Guest Room aims to spark collaborations. That’s why Catherine Troiano is teaming up with Dr Marta Weiss, Senior Curator of Photographs at the V&A in chosing the theme for this instalment.

Marta Weiss has has provided the following quote as the theme/subject. It is from the poem ‘Having a Coke with You’ by Frank O’Hara:

“I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world”

Submissions for this Guest Room should consider this concept, whether explicitly or abstractly. Catherine Troiano will be working with the quote in mind when making her selection for her Guest Room.

Why submit to Guest Room?

• Show your work to outstanding curators and gallerists.
• Get the chance to be published at Der Greif website, a highly-frequented international source of photographic art.
• Submit for free or for a small donation – you decide.

Voluntary Donation

After over a decade of serving the international photography community Der Greif is now finally a registered non-profit. We believe this organizational structure best reflects our artistic and cultural mission. As always, your artistic contribution makes our work on Der Greif possible.

Since starting Guest Room in January 2015, we’ve been working hard to invite a broad range of practitioners, from gallerists to editors and curators. We are convinced that this format is an interesting and low-barrier approach to help artists get their work in front of people who might be interested in working with them. For this reason, we are asking you to consider making a financial contribution as well. That’s why we’re suggesting a voluntary donation of 5 € as a submission fee. 100% of the funds we collect from your donations will go towards helping us continue providing interesting opportunities for the photography community through Guest Room, and thus expand Der Greif.

We believe in inclusivity. We don’t want this suggested donation to stand in the way of your submission. If you are unable to contribute financially, please send an email to voucher@dergreif.org to receive a voucher code which will allow you to enter for free.

Thank you so much!

Catherine Troiano is Curator of Photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). She joined the team as Assistant Curator in 2015, following prior work with photography in numerous curatorial, research and editorial roles. She has curated or contributed to displays within and without the V&A, including Street View: Photographs of Urban Life (Museums Sheffield, 2016) and, most recently, Collecting Photography: from Daguerreotype to Digital (V&A, 2018). Her research interests include digitally-informed photographic practices, institutional histories, curatorial theory and the CEE region; and she publishes regularly on these topics. Troiano holds an MA from the University of Edinburgh and is currently pursuing her PhD at De Montfort University’s Photographic History Research Centre (PHRC).

About Der Greif Guest Room

Guest Room is a monthly online exhibition with open submissions curated in real-time by personalities from the international photography scene. Der Greif is an award-winning organization for contemporary photography. It is print-publication, online-publication, curatorial team and joint project all at once. Der Greif connects the digital and the analogue, exploring and expanding the borders and limits of image-distribution and -reception in the digital era.