SCAN, the international photography festival organised by Tarragona City Council, has opened the call for entries for Talent Latent, aimed at creators from all over the world who use photography as an essential and preferred means of expression. The projects and artists selected from this call will be part of the central exhibition of the SCAN festival which will be held at Tinglado 2 at the Port of Tarragona, Spain, from 10 October to 7 December 2025.

The theme for this edition is Aqua (Water). Water is vital to the survival of humans and all life on our planet, yet it is estimated that between 1.7 and 2.4 billion people will face water scarcity by 2050. Today, about 40% of the Earth’s surface is at risk of desertification. Seas and oceans contain 97% of the planet’s total water supply. At the same time, human-induced changes in the oceans are affecting the climate, marine ecosystems and coastal communities. More than 3 billion people depend directly on the resources of the oceans for their livelihoods.

In addition, culture, spirituality, mythology and even leisure have been deeply linked to water. In religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism, water represents purification; in Native American cultures, it is a sacred element; in Greek mythology, the god Poseidon ruled the oceans; in some African cultures, water is a symbol of fertility and a dwelling place for spirits; in ancient Tarraco and throughout the Roman Empire, thermal baths were public baths with areas reserved for gymnastics or recreation; today, beaches, rivers, lakes and springs are areas of leisure and recreation virtually all over the world.

For all these reasons, and with the aim of insisting on the value and transcendence of water for our planet, for our survival and that of ecosystems, this year SCAN is dedicating the programme of the twelfth edition of Talent Latent to exploring the theme of water.

Practical Info Applicants must submit photographic projects yet series that hybridise photography with other creative languages will be also accepted. Submission must be sent through the online registration form and must include personal contact details, a brief biography, project title, a brief explanation (250 words), a zip file (max. 25 MB) with a maximum of 18 photographs from the same series. If deemed appropriate, and in order to facilitate the jury’s understanding of the project, a PDF with complementary information can be attached. Projects in Catalan, Spanish or English are accepted.

Diana Padrón, an independent curator who has been invited to Talent Latent 2025, will select the nine projects and artists that will make up the exhibition. Apart from aesthetic criteria, the conceptual integrity of the project, the level of knowledge the author demonstrates on the subject, and the author’s willingness to reflect critically will be evaluated. The festival organisers will contact the selected authors. The final list of artists participating in Talent Latent will be published on the SCAN festival website in May 2025.

For each photographic series exhibited, the author or individual responsible for joint projects will receive a one-time payment of €500, including taxes, for copyright and exhibition fees. Additionally, the SCAN organisation will publish the exhibition catalogue and each participating artist will receive three copies. Plus, the selected artists will be invited to the opening weekend of the Festival,10-12 October 2025. The invitation will include 2 nights’ accommodation in the festival hotel, breakfast included, admission ticket for the catered opening event (10 October 2025), admission to Full Contact professional meeting (11 October 2025), lunch at the Teatret del Serrallo (11/10/2025).

SCAN will produce the photographic prints in a reliable professional laboratory. The SCAN curatorial team will decide on the production of the prints, their number, size and materials, and how they will be installed in the exhibition spaces. At the end of the exhibition, if the author has not informed the organisation of his/her wish to retrieve the copies produced, they will be destroyed. If they wish to retrieve them, the authors will bear the cost of shipping or collecting the works.