FIELD NOTES FROM THE MIDDLE

Filter Photo invites photographers making work about the Midwest to submit to Field Notes from the Middle, an inaugural juried exhibition. This call is open to photography, photographic materials, and other lens-based artwork that engages with the region.

Juror Nathaniel M. Stein, Curator of Photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum, will select five artists to each exhibit 5–7 works from a single body of work. As a survey of contemporary photography across the Midwest, the exhibition embraces a broad understanding of the medium and the many ways artists are engaging with photographic practices today.

Artists making work in the following Midwestern states are eligible to apply: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Each of the exhibiting artists will be eligible for the 2026 Filter Photo Museum Purchase Award of $2,000, with the selected work acquired by the Cincinnati Art Museum for its permanent collection.

Important Dates 

• September 30th, 11:59 PM CT—Call Closes

• Mid-Late October—Accepted Artists Notified

• November 25th—Work Due to Filter Space

• December 4th—Opening Reception

• Exhibition on view through February 13th, 2027 

Click here to submit your work!

About the Juror 

Nathaniel M. Stein is Curator of Photography at the Cincinnati Art Museum, where he has led the photography program since 2017. Stein holds a BA from Wesleyan University and MA and PhD from Brown University, all in the history of art. His doctoral research focused on the history of photography in India. In Cincinnati, he has organized exhibitions of historical and contemporary photography ranging from collaborations with David Hartt and John Edmonds, Sohrab Hura, and Gillian Wearing to venue presentations of key projects about the Kamoinge Workshop, Hank Willis Thomas, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Ansel Adams. Stein has also significantly grown the museum’s rich photography collection, overseen the development of the Carl M. Jacobs Study Center, and led the formation of The Nancy Rexroth Collection at CAM. 

His current project, Nancy Rexroth: Secrets of My Power, is the first major retrospective on Rexroth, opening in fall 2026 and accompanied by a multi-author scholarly catalogue. Prior selected publications include The Natural World (2022), The Levee: A Photographer in the American South (2020), and Interference: Andre Bradley and Paul Anthony Smith (2017), as well as contributions to Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: A Black Futures Series Photo Archive (2022) and Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region (2022). Before arriving in Cincinnati, Stein held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the RISD Museum. He has taught the history of photography, held fellowships, and lectured at institutions in Europe and the United States. He serves on the ArtsWave Pride Steering Committee and is a member of the Neihoff Center for Film & Media Studies community board.

Image Credit: Caitlin Peterson