Open Call: Festival

Belfast Photo Festival 2022 Open Submission

February 4, 2022
Belfast Photo Festival

Belfast Photo Festival 2022 Open Submission is now accepting entries from artists and photographers. Apply and advance your career with opportunities for exhibition, publication, awards and cash prizes. Deadline: 4th February 2022.

Described as “One of the best photography festivals in the world” (Capture Magazine), the annual Belfast Photo Festival provides the perfect platform for gaining exposure to an international audience, with previous editions having welcomed over 150,000 visitors from all over the world.

Belfast Photo Festival is offering artists/photographers the opportunity to exhibit their work in the main Festival gallery alongside some of the biggest names in the field of photography and have their work taken on tour to be exhibited at the 2023 Photo Schwiez (Zurich, Switzerland), with a number also having the opportunity to be featured in the arts magazines Abridged and Aesthetica. The winners will be eligible for a number of awards, including a cash prize of £2,000 (e.s.t $2,712 / €2,321).

The theme has been left open to remove any restrictions; submissions must be photographic or lens-based but can include incorporations of other art forms with the photographic medium (i.e. performance, painting, sculpture, music, literature etc).

Individuals and collectives are welcome to apply; individuals should select and enter between 1 and 15 photographs from a particular series or body of work AND/OR submit their Photo-book for exhibition by providing a link to a single PDF (stored on for example: Google Drive or Dropbox)

(Note: You can submit both a photo-book and photographs of the same project, but a fee will need to be paid for both. If submitting only a photo-book and not photographs, it will be your photo-book that will be selected for presentation and not photographic prints for exhibition). Collectives are also welcome to apply; as a collective, you can submit up to 15 photographs (a €23 / €29 submission fee will apply for every 15 images submitted).

JURY: Belfast Photo Festival has invited a panel of influential international experts in the field of photography to assist in the shortlisting and selection of artists alongside the Festival team. The Jury consists of:
Shana Lopes – Curator of Photography: SFMoMA, San Francisco (U.S.A)
Marta Weiss – Senior Curator: V&A, London (U.K.)
Claartje Van Dijk – Head of Exhibitions: FOAM Photography Museum, Amsterdam (Holland)
Elizabeth Renstrom – Photo Editor: The New Yorker, New York (U.S.A)
Dilys Ng – Photo Editor: TIME, New York (U.S.A)
Emily Graham – Cultural Commissions: Magnum Photos, London (U.K.)
Jess Gough – Editorial Board Member: MACK, London (U.K.)
Varun Gupta – Director: Chennai Photo Biennale, Chennai (India)

WHAT DO YOU WIN?
All submitting photographers will benefit from:
Submission review by Photo Industry Professionals
Opportunities for Immediate Exposure (e.g. across festival / partner social networks and websites)

Between 20 and 40 photographers / artists will benefit from:
Awards and cash prizes (See Awards listed below)
Exhibition exposure at the Festival's main city centre gallery
Exhibition exposure at the 2023 Photo Schwiez Festival (Switzerland)
Inclusion in the special Festival issue of Abridged Magazine
Long term Festival representation and promotion
An opportunity to participate in an Instagram Residency
Exhibition alongside some of the biggest photographic names as part of the major photographic event
Publication and inclusion in the Festival programme
Inclusion in the Festival’s award winning marketing & PR campaign, which has an estimated reach of 30+ million
International press exposure
Being seen by over 80,000 visitors, including a substantial number of visual arts professionals and the media
Dedicated feature on the Festival website and online gallery
All finalists who submitted photographs will have their work produced by the Festival for exhibition outdoors at no cost to the photographer/artist

AWARDS:
Spotlight Award - £2,000 (e.s.t $2,712 / €2,321)
Aesthetica Editorial Award - Full editorial presentation in an upcoming printed/digital issue of Aesthetica international art and culture magazine
Years Free RPS Membership - Free membership for one year to the prestigious Royal Photographic Society
Abridged Editorial Award - Presentation in a special Festival issue of Abridged Magazine.

Festival Dates: 02 - 30 June

Belfast Photo Festival
Belfast, Northern Ireland

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