Sarajevo Photography Festival Open Call 2025

The festival’s Grand Prix prize is €2,000, while all first-place winners receive an award sponsored by Canon and a festival statue. The total value of prizes given is €7,000.

Overview

The competition at Sarajevo Photography Festival provides an opportunity for photographers to showcase their work to a global audience. A jury made of internationally recognized experts, including Pulitzer Prize winners, festival and gallery directors, ensures an objective and high-level selection process.

Each year, the top 3 winners in each of the 8 competition categories are awarded for their outstanding work. Additionally, the jury may grant honorable mentions to exceptional entries. The festival’s Grand Prix prize is €2,000, while all first-place winners receive an award sponsored by Canon and a festival statue. The total value of prizes given is €7,000.

The award ceremony will take place at the National Theatre in Sarajevo in 2025, celebrating the achievements of talented photographers from around the world.

Practical Info

Applicants can submit their work into different categories. The Documentary (series) category welcomes straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects, and/or events. This category must be a photo series from 4 to 6 photos that fit together as a meaningful whole. The category includes photos of events, news, sports, photos with a social message. Photos in this category must include a brief description. The Landscape category is for photography that is devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Aerial, underwater and wildlife included. Apart from natural landscapes, this category also includes urban sceneries, city landscapes and architectural details and textures. Photographers may apply with a single shot in this category. The Life category is open to images capturing people in situations, real-life events, and the art of daily living in an artistic manner. The primary goal is to tell stories about people’s lives or to inspire people at different times. It covers multidisciplinary genres of photography. You may apply with a single shot in this category.

The Conceptual category may include elements of any photographic genre, photos that express an idea, a message, or an emotion through the image and the technique used to create it. It encourages innovative approaches, including abstract photography, digital manipulation, and experimental styles that go beyond traditional genres. Emphasis is placed on aesthetics and the photographer’s unique perspective. This category can include photo series (up to 4 photos) or a single photo submission.

The Mobile Phone category includes all images created on mobile phone. No limitation on the topic.
This category can include photo series (up to 4 photos) or a single photo submission. The Fashion category includes beauty, photographs of models and clothing, street fashion, nude, abstract, etc. It provides a space for photographers to explore style, expression, and artistic vision in the broadest sense. This category can include photo series (up to 4 photos) or a single photo submission. Additionally, the Event category captures the essence of special occasions, from cultural and social gatherings to personal celebrations. It includes portraits and documentary-style photography that showcase the atmosphere, emotions, and unique moments of events such as weddings, engagements, festivals, and ceremonies. Photographers may apply with a single shot in this category. Finally, the Portrait category is focusing on the human element, photographs where people are the focus, whether a single person or a group. It can be images that tell a story about a people and their culture and traditions, or artistic images capturing the personality of a person or group of people, self-portraits included. This category can include photo series (up to 4 photos) or a single photo submission.

Sarajevo Photography Festival accepts photos taken in the last 3 years (2022-2025), except for the Documentary and Conceptual category where we welcome long-term projects that showcase sustained commitment to a story.

About Sarajevo Photography Festival

Sarajevo Photography Festival (SPF) is an annual international event celebrating photography in the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bringing together both emerging and established photographers, the festival serves as a platform for artistic exchange, cultural dialogue, and social engagement.