Guest Room aims to spark collaborations. That’s why John Fleetwood is teaming up with Eric Gyamfi, a photographer based in Ghana in chosing the theme for this instalment.

Eric Gyamfi has has provided the following quote as the theme/subject. It is from the monograph ‘Chasing Shadows’ by Santu Mofokeng:

“Perhaps I was looking for something that refuses to be photographed. I was only chasing shadows, perhaps”

Submissions for this Guest Room should consider this concept, whether explicitly or abstractly. John Fleetwood will be working with the quote in mind when making his selection for his 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!

John Fleetwood (b. 1970, South Africa; lives and works in Johannesburg) is a photography curator, educator and director of Photo:; a platform that develops and promotes socially relevant photography projects. From 2002-2015 Fleetwood was the director of the Market Photo Workshop. He recently curated ‘Five Photographers: A tribute to David Goldblatt’ (Johannesburg, 2018 and Maputo, 2019) and ‘Of traps and tropes’ as part of Kerkennah International Photography Festival (Tunisia, 2018). He curated ‘Cities and Memory’ as part of the Photo Biennale in Denmark (2016). In 2017, he was guest editor for Aperture’s Platform Africa edition.

As educator and strategist he has facilitated, organised and supported a range of different training interventions, activities and organisations through Photo:, including masterclasses, workshops across the African continent and further internationally. He convenes democraSEE, an award and mentorship programme for Southern African photographers. Fleetwood works closely with the Centres of Learning for Photography in Africa and other institutions of learning and mentorship.

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.