th September, 2025

Conference in Manchester (UK): 15th and 16th December, 2025

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Professor Tanja Bastia Tanja.Bastia@Manchester.ac.uk

Feature image: Verónica Anais Montoya (winner of previous photo competition: Transnational migration and Covid-19 in Latin America)