BFF Mantova 2025 Open Call

Selected images will be curated by the internal committee of the Biennale della Fotografia Femminile for an exhibition and three recipients will also receive a cash prize, a dedicated feature and equipment.

Overview

Submissions are now open to present photographic images or an exhibition project for the fourth edition of the Biennale della Fotografia Femminile, which will take place in Mantua, Italy, from March 6 to 29, 2026. The call is open exclusively to people over 18 years old who have been socialized as women or identify as non-binary, as well as to collectives with at least 50% women members. 

The selected images will be curated by the internal committee of the Biennale della Fotografia Femminile and exhibited in public spaces across the city of Mantua, such as local businesses, shops, store windows, bookstores, coworking spaces, restaurants, and more. The photographs will be visible during each venue's opening hours. The location, size, installation, and number of images per project will be determined at the discretion of the committee. 

Among the projects selected for exhibition, three will receive special prizes: a €500 fine art printing voucher redeemable at Fotofabbrica Piacenza; a dedicated feature in the photography magazine Il Fotografo; a Leather Camera Bags kit including: one T3-plus-009 camera bag, one shoulder strap, and one wrist strap. 

Practical Info

Projects must explore the theme of this edition: LIMINAL.

How do individuals and communities respond to the ambiguity of the threshold? To what is undefined, hard to grasp, and resistant to conceptual framing? How do humans relate to family, environment, politics, belief systems, time, and space during these in-between phases? 

Submitted projects must include a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 photographs. 

Digital photographs or scans of analog photographs will be accepted. Any photographic equipment may be used: large format cameras, pinhole, 35mm, mirrorless, smartphones, etc. All photographic styles are welcome: reportage, portraiture, conceptual photography, storytelling, etc. 

About the Biennale della Fotografia Femminile

The Biennale della Fotografia Femminile aims at filling a substantial gap in the contemporary landscape by collating and displaying a selection of the complex female authorship in photography. Once every two years, the festival opens Mantua’s doors to the world, curating a series of photo exhibitions - with Alessia Locatelli’s artistic direction - and other collateral events like talks, screenings and workshops. The first of its kind in Italy, the event debuted its first edition on the theme of “Work” in 2020, a topic represented in its multifaceted aspects by women photographers. The festival acts as a platform to support and amplify not just the female gaze and voices but also those of marginalised communities who often see their very existence ignored and questioned.