2026 OPEN SUBMISSION

DEADLINE: 2nd March 2026

SUBMISSIONS: EARLY BIRD £22 / STANDARD £26

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THEME

The theme for the 2026 Open Submission has been left open to interpretation, therefore removing any restrictions in regards to theme, concept or approach of a photographer or artist’s work.

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JURY

Roxana Marcoci - Chief Curator (MoMA, New York, U.S.A)

Florian Ebner - Head of Photography (Centre Pompidou, Paris, France)

Alessia Glaviano - Head of Global (PhotoVogue, Milan, Italy)

Kim Bubello - Deputy Director of Photography (TIME, New York, U.S.A)

Lisa Sutcliffe - Curator (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, U.S.A)

Michael Weir - Director (Belfast Photo Festival, Belfast, U.K.)

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WHO CAN ENTER?

Entry is open to all photographers, artists, curators, archives, collectives from anywhere in the world. 

Applicants must be Age 16 and over at date of entry. 

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HOW MANY IMAGES CAN I SUBMIT?

A non-refundable fee of £22 / £26 is payable on submission of up to 15 images. Images may be considered as a sequence or individually. 

Entrants are welcome to make more than one application but the non-refundable £22 / £25 will be payable for each additional submission of up to 15 images.

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HOW CAN I ENTER?

Belfast Photo Festival works with Picter to provide an online platform for your submissions. Applications can be made by visiting the Belfast Photo Festival Open Submission page on the Picter website. Please follow all the instructions to successfully submit your work.

Payments are paid through Picter via the Stripe system. 

If you are unable to make payments via Stripe, alternative options maybe available by contacting: info@belfastphotofestival.com

All submission fees will be charged in aid of Belfast Photo Festival, its overheads, exhibition materials and promotion of the 2026 festival. Belfast Photo Festival is a charity registered in Northern Ireland with number NIC102819. 

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SUCCESSFUL AND WINNING ENTRIES

Successful entrants will be selected and notified by e-mail in 2026 with further information. The judges decision on successful entrants is final.

The final method of production and display of each photographer’s work is at the discretion of the Belfast Photo Festival. Photographers must provide, upon request, timely access to exhibition quality digital files, further project and biographic information. 

Photobook entrants must cover shipping costs and logistics to ensure a copy arrives with the Festival team in a timely manner. 

A list of selected applications and awardees will be published on the Belfast Photo Festival and Picter websites in the lead into the 2026 festival. 

Belfast Photo Festival is unable to contact unsuccessful applicants directly. 

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OPEN SUBMISSION, TERMS, CONDITIONS OF USE AND WEB APPLICATION RULES

BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL AIMS TO PROTECT THE IMAGE RIGHTS OF PHOTOGRAPHERS

These terms and conditions of use constitute an agreement between you ("the applicant") and Belfast Photo Festival ("the Festival", "we" OR "our")

READ THIS AGREEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE YOU CONTINUE TO YOUR SUBMISSION OR UPLOAD ANY IMAGE. BY SUBMITTING TO THE OPEN SUBMISSION YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT CONTINUE YOUR SUBMISSION.

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TERMS

All applications must be received by 11:59pm (GMT), 2nd March 2026. Applications received after this time cannot be considered. Selected artists will be contacted by early April 2026. 

The public dates of the Festival are 5th - 30th June 2026. (Festival launch on the 4th June). Some exhibition dates may be longer depending on exhibition venue.

The installation of the Open Submission Exhibition will be assisted and overseen by the Belfast Photo Festival team with involvement of the artist where relevant. The method of production and display of each photographer's work is at the discretion of the Belfast Photo Festival.

If required and subject to availability of work, the applicant agrees to supply all photo-books selected for exhibition, printed and professionally presented ready for public display.

The applicant agrees to insure the requested photo-books are suitably packaged and reach the Belfast Photo Festival by 24th May 2026, ready for display (if applicable).

You agree to your selected prints/photo-books being taken on tour with the 2026 Open Submission Exhibition and to supplying high-resolution digital files of the submitted images for the Belfast Photo Festival to produce the photographs for outdoor exhibition/presentation during the festival period.

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SUBMISSION FEES

Entry for a single Project/Body of Work/Photo-book application is subject to a non-refundable fee of £25 or £22 (Early Bird: 20th November 2025 - 30th December 2026) to be paid on submission. Entrants are welcome to make more than one application but the non-refundable £22 or £26 will be payable for each application.

The submission fee charged is in aid of the 2026 Belfast Photo Festival and directly contributes to the organisation and delivery of the Festival for the benefit of all participants. Belfast Photo Festival is a non-profit and charitable organisation. 

Company No: NI629769

Charity Registration No: 102819

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ENTRY

All entries to the Open Submission must be made via our online submission platform produced in collaboration with Picter. All marked fields must be completed as instructed. Payment must be completed or submission will not be accepted.

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THIRD PARTY RELEASES

For all submissions: If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the applicant and/or that are subject to the rights of third parties' and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the applicant is responsible for obtaining any and all releases and consents if necessary to permit the publication, exhibition and use of the photograph.

Submitting photographers agree that they created the Work(s) and/or that they are authorised to use the Work(s) as submitted, co-authors and as relevant original sources should be referenced or credited and that our use of the Work(s) for exhibition and PR will not infringe on third party's copyright or other rights.

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IMAGE RELEASE FOR PUBLICITY

All selected entries may be published by Belfast Photo Festival or affiliated Sponsors/Funders and Partners (the "Authorised Parties") in magazines or books, on websites, or in any other medium, at Authorised Parties discretion. Such use will be restricted to promotion, publicity, news, or informational education or awareness usage of Belfast Photo Festival.

By participating, all selected applicants grant Belfast Photo Festival and its Authorised Parties usage of images and acknowledge that any Festival and Authorised Party may use the entries and a name credit in any media before, during and after, without restriction in relation to the uses stated above. The Belfast Photo Festival and Authorised Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

Belfast Photo Festival is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any online entry to be received on account of technical problems, human errors of any kind, or any combination.

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CONDITIONS

Applicants agree to be bound by these Official Rules;

1. The decision of the Belfast Photo festival selection panel is final

2. Belfast Photo Festival may use selected photographs, artist name, text context, biography and photography in any publicity or advertising relating to the Festival or future promotions without compensation or approval.

3. Entries are void if the Festival determines the entry to not be original or referenced, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

4. The Festival reserves the right to refuse work for exhibition/presentation if it does not meet the expected print quality of production and presentation for the Festival.

5. In the event that a selected applicant wins any Belfast Photo Festival related prize then is found ineligible or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and the Organisers may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.

6. The Festival reserves the right to amend or extend the submission deadline at their sole discretion. Should this be the case, details will be posted via the Festival and Picter website.

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RIGHT TO CANCEL

Belfast Photo Festival reserves the right to cancel scheduled exhibitions or events if the application, in any way, is perceived to have brought the Festival into disrepute. If for any reason the selected applicant is not capable of exhibiting as planned, they should wherever possible give Belfast Photo Festival at least 2 months’ notice prior to the Festival launch in June 2026.

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COPYRIGHT

At no point does Belfast Photo Festival require artists to sign over the copyright of their work and therefore artists retain all copyrights to their work at all times. However, by submitting their works the artist agrees that Belfast Photo Festival and it’s affiliated Sponsors/Funders and Partners can use their works in magazines or books, on websites, social media platforms and Belfast Photo Festival newsletters, or in any other medium, at ‘Authorised Parties' discretion. Artists and photographers will be credited for their works.

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PRIVACY POLICY

For any information regarding Picter and Belfast Photo Festival privacy policies and how they are in compliance with GDPR, please see the following links:

https://www.picter.com/terms-policies/privacy/

https://belfastphotofestival.com/privacy-policy