עברית

About Call

Local Testimony, the annual photojournalism and documentary photography exhibition, is displayed every year at MUZA, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv. The exhibition features the best works of Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign photographers active in our region, selected by an independent jury and exhibition curator replaced every two years. The exhibition reflects the events of the past year and immortalizes human moments of cultural and social importance in different spheres of life.

What winners receive

The photographers and video creators whose work are selected for the grand prize winners by the jury will receive a total of 30,000 NIS shared equally between:

1. Photo of the Year - in memory of Roee Idan, sponsored by the Union of Journalists in Israel

2. Series of the Year - sponsored by the Local Testimony board

3. Video of the Year - creation prize, "Shomrim", The Center for Media and Democracy.

The prize will be devoted to the creation of a new video work in cooperation with the Shomrim board, which will assist with research, writing and production. The new joint work will be exhibited in the following year Local Testimony exhibition.

About Edut Mekomit

The Local Testimony board is made up of leading professionals working in the field of photography. The board creates and manages projects, exhibitions and workshops in the domain of social, documentary, journalistic, and environmental photography. Our flagship project is the Local Testimony exhibition - an annual exhibition of photo-journalism and documentary photography appearing at the Muza - Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, alongside the international photo-journalism exhibition World Press Photo.

These exhibitions attract tens of thousands of visitors every year and are widely covered in the different media channels.

The Local Testimony team has been active continuously since 2003 and we have mounted dozens of exhibitions in Israel and abroad, with independent initiatives.

How to Enter

• Israeli, Palestinian, and foreign photojournalists and documentary photographers and artistic photographers active in Israel over at least the past three years, provided they are:

(a) Photographers with a press card (GPO) or the Union of Journalist in Israel card.

(b) Photographers who do not have a press card, but whose photographs have been published in printed and professional online media during the past year, may participate in the contest in every category except News.

(c) Artistic photographers who have exhibited their work in solo or group exhibitions in contemporary art museums and galleries during the past four years, may participate in the contest in every category except News.

• To be admissible to the contest, photographs must have been taken in Israel and/or in the Palestinian Authority, or document events that took place outside these areas, but with a clear connection to them: For example, documentation of an Israeli humanitarian or other delegation abroad.
• Exclusive photographs of public or individual public relations bodies, or of events that were closed to other photojournalists are not admissible, unless they were carried out in frameworks (pulls) agreed upon by all photographers.

Categories

1. Single photographs: Up to 10 photographs may be submitted in each of the following categories:

• News - Major current events covered in the principal media channels. This category is only open to photographers with press cards (GPO) or the Union of Journalists in Israel.
• Religion and Faith - Lifestyle, beliefs, customs, rituals and ceremonies.
• Society and Community - The conflicts and day-to-day life of the different communities inhabiting the region.
• Urbanism and Culture - Street photography, architecture, art and design.
• Sport - Professional, competitive and amateur sports, the participants and their supporters.
• Nature and the Environment - Photographs of landscapes, flora and fauna, as well as issues relating to ecology and preservation of the environment.

2. Short series:

(a) A sequence of photographs illustrating the same event or story that took place during the year of the contest, with greater documentary value than a single photograph.

(b) Up to 4 series may be submitted, each including only 4-6 photographs.

(c) To be eligible, a series should be concerned with one of the contest categories. A series may also combine more than one category, as long as it forms a sequence or a narrative with special documentary significance.

(d) Possession of a press card is not required for submitting series.

3. Long Exposure

(a) A series of photographs presenting a narrative with documentary depth, lasting more than one year, with a value greater than a sequence of photographs from the same event, that proffers a unique individual visual language.

(b) The series should include from 10-15 photographs. At least 3 of the photographs must be from the past year.

4. Video

(a) Video works and short video clips, produced from 2025-2026, that fall into one of the categories of the contest.

(b) The length of a submitted video should not exceed 7 minutes, with a minimum resolution of 1920 pixels on the long side.

(c) 1-4 images from the video in JPG format.

(d) Make sure that the file name is your name in English, in Latin characters.

(e) Videos should be uploaded to the Local Testimony website competition.

Video creators should note that it is the sole responsibility of the creator to obtain the necessary licenses from ACUM. Since this is a complex process and sometimes almost impossible, we recommend using original material or material available for use free of charge on the soundtrack of your video work.