21/09/2026
New Talents 2027 Open Call!!!
Thanks to our Jury! Joan Alvado, Julio Pantoja, Shirin Abedi, Sigrid Debuschere and Vesna Latinović.
ORGANISER
The nintth edition of Belgrade Photo Month Photography Festival will be organized in May 2027, with photography exhibitions, lectures, workshops, portfolio reviews, etc., taking place in various venues around Belgrade, Serbia.
CONDITIONS FOR ENTRY
The open call is open to anyone of any nationality, professional or amateur, born after 1st January 2002. However, an entry may be rejected should the sponsoring organisation or its agent find that the entry does not conform to the exhibition rules and conditions. There are no restrictions as to the topic except as outlined in the rules and definitions of specific sections, or otherwise stipulated by the laws of the Republic of Serbia.
Entries must be in the form of photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or digitally. By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant declares the work as their own (pseudonyms are not permitted). The entrant thus permits the sponsors to reproduce all or part of the submitted material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the exhibition. This also may include low-resolution posting of the material on a website.
The organisers of the exhibition assumes no liability for any misuse of copyright. Images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the author.
THEME
To be REBORN is to enter a new state. It suggests change, but also continuity. Something ends, something remains, and something begins again.
REBORN can speak about people, places, memories, identities, communities, nature or society. It can be found in moments of profound transformation, in quiet personal changes, or in the unexpected emergence of something new.
But REBORN does not have a single meaning.
We invite photographers to approach the theme freely, through their own experiences, ideas and visual language. Any photographic genre or artistic approach is welcome. What matters is the perspective, the story and the vision behind the work.
For its 2027 edition, Belgrade Photo Month wants to give space to a new generation of photographers and to the different ways in which they see a world in constant transformation.
What is REBORN in your world?
ENTRY FEE
Free
THE EXHIBITION CALENDAR
Submission closing date 14/2/2027 23.30h Belgrade time
Successful authors notified 7/3/2027
The exhibition will be held during 7/5/2027 in Belgrade, Serbia.
The results will be published on the festival website
www.belgradephotomonth.org
SUBMISSION OF WORKS
The works have to be sent by email to
[email protected]
Authors can apply with colour or black and white photos for the Belgrade Photo Month – New Talents exhibition.
Entries are limited to one project per entrant comprised of 8 to 15 photographs. Maximum dimension for individual photos is 1920 pixels (longer side), 72 dpi, format jpg in best compression quality.
The proposal needs to be titled and each photo must have the project title and be numbered according to the order in which the photos will be viewed in the project.
AI photographs are not accepted.
Photographs should be accompanied by an artist’s statement and a short curriculum vitae/biography (including birth date), along with a text about the proposal, not exceeding 3,000 characters in English.
Proposals submitted in previous editions cannot be resubmitted.
Further information about the form or submitting entries may be obtained via [email protected] or phone number +381638006371
SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR THE THREE FINALISTS AND THE BEST LOCAL PROPOSAL
Photographers nominated for the finalist exhibition will be requested to send selected photographs as high-resolution images no later than 5 days after the date of nomination. Otherwise, there is no obligation on the part of the organisers to print their work for the exhibition.
JURY
The jury will evaluate submitted work on the basis of creativity, originality, technical quality of submitted work and other criteria typically used at such assessments.
Members of the festival are not allowed to participate in the competition.
Jury members:
Joan Alvado (Altea, 1979) is a photographer based in Barcelona. His work is based on the use of imagination as a tool to reinterpret the territory and transcend documentary representation.
Part of his work resides in public and private collections in several countries. His projects have been published in international media such as Newsweek, CNN, The Washington Post, El País, Der Spiegel, The Guardian or Libération, among others.
In 2022, he received the Galician Prize for Contemporary Photography. In 2024, Alvadoreceived a grant from the Foundation Photo4Food and Planches Contact festival to work on the territory of Normandie (France). In 2025, he exhibited his work in the festival Les Rencontres d’Arles (France) and was selected to participate in the RJPI program, organized by the Villa Perochon (Niort, France).
He is represented by the art gallery Marisa Marimón.
For more information, please check:
www.joanalvado.com
https://www.instagram.com/joanalvado
Julio Pantoja (Argentina, 1961) is a documentary photographer, cultural manager, and researcher-lecturer at the National University of Tucumán. His work explores memory, identity, and human and environmental rights.
Trained as an architect and professional photographer, he has worked for more than 35 years as a writer and photojournalist for Argentine and international media.
He has been a member of the Council of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics (New York University), the editorial board of Atlântica (Portugal), a nominator for the Joop Swart Masterclass (World Press Photo), and founder of the photojournalism agency Infoto.
He currently presides over Fundación Infoto and directs the Bienal Argentina de FotografíaDocumental.
In 2022 he received the Premio Nacional a la Trayectoria Artística, and in 2016 he was named Senior Fellow by the Hemispheric Institute (NYU). He has taught, lectured, and exhibited his work in more than 20 countries.
For more information, please check:
www.juliopantoja.com.ar
www.fotobienal.com.ar
https://www.instagram.com/juliopantoja.com.ar
Shirin Abedi is an award winning German-Iranian photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Amsterdam. Her work explores themes of love and pain. In 2023, Shirin received the Inge Morath Award from the Magnum Foundation for her work on female dancers from Tehran. Shirin is an alumna of the New York Portfolio Review, Curating through Conflict with Care Symposium, the Eddie Adams Workshop, DMJX and the VII Academy. She is also a member of networks such as Women Photograph, Diversify Photo and Fotobus Society. Shirin Abedi has received grants from the Stiftung Kunstfonds, the Journalism Fund and VG Bild Kunst. Shirin Abedi was a jury member of the German Youth Photo Award in 2022 and 2024. Her stories have been exhibited in Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Argentina and Bangladesh. Shirin questions common narratives and representation, and teaches workshops on the subject.
For more information, please check:
www.shirinabedi.com
https://www.instagram.com/_shirinabedi
Sigrid Debusschere is an award-winning Belgian photographer and director of the Brussels Street Photography Festival (BSPF). Her work has been exhibited worldwide and published in several international magazines and photobooks. She received First Prize at the Maastricht Photo Festival and Second Prize at the Vivian Maier Photo Contest. She participates regularly as a jury member, curator or portfolio reviewer at international photography events. Her solo exhibition ‘Hidden Magic’ toured in 17 locations across Belgium and she has published two photobooks: ‘I Am Awake’ and ‘Hidden Magic’.
For more information, please check:
www.sigriddebusschere.com
https://www.instagram.com/sigrid_debusschere
Vesna Latinović is a gallerist, cultural manager and publisher. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad, Department of English Language and Literature, and holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management and Cultural Policy from the UNESCO Chair at the University of Arts in Belgrade. Since 1998, she has been the owner and director of Bel Art Gallery in Novi Sad. She served as Director of the Brtka-Kresoja Foundation in Petrovaradin from 2011 to 2016, and is the founding director of the Danube Dialogues Contemporary Art Festival, established in 2013. She has led numerous national and international art projects and was a member of the application team for Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture 2021. She has organized numerous exhibitions of Serbian artists abroad and has been actively involved in promoting contemporary Serbian art internationally. She is co-founder of the Sava Šumanović Fine Arts Award and founder of the Vertikala Award for Art Criticism. Her recognitions include the Perspektive Award for Cultural Entrepreneurship in Southeast Europe (Dubrovnik, 2022), the Women’s Entrepreneurship Award by biznis.rs (Belgrade, 2024) and the Best of Vojvodina recognition awarded to the Danube Dialogues festival (Novi Sad, 2025). She lives and works in Novi Sad, Serbia.
For more information, please check: https://belart.rs/
AWARDS
The organisers will choose three best proposals, including the best local proposal (Serbian) from all the work submitted.
From three selected proposals, the organisers will choose the best one, and will
also award the prizes for the 2nd and 3rd places, as well as for the best local proposal.
All four projects will be part of the Belgrade Photo Month exhibition under the title: New Talents 2027.
COPYRIGHT AND THE USE OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Copyright and all other author’s rights belong to the photographer. In case of violation of these rights the organisers will take necessary legal measures.
Photographers will be credited on all official festival publications and during the exhibition of their work. All contestants accept that the organisers and general sponsors can use submitted photographs for marketing and promotional purposes, including announcements in the media (press, TV, digital) and exhibitions in connection with Belgrade Photo Month Festival.
All nominated and winning photographs will be part of the Belgrade Photo Month festival collection. The festival will be administering the collection according to the established professional rules and principles with the intention to promote the concept of the festival and individual photographers.
photo @ Jana Ćulić
IPFA International Photo Festivals Association
https://www.belgradephotomonth.org/en/new-talents-2027/
