Rules 2023
Contest
The cultural association dotART, based in Trieste, Italy, is organising the 14th edition of URBAN Photo Awards contest.
THEMES AND SECTIONS
The contest is open to everybody and organised into 4 sections:
- Single Photos
- Projects & Portfolios
- URBAN Book Award
- URBAN Photo Arena (Trieste Photo Young third edition)
Contestants can participate in more than one section at the same time. The general theme of the contest is Urban Life: Urban Photography. The theme delves into modernity through all kinds of photography set in the fabric of the city. At the heart of the contest is the City, the urban environment and the humanity living there: the everyday life of big cities and small towns, the contrasts and the contradictions between the city and the countryside, the aesthetic views, the architectural geometries, fragments of colour breaking up the greyness of the city. Real, immediate images, able to recount the City and its stories.
This section is dedicated to single photos, which have to fall within one of the following thematic areas:
STREETS
The infinite aspects of the city and of the lives of its dwellers.
Categories
- street photography
- transport
- urban life
- sport
- night life
- events
- urban jungle
- gatherings
- contrasts
- urban animals
- unposed subjects
- other
Post-production: allowed.
Photo editing: not allowed.
PEOPLE
The human body, to be portrayed in a pose or to fleetingly capture on the street. Portraits, fashion, glam and kitsch, faces and glances, conventional and unusual beauty.
Categories
- portraits
- fashion
- kitsch
- studio photography
- wedding
- boudoir
- lifestyle
- self-portraits
- nude
- other
Post-production: allowed.
Photo editing: allowed.
SPACES
Urban spaces, among buildings and streets, shapes and geometries, monuments and churches, industrial archaeology and abandoned places.
Categories
- ICONS OF ARCHITECTURE (Matrix4Design Prize)
- architecture
- buildings & structures
- urban geometries
- urban design
- city landscapes
- urban art
- industrial
- industrial archaeology
- green life
- drone / aerial
- other
Post-production: allowed.
Photo editing: not allowed.
CREATIVE
Artistic, experimental, conceptual, visionary and abstract photos, which do not belong to any of the previous categories, but still refer to Urban Life theme.
Categories
- fine art
- digital art
- artwork
- advertising
- macro
- minimalist
- conceptual
- abstract
- visions
- experimental
- still life
- surreal
- other
Post-production: allowed.
Photo editing: allowed.
» Icons of Architecture – Matrix4Design Prize Guidelines for Single Photos Technical specifications
Prize offered by our partner Matrix4Design.
The photographs competing for the Icons of Architecture Prize will show buildings created by the great names in international architecture of all times, capturing their identity from a novel point of view and providing an original interpretation. They may portray the building in its entirety or a detail of it, as long as this is representative of the iconic specificity of the project. If you wish to enter, you will only have to add the category Icons of Architecture (Matrix4Design prize) to the Single Photos running in the category SPACES. Pictures will be judged by Matrix4Design editor Andrea Boni , who will select a shortlist of the best photos and the Winner. Please add in the title the building’s name, the architect (if you know them) and the city.
Contestants can submit sets of photos, linked to each other by a common trait. The sets can be in the form of photographic projects, thematic portfolios, series, reportages and storyboards (sequences of images telling a story).
Guidelines for Projects & Portfolios
- Projects will have to contain from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 12 photos. Post-production and photo-editing are allowed.
- Authors will have to write a brief description of their projects in English (Google Translate can be used as a support), to be uploaded with the photos.
- Each contestant can submit as many portfolios as they please.
- Both colour and black-and-white photos are allowed.
- Post-production and photo-editing are allowed at the discretion of the author.
- Photos with signatures, filigrees, frames or visible marks will not be accepted.
- Photos deemed offensive according to the sensibility and the unappealable decision of the jury will not be accepted.
- AI generated photos are not allowed
- To make sure you have the right order of the photos, please add a sequence number to your filename (e.g. filename01.jpg, filename02.jpg, filename03.jpg …).
Technical specifications
- Jpg format (attention to file extension No to TIFF, RAW, etc.).
- RGB color method.
- Single photos: files must be less than 10 MB each.
- Projects: the files that make up the projects must be less than 10 MB each.
- Minimum size on the smaller side: 2000 px / maximum size on the longest side: 6000 px.
- In the Portfolio section, to be sure that the order of the photos is correct, add the numbers in the desired sequence to the file name (eg “filename01.jpg”, “filename02.jpg”, “filename03.jpg” …).
Section dedicated to extended projects, inspired by the theme Urban Life: Urban Photography. Authors can here compete with drafts of their own photographic books, in pdf format. The goal is to give the winning photographer the possibility to produce and promote their own authorial project internationally. It will be published as a paper book by dotART / URBAN and officially presented during the festival Trieste Photo Days 2023.
The new section URBAN Book Award is designed for photographers that feel the limit of 12 photos set for the Projects & Portfolio section as a restraint, and would like to submit extended projects (or larger versions of the same projects already competing in the Projects & Portfolio section).
Guidelines for URBAN Book Award:
- Contestants will have to upload a “dummy”, a draft of the book in pdf format, with a clear structure, even if not well-finished or ready to be printed yet.
- If a pdf format cannot be provided, single photos can be submitted, as far as they are renamed in sequence and gathered in a single zip folder.
- From a minimum of 40 pages to a maximum of 180 pages.
- Maximum size of the pdf or zip folder: 100 MB.
- The suggested paper sizes are: A4 (21 x 29.7 cm, vertical or horizontal) or square (22 x 22 cm). If the winning book is of a different size, dotART reserves the right to adapt it to the ones mentioned before.
- Authors are free to create the layout of the book as they please, to employ text and to choose the photographic style they prefer.
- The winner will receive a publishing offer, with a regular publishing contract.
- The staff of the contest will ask the selected author to provide high-resolution versions of the photos composing the book.
- The book will be realized and published by the end of September 2023, in limited deluxe edition. It will also be promoted through dotART networks (Urban Photo Awards and Trieste Photo Days).
A stage for young talent: Trieste Photo Young becomes URBAN Photo Arena former Trieste Photo Young.
Launched in 2021, Trieste Photo Young is a contest that has grown in importance over time, so much so that as of this year it has been included in URBAN, with the name URBAN Photo Arena. The international contest dedicated to photographers under 35, promoted with the support of Fondazione Pietro Pittini and in collaboration with PAG – Progetto Area Giovani del Comune di Trieste, as part of the international festival Trieste Photo Days.
After the success of the first two editions, dotART decided to grow the contest, integrating the Trieste Photo Young within the prestigious framework of the URBAN Photo Awards competition. Starting in 2023, URBAN Photo Arena will represent a huge leap forward in terms of visibility for young talents, who will be able to compete within the framework of an international contest that is appreciated worldwide.
The innovative and exciting formula of the contest will remain unchanged from the Trieste Photo Young: URBAN Photo Arena will be divided into two parts, a first group stage and a second knockout stage (with sixteenth, eighth, quarter, semifinal and final rounds), along the lines of the World Cup. The progress of the contest will be available on URBAN’s website, where updated rankings will be posted as the jury votes. The contest will run online until the quarterfinals, while the semifinals and final will be held live during Trieste Photo Days, where the jurors in attendance will decide the winning photo.
Guidelines for URBAN Photo Arena
- Contestants can submit one free theme single photo
- While uploading the photo, contestants will have to assign the photo to one of the four thematic areas , in order to classify their work more clearly.
- Contestants can compete in more than one thematic area and/or category with the same photo (see Article 3 for submission fees).
- Both colour and black-and-white photos are allowed.
- Post-production and slight photo-editing are allowed.
- Heavy post-production and photo-editing are only allowed when explicitly specified.
- Photos with signatures, filigrees, frames or visible marks will not be accepted.
- Photos deemed offensive according to the sensibility and the unappealable decision of the jury will not be accepted.
- AI generated photos are not allowed
- The winner will be selected and awarded by the President of the jury.
Technical specifications
- Jpg format (attention to file extension No to TIFF, RAW, etc.).
- RGB color method.
- Single photos: files must be less than 10 MB each.
- Projects: the files that make up the projects must be less than 10 MB each.
- Minimum size on the smaller side: 2000 px / maximum size on the longest side: 6000 px.
* URBAN Photo Award Best Author from this year becomes Press Award
*All participants of URBAN Photo Awards AUTOMATICALLY participate in the Trieste Photo Days BEST AUTHOR.
SUBMISSIONS
The contest starts on March 1st, 2023, and will end at midnight on May 31st June 11th.
To enter the contest, you will just have to fill in the online form in the User Area, to upload files and pay the submission fee. Users already registered in the past years can log in with the same data.
Single Pictures
€ 15 for the first submitted photo
€ 10 for every further photo
—
EARLY BIRD PROMO Until 31.03.2023
€ 12 for the first submitted photo
€ 8 for every further photo
Projects & Portfolios
€ 40 for each portfolio submitted
(regardless of the number of photos composing the portfolio)
—
EARLY BIRD PROMO Until 31.03.2023
€ 35 for each portfolio submitted
(regardless of the number of photos composing the portfolio)
URBAN Book Award
€ 20 for each book submitted
(regardless of the number of photos composing the book)
—
EARLY BIRD PROMO Until 31.03.2023
€ 18 for each book submitted
(regardless of the number of photos composing the book)
URBAN Photo Arena
€ 10 for the submitted photo
—
EARLY BIRD PROMO Until 30.04.2023
€ 10 for the submitted photo
In the User Area you can upload, check, add or delete your Photos and/or Projects & Portfolios / Books, modify the titles and descriptions and manage the payment.
Jury
Entries will be selected by dotART and presented anonymously to a prestigious jury.
The jury and dotART have the right to award more than one photo realised by the same author and to assign it to a different section if necessary. The decisions made by the jury are final.
TIMELINE
1 March – 12 June 2023
Registrations open for Single Photos, Projects & Portfolios, Books
By the end of June 2023
The names of the Selected Photographers will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked). The photographers will have the chance to participate in summer exhibitions and previews as well.
By the middle of July 2023
The names of the Semi-finalist Photographers will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 100 single photos, 50 projects & portfolios and 20 Book Award volumes will be selected.
By the end of July 2023
The names of the Finalist Photographers will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 40 single photos, 20 projects & portfolios and 5 Book Award volumes will be selected.
By the middle of September 2023
The names of the Winner Photographs will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 12 single photos, 3 projects & portfolios and 1 Book Award volume (in this case, the winner).
Saturday 29 October 2023
The final ranking will be announced during Trieste Photo Days festival. The final ranking will then be published on URBAN website and Facebook page.
PRIZES
The total prize value is € 27100,00(updating).
Up for grabs exhibitions, publications, Amazon Gift Cards, prizes offered by our partners, exclusive events at Trieste Photo Days 2023 and much more.
WINNERS EXHIBIT AND AWARD CEREMONY
The highest placing works with be published on the competition’s website and will be displayed in a collective exhibit on October 2023, in Trieste during Trieste Photo Days 2023 festival. The printing of the photos will be the responsibility of dotART. Some of the entered photos may in addition be selected for exhibits in Italy and abroad.
EXHIBIT/PREVIEWS
The best ranked pictures (usually, 20% of the Selected photos – see Art. 5) could be chosen for “travelling” exhibitions around the world in the context of dotART’s events (Trieste Photo Fringe / Photo Days Tour).
PAYMENT
You can pay in the User Area. We accept these payment methods:
- PayPal to paypal@dotart.it or www.paypal.me/dotart.
- Bank transfer to dotART – IBAN IT43F0306909606100000010209 / BIC/SWIFT Code: BCITITMM (please add text: “Urban 2023”. IMPORTANT: include the email used in the upload form)
- Payment by hand at dotART, Via S. Francesco 6 – 2nd floor, Trieste, Italy – by appointment (info@dotart.it or Tel. +39 040 3720617)
- We also accept other payment methods (for example SumUp and Wise): if interested, write us an email
If you wish to pay by bank transfer you can make a single payment specifying “Contribution to Urban Photo Contest 2023 + section1 + Name + Email”.
COPYRIGHT
Each photographer maintains moral and intellectual property rights on their submitted works. Each author grants the dotART association the non-exclusive right to use the winning/selected images to promote/advertise the association’s non-profit activities, subject to official communication to the author (whose name will always be attributed to the work).
ACCEPTANCE OF THE RULES / MODEL RELEASE
By entering the competition, the Author accepts the present rules and declares that he/she is the owner of the intellectual property rights and of the rights of use of the submitted image and of any necessary release notes. Documentation of rights ownership must be presented to dotART upon request.
RIGHT TO CANCEL OR TO SUSPEND THE COMPETITION
If for any reason the Competition cannot be run as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other cause that corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Competition, dotART reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) seen to have tampered with the entry process and/or to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Competition. If dotART elects to cancel or terminate the Competition, it will not retain any rights to the submitted photographs and it will return all entry fees.
dotART is not responsible for the cancellation or modification of the prizes offered by the partners.