Open Submission 2027: Terms and Conditions

Belfast Photo Festival is committed to protecting photographers’ image rights.

These terms are an agreement between you (“the entrant”) and Photo Festival Belfast, trading as Belfast Photo Festival, a company registered in Northern Ireland (company number NI629769) and a registered charity (charity number NIC102819), whose registered office is at 21 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast BT2 8HD (“the Festival”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

Please read these terms before you upload any image. By entering, you agree to them. If you don’t agree, please don’t enter.

1. Key dates

1.1 The 2027 Open Submission opens on 23 October 2026 and closes at 11:59pm GMT on 5 February 2027. Entries received after the deadline can’t be considered.
1.2 The early-bird fee applies until 11:59pm GMT on 11 December 2026.
1.3 All entrants will be notified by email in late March or early April 2027.
1.4 The festival runs from 3 to 27 June 2027, launching on 3 June. Some exhibitions may run longer, depending on the venue.
1.5 All dates and times in these terms are UK time.
1.6 We may extend the deadline. Any change will be published on the Festival and Picter websites.

2. Who can enter

2.1 The Open Submission is open to photographers, artists, curators, archives and collectives worldwide.
2.2 Entrants must be 16 or over on the date of entry. Entrants aged 16 or 17 need the consent of a parent or guardian, who must give their name and contact details as part of the entry.
2.3 Collectives, duos and groups enter as one nominated entrant and payee. The nominated entrant confirms that they have permission from all members to enter on their behalf.
2.4 Festival staff, trustees and jurors, and their immediate families, may not enter.

3. How to enter

3.1 All entries must be made through our Open Submission platform on Picter, with all required fields completed.
3.2 Each entry may include up to 15 images from one series or body of work, or one photobook as a PDF. Image specifications are set out on the entry page.
3.3 Previously exhibited, published or awarded work and work in progress are both eligible.
3.4 You may make as many entries as you like. Each is a separate entry with its own fee.
3.5 An entry is accepted only once payment is complete.

4. Fees and refunds

4.1 The fee is £22 per entry until 11:59pm GMT on 11 December 2026, then £26 per entry until the deadline. Fees are charged in pounds sterling. Any conversions shown are for guidance only.
4.2 Fees are non-refundable once your entry has been submitted, except where the law requires a refund. By submitting, you ask us to begin processing your entry straight away, and you acknowledge that your right to cancel ends once the entry has been submitted.
4.3 Fees support the Open Submission and the delivery of the 2027 Belfast Photo Festival. Belfast Photo Festival is a registered charity (NIC102819).

5. Your work and other people’s rights

5.1 You confirm that you created the work, or are authorised to enter it, and that co-authors and original sources are credited.
5.2 You’re responsible for getting any releases or consents needed for people, property or third-party material in your work, so that it can be exhibited and published.
5.3 You confirm that our use of your work as set out in these terms won’t infringe anyone else’s copyright or other rights.

6. AI and image-making

6.1 You must declare, when you enter, whether generative AI was used to create or substantially change any image, and how. Standard editing (exposure, colour, cropping, retouching and dust removal), whether using AI tools or otherwise, doesn’t need to be declared.
6.2 We may ask any entrant for original camera files (RAW or unedited) or source material at any stage.
6.3 We may disqualify an entry, or withdraw a selection or award, if undeclared generative AI use is found, or if originals can’t be provided when requested.
6.4 You remain responsible for confirming that you hold the rights needed for any AI-generated or AI-assisted elements, under section 5.

7. Copyright and use of your images

7.1 You keep copyright in your work at all times. We will never ask you to transfer it.
7.2 All entries: you give us permission to share images from your entry, credited to you, on Belfast Photo Festival’s social media and website while the call is open, to promote the Open Submission. Being featured doesn’t mean your work has or hasn’t been selected.
7.3 Selected entries: you grant Belfast Photo Festival a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to reproduce your selected images, name, captions, biography and portrait to exhibit and promote the 2027 festival and the Open Submission, in print, online, press, broadcast and social media, before, during and for ten years after the festival, and in the Festival’s archive indefinitely.
7.4 Our funders, sponsors and partners may use selected images under the same licence, only to promote Belfast Photo Festival or their support of it.
7.5 Your work will always be credited. We won’t sell your images, or use them on merchandise or in advertising unrelated to the festival, without your separate agreement.

8. Selection

8.1 Every eligible entry is reviewed by the jury. Selection is made by the jury together with the festival curators, as described in How we select entries.
8.2 The jury’s decision is final, and we can’t give individual feedback.
8.3 Selected artists and award winners will be announced on the Belfast Photo Festival and Picter websites and contacted by email.

9. Exhibition and production

9.1 Selected artists must supply high-resolution files and project and biographical information promptly when requested.
9.2 The Festival will produce selected work for exhibition, including outdoors, at no cost to the artist. The method of production and display is at the Festival’s discretion, and we’ll involve artists where relevant.
9.3 We may decline to exhibit work if the files supplied can’t meet the print quality needed for exhibition.
9.4 Selected work may be shown at additional venues or partner exhibitions, including Photo Schweiz 2027. We’ll tell you before your work is shown anywhere other than the Belfast festival.

10. Photobooks

10.1 Selected photobooks must be supplied professionally printed and bound, suitably packaged, and must reach the Festival by 1 May 2027.
10.2 Shipping to Belfast, insurance, and the cost of return are the entrant’s responsibility. Books on public display may show wear.
10.3 The Festival will arrange packaging and courier collection for the return of photobooks after the exhibition.

11. Travel and visas

11.1 Selected artists may receive a contribution towards travel to the festival opening, at the Festival’s discretion and within its budget.
11.2 We’ll provide visa invitation letters on request but can’t guarantee the outcome of any visa application.

12. Prints after the exhibition

12.1 Prints produced by the Festival may be collected by the artist after the exhibition, in person or by transport the artist arranges and pays for, by a deadline agreed in advance.
12.2 Prints not collected by the agreed deadline will be responsibly recycled or disposed of.

13. Withdrawal and cancellation

13.1 If you can’t exhibit as planned, please give us as much notice as possible, and at least two months before the festival launch.
13.2 We may withdraw a selection or cancel an exhibition if an entry breaks these terms or is found to have brought the Festival into disrepute.
13.3 If a selected artist is found ineligible or declines an award, the award may be offered to another entrant.
13.4 If events beyond our control affect the festival, we may change venues, dates or formats, and will tell selected artists as soon as possible.

14. Data and privacy

14.1 Belfast Photo Festival is the data controller for your entry information. Picter processes it on our behalf. See our privacy policy and Picter’s privacy policy.
14.2 We use your details to manage your entry, contact you about the Open Submission, and announce selected artists.
14.3 We’ll send you newsletters and marketing only if you opt in separately. You can unsubscribe at any time.

15. Liability

15.1 We’re not responsible for entries lost or not received because of technical problems outside our control.
15.2 Nothing in these terms limits any liability that can’t be limited by law.

16. Governing law

16.1 These terms are governed by the law of Northern Ireland, and disputes are subject to the courts of Northern Ireland.

Questions? Email info@belfastphotofestival.com.