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Rules 2024
Contest
The cultural association dotART, based in Trieste, Italy, is organising the 15th edition of URBAN Photo Awards contest.
THEMES AND SECTIONS
The contest is open to everybody and organized into 4 sections:
- Single Photos
- Projects & Portfolios
- URBAN Book & Zine 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
(e.g. everything that can be done in a darkroom, use of Adobe Lightroom)
Photo editing: not allowed
(e.g. photo manipulation or modification of the subject with Photoshop)
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
(e.g. everything that can be done in a darkroom, use of Adobe Lightroom)
Photo editing: allowed
(e.g. photo manipulation or modification of the subject with Photoshop)
SPACES
Urban spaces, among buildings and streets, shapes and geometries, monuments and churches, industrial archaeology and abandoned places.
Categories
- architecture
- buildings & structures
- urban geometries
- urban design
- city landscapes
- urban art
- industrial
- industrial archaeology
- green life
- drone / aerial
- other
Post-production: allowed
(e.g. everything that can be done in a darkroom, use of Adobe Lightroom)
Photo editing: not allowed
(e.g. photo manipulation or modification of the subject with Photoshop)
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
(e.g. everything that can be done in a darkroom, use of Adobe Lightroom)
Photo editing: allowed
(e.g. photo manipulation or modification of the subject with Photoshop)
Guidelines for Single Photos
- Contestants can submit as many photos as they please, with no number limits per thematic area and/or category.
- While uploading the photos, contestants will have to assign each 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.
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 and/or zine, 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 2024.
The new section URBAN Book & Zine Award is designed for photographers that live 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).
* In the case of zines, their printing and production is constrained by the complexity of the format in which they are designed. Zines that feature excessively complex and sophisticated print layouts will not be produced and printed.
However, if the winner decides to produce the zine at his own expense, he will be able to sell copies as established by the prize.
Guidelines for URBAN Book & Zine Award:
- Contestants will have to upload a “dummy”, a draft of the book and/or zine 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 for books. Maximum 64 pages for zines.
- 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/zine 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 and/or zine 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 winning book and zine will be realized and published by the end of September 2024, in limited deluxe edition. It will also be promoted through dotART networks (Urban Photo Awards and Trieste Photo Days).
A stage for young talent: 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 that starting from last years edition 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 the Pietro Pittini Foundation and in collaboration with PAG – Youth Area Project, as part of the international festival Trieste Photo Days.
After the success of the first two editions, dotART decided to make the young contest even bigger, integrating the Trieste Photo Young within the prestigious URBAN Photo Awards competition. URBAN Photo Arena will represent a huge opportunity in terms of visibility for young talents, who will be able to compete within the environment of an international contest that is appreciated worldwide.
The innovative and exciting formula of the contest will remain unchanged: 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.
All participants of URBAN Photo Awards automatically compete for the Best Author prize of Trieste Photo Days.
SUBMISSIONS
The contest starts on April 1st, 2024, and will end at midnight on June 16 June 23*.
*the contest ended on June 16. Uploads are open for 5 extra days during preliminary checks.
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
€ 9 for every further photo
—
1 FREE PHOTO Until 23.06.2024
Projects & Portfolios
€ 35 for each portfolio submitted
(regardless of the number of photos composing the portfolio)
URBAN Book & Zine Award
€ 20 for each submitted book
(regardless of the number of photos composing the book)
€ 10 for each submitted zine
(regardless of the number of photos composing the zine)
URBAN Photo Arena
Free
In the user area you can upload, check, add or delete your Photos and/or Projects & Portfolios / Books / Zines, 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 April – June 16 June 23, 2024
Registrations open for Single Photos, Projects & Portfolios, Books
By the end of June 2024
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 2024
The names of the Semi-finalist Photographers will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 800 single photos, 100 projects & portfolios and 100 Book Award volumes will be selected.
By the end of July 2024
The names of the Finalist Photographers will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 200 single photos, 30 projects & portfolios and 5 Book Award volumes will be selected.
By the middle of September 2024
The names of the Winner Photographs will be published on the website in alphabetical order (not ranked): around 40 single photos, 5 projects & portfolios and 3 Book Award volume (in this case, the winner).
Saturday 26 October 2024
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 € 45.900,00 (updating).
Up for grabs exhibitions, publications, Amazon Gift Cards, prizes offered by our partners, exclusive events at Trieste Photo Days 2024 and much more.
Prizes can be collected at the Trieste Photo Days international photography festival during the awards ceremony that will be held live and where photographers will be awarded in the presence of the public and special guests.
In case of impossibility to attend or delegate another person, the awards will be sent, with the exception of the trophies signed by Giorgio Celiberti that can only be collected in person.
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 2024, in Trieste during Trieste Photo Days 2024 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 2024”. 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 2024 + section1 + Name + Email”.
COPYRIGHT
Each photographer retains the moral rights and intellectual property rights to their submitted works. Each author grants dotART association the non-exclusive right to use the winning/selected images to promote/publicize the association’s non-profit activities through traditional print media (catalogs, trade magazines, etc.), with prior official notification to the author (whose name will always be attributed to the work). In the case of the author’s work being used in online graphics, social networks, newsletters, and other web communication media, dotART commits to cite/tag the author with the utmost professional diligence. We apologize in advance for any oversights and errors. Please report any missing attributions to info@urbanphotoawards.com so we can promptly rectify them.
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.
