Art. 1 - ORGANIZATION

The BìFoto Fest – International Photography Festival in Sardinia is a photography competition promoted and organized by BìFoto APS, which serves as its Artistic and Organizational Direction. These regulations refer to the sixteenth edition of the Festival, which will open on October 10, 2026, in Mogoro, Italy. The Festival is competitive in nature and is therefore to be understood as both a contest and a showcase for photographic projects and professionals from all over the world, with the aim of giving photographers the opportunity to achieve strong visibility for their work and the themes they explore.

Art. 2 - THEMES AND PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Participation is open to all projects, with no geographical or temporal restrictions regarding where or when the project was created, provided that the following requirements are met:

2.1 The photographer or each member of the photographic collective must have reached the age of majority (eighteen years old) at the time of registration for the Competition;

2.2 All photographic genres are accepted, as long as they relate to the Theme of the 16th edition of the Festival;

2.3 Each photographer/collective may submit a maximum of 3 projects, but only one may be selected among the winners;

2.4 The project must consist of a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 photographs;

2.5 Images must be submitted as digital files, 1500 pixels on the long side, with a resolution of 72 dpi, in color or black and white, in JPEG format;

2.6 It is mandatory to include a short biography and a project description. The biography and the description of each project must be submitted in English and/or Italian. For projects by Italian-speaking photographers, it is strongly recommended to also submit the texts in English.

Art. 3 - USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SMART TOOLS

All photographs submitted to the competition must be taken with a camera. Synthetic or artificially generated images (digital images created through algorithms, computer graphics software, or artificial intelligence) are not permitted, nor is the use of generative fill tools in post-production. Any use of such tools will result in the automatic disqualification of the work from the competition.

The use of smart tools or AI-based enhancement tools is allowed, provided that such tools do not result in substantial alterations to the image as a whole, do not introduce new information into the image, and do not remove information captured by the camera. The use of such tools must be declared by participants at the time of registration. Failure to declare their use will result in the automatic disqualification of the work from the competition.

Art. 4 - APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND FEES

4.1 Applications may be submitted exclusively via Picter, the official platform for competition registration https://site.picter.com/bifoto-fest-2026;

4.2 The deadline to create an account on the Picter platform, complete the registration, and submit applications to the 2026 Competition is set for Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM UTC+2 (CEST – Central European Summer Time)

4.3 The organization reserves the right to extend the submission deadline if necessary;

4.4 The application fee is €25.00 (twentyfive/00) for each submitted project (maximum of 3 per photographer/collective);

4.5 The payment is made as a donation to support the Festival's activities and must be completed exclusively through the Picter platform;

4.6 Under no circumstances will the application fee be refunded;

4.7 Applications submitted after the deadline or through methods other than those indicated above will not be considered.

Art. 5 - SELECTION, JURY AND AWARDS

The Festival jury will select, at its sole discretion, 3 winning projects based on the following criteria:

• Relevance of the images to the chosen theme

• Strength of the narrative

• Originality of the work

• Artistic quality of the images

In the event of a high number of submissions, the Organization reserves the right to pre-select projects before submitting them to the Official Jury and to publicly announce a shortlist of finalist projects prior to the announcement of the winners.

Each winning project will be awarded as follows:

• Printing and exhibition of the project at the 16th edition of BìFoto Fest – International Photography Festival in Sardinia (all production, printing, and installation costs are covered by the Organization);

• Accommodation and meals to attend the Festival's opening day, with the opportunity to present the project. Hospitality expenses will be covered exclusively for the author or, in the case of collectives, for one photographer only per collective.

• Long-term visibility of the project, thanks to the exhibition installed along the streets of the town, freely accessible to the public 24/7 for at least one year.

• The Festival undertakes to promote all winning projects through its communication channels.

• No cash prizes are provided, and travel expenses to reach the Festival location are not covered.

The exhibition location of each individual project is at the sole discretion of the Festival's Artistic Direction.

The Jury and the Organization reserve the right not to assign any prize if no submitted project meets the requirements or, conversely, to assign additional prizes, ex aequo awards, and/or special mentions.

Art. 6 OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS

The official announcement of the winning projects will take place by August 2026. Winners will be contacted directly by the Organization via email at the address provided during registration.

Following the announcement, selected photographers will be required to submit BY AUGUST 23, 2026:

• A biography and project description not exceeding a total of 3,000 characters (bio + description, including spaces);

• A short biography and a brief project description of up to 600 characters for the bio and up to 1,000 characters for the project description, for promotion on the Festival's social media channels;

• A photograph of the author.

• Images for printing must meet the following requirements: long side at least 8,000 pixels, 300 dpi, in .jpeg or .TIFF format.

All materials and images must be sent in a single submission via email to bifotofest@gmail.com, including via links from external platforms (e.g., WeTransfer).

All official communications related to the competition and the Festival, including any requests for additional documentation, updates, clarifications, or organizational information, will be made exclusively through the official email address (bifotofest@gmail.com) or via the Picter platform.

This address constitutes the sole official communication channel of the Festival regarding the competition and related activities. Any communications from different email addresses should not be considered official.

For any inquiries related to the competition and the Festival, participants are invited to use exclusively the email address indicated above.

Art. 7 - COPYRIGHT AND USE OF IMAGES

7.1 General Provisions

By participating in the competition, the author grants the organizers a non-exclusive right to use the submitted images for purposes related to the promotion, communication, and implementation of the competition and Festival activities, including exhibitions, print and digital publications, informational materials, the website, and official social media channels.

Selected works may be exhibited in outdoor displays, placed in public spaces and along the streets. Such exhibitions will have a minimum duration of one year and may continue until the natural deterioration of the display materials, without any obligation on the part of the organizers for maintenance, replacement, or compensation.

Participation in the competition implies that the author declares and guarantees:

• to be the sole owner of all rights to the submitted images;

• to have obtained, where necessary, all required permissions for the reproduction and distribution of the images from any individuals depicted, in compliance with the applicable laws in Italy.

The author assumes full responsibility for the content of the submitted works and for any use of images depicting identifiable persons, and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the organizers from any claims, damages, or legal actions brought by third parties in relation to the use of such images.

Copyright and ownership of the photographs shall always remain solely and exclusively with the photographers, except as specified in the following sections regarding the granted usage rights.

7.2 Winning Projects

For the selected winning projects, each photographer agrees to grant the organizers the rights to use the images included in the awarded project for the purposes of production, printing, and exhibition setup.

At the discretion of the organization, the winners' exhibitions may also be displayed in additional venues, both in Italy and abroad, with the aim of promoting the photographers and their work, as well as the Festival and the Award.

The organizers also reserve the right to use images from the awarded projects for the promotion of the Festival and for communication purposes, without time limits, across any online and offline media (including, but not limited to: the Festival catalog, website, social networks, newsletters, promotional materials, screenings, presentations, conferences, and events aimed at promoting the Award and the Festival). In all cases, the author's name will always be credited. All rights remain the property of the photographer.

The organization reserves the right to exhibit a smaller number of images than those originally submitted in the event of space limitations or other constraints in the designated exhibition venues.

Ownership of the physical prints produced for the Festival remains with BìFoto APS.

7.3 Participating and Finalist Projects

Participating projects, as well as any finalist projects that are not selected as winners, may be used exclusively for the purpose of promoting the Festival and the competition (both online and offline), with proper credit to the author. No transfer of exploitation rights is granted for the production of independent exhibitions or further circulation, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the author.

Art. 8 - PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR) and the applicable national legislation on personal data protection, participants are informed that the personal data provided during the competition registration process will be processed by BìFoto APS, as Data Controller, exclusively for purposes related to the organization, management, and promotion of the competition and the Festival.

Data processing will be carried out using paper and/or electronic means, in compliance with the principles of fairness, lawfulness, transparency, and protection of participants' confidentiality.

The personal data collected may be used for:

• administrative management of registrations;

• communications related to the competition, the selection process, and results;

• promotion of the Festival and related activities;

• compliance with legal obligations.

The data may be disclosed to third parties solely for purposes strictly connected to the execution of the competition (such as, by way of example, jury members, collaborators, technical service providers, and registration management platforms), in compliance with applicable regulations.

The data will be retained for the time necessary to achieve the purposes indicated above and, in any case, in accordance with the time limits established by law.

At any time, participants may exercise the rights provided for under Articles 15 and following of the GDPR (access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection, data portability) by submitting a written request to BìFoto APS at the Association's official contact details.

Participation in the competition implies that participants have read and accepted this article regarding the processing of personal data.

Art. 9 - FINAL PROVISIONS 

Participants are required to carefully read the terms set out above. Once an application has been submitted, the participant is deemed to have accepted and agreed to comply with these terms. The Organization reserves the right to disqualify any project that does not meet the requirements for participation in the selection process.

The Court of Oristano (Italy) shall have jurisdiction over any disputes.

The competition regulations may be subject to changes due to circumstances beyond the control of the Organization.

For any matters not covered by these Regulations, the Festival Organization reserves the right to make final decisions.

These Regulations are drawn up in Italian and English. In the event of interpretation issues, the Italian version shall prevail.