On the cover: Let All the Poisons in the Mud Seep Out by Lexi Hide.
Today it can be a tab you close, a feed you mute, a contract you refuse. It can be silence, or it can be a studio full of noise. So here is the question we want to place in your hands and in your eyes.
What’s Independent now?
A WORD WITH A PAST AND A PULSE
Independent is not a label you wear once. It is a position you negotiate every day. Historically, the independent voice has meant small presses and self-made scenes, underground images, outsider galleries, and authors who chose risk over permission. In the present, it also means something quieter and more complex. Independence from the algorithm. Independence from the market’s idea of relevance. Independence from the versions of yourself that perform well. We are opening a call for creators who want to interpret the word and the concept, Independent, right now. We are looking for works that feel necessary, not polite. Works that question power, taste, beauty, identity, belonging, and desire. Works that can hold contradiction and still remain precise.
WHO WE ARE AND WHY YOUR WORK WILL BE SEEN
Independent is an editorial platform that lives online and on paper, built to connect journalistic language with visual culture across fashion, art, design, photography, and contemporary media. Independent’s social and media platforms generate more than 2 million views, with more than 100,000 active users and about 12,000 interactions. Our newsletter reaches 20,000-plus subscribers, with an average open rate of about 42.5%, peaks above 52%, and about 45% of openers clicking at least one link. On Instagram, the audience exceeds 82,000 followers, with top countries led by the U.S. and Italy. If your work is selected, it will not disappear into a folder. It will live on our platforms, in context, with care.
WHO CAN APPLY
This open call is for photographers, media artists, illustrators, art directors, writers, and artists of any nationality. Emerging voices are welcome, established voices are welcome, and hybrids are especially welcome. We are interested in projects that translate the theme through any of these lenses and others you invent: independence as heritage, independence as protest, independence as intimacy, independence as style, independence as survival, independence as refusal, independence as joy.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
Send us a concise proposal that helps us understand your idea and your voice.
You can submit finished work or a project in progress, as long as the concept is clear.
Please include:
1. Full name, role, and city
2. A short bio (max. 250 words)
3. A short statement (max. 400 words) answering, in your way, What’s Independent now?
4. Your work, one of the following:
• Up to 10 images (JPEG or PNG), or a link to a folder
• One video work (MP4), up to 2 minutes, or a private link
• One text (up to 1,200 words), plus any supporting visuals if relevant 5. Credits, captions, and year 6.
Subject line suggestion: Open Call | Your Name
HOW TO APPLY
Deadline: March 10, 2026.
Email your submission to magazine@independent-magazine.com.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
If files are large, include a Google Drive link.
By submitting, you confirm you own the rights to the work and that you grant Independent Magazine permission to publish selected pieces on our website, newsletter, and social channels, with full credit. Rights remain with the creators.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Our editorial team will review submissions and contact selected contributors directly by email. Chosen works will be curated into a digital exhibition on Independent Magazine and presented across our social media, with a dedicated editorial narrative that connects the pieces.
Independence is often described as distance.
We are curious about something else.
Independence as proximity to what matters.