POY Latam 2023

RULES

We want to highlight the work of people who portray the complexity and diversity of Ibero-America, beyond exoticisms and stereotypes.

In all categories, respect for human dignity is essential.

Types of images accepted:

– In the POY Latam 2023 we will only accept images taken in Ibero-America, except in the categories “Photojournalists in the World” and “Photojournalist of the Year”, in which images taken anywhere in the world will be accepted.

– Images must have been made between January 1, 2021 and April 30, 2023, except in the categories “Our Gaze”, “Long Term Projects” and “Resignifying the Archives” which do not have this limit.

– In the classic categories, the images must reflect issues that concern society, always respecting the integrity of the scene and the circumstances encountered by the person who made the images.

– The open categories, on the other hand, accept traditional documentary images, but will also consider digitally created or manipulated images, or constructed images as long as such manipulation has a conceptual justification.

– Importance will be given to the narrative quality of the essays.

– Honesty regarding the techniques used and the documentary or artistic nature of the images will be highly appreciated. These considerations should always be included in the captions. Presenting an artistic image as journalistic could lead to the disqualification of the photographer.

– All photos must have been taken in Ibero-America except in the categories “Photojournalists in the World” and “Photojournalist of the Year”.

Who can participate?

– Applicants must be citizens of an Ibero-American country (meaning all of Latin America, plus Spain, Portugal and the Caribbean), or be a legal resident of an Ibero-American country for at least one year. If there is any doubt we will ask for proof of nationality or residency.

Collectives and independent photographers

– Photographs must be taken by an individual or a collective, and must bear only the photographer’s or collective’s name in the credit.

– Each journalist, artist or collective must fill out a registration form.

Registration

– Participation in POY Latam is completely free of charge, but each entry only allows the submission of up to 10 works/projects in total, and a maximum of 2 per category. A photo in a single photo category is considered as one work/project.

– Images must be submitted in the appropriate category. They will not be changed by the judges.

Preparation and shipment

– We have decided to use the Picter platform to receive the jobs. Unfortunately Picter only has instructions in English. We will publish instructions in Spanish and Portuguese for those who need them.

– The applicant will need to create a Picter account at https://submit.picter.com/  if he/she has not already done so. They will receive an email with a confirmation link. You can come back as many times as necessary to upload your material. The POY Latam will open in Picter from April 1, 2023 and will close on April 30, 2021 at 11:59pm, Quito and Bogota time.

– Videos in the Transmedia category should be submitted through our Film Freeway platform https://filmfreeway.com/POYLatam.

– Books should be submitted as soon as possible using the following form https://airtable.com/shrBufogCh0bKWnEE. It is best not to wait for the contest to open. 

Captions and information

Captions can be indispensable when judging. Write captions in Spanish, Portuguese or English carefully. Incorporate your credit and information about where the photo was taken and the full caption into your file using a caption embedding program such as Bridge, Photo Mechanic or Lightroom.

– Please include all information inside each file in the IPTC field. We cannot read the information if it is not embedded in the file. There are different programs that can be used to embed the captions. There is this tutorial for Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA2pjk9kWUE and this one for Photo Mechanic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmps4Hak28o that explain how to embed the information inside the digital files. Remember that you can download a trial version of Photo Mechanic here https://store.camerabits.com/try-photo-mechanic-for-free

– It is essential to fill in at least the following fields: Creator/Photographer (name of the photographer or collective), Caption, City, Country, State. Put the description of the whole essay in the “Caption” field of the first image of the essay.

– You will be able to sort the photos in Picter, and make sure that all the information is present as it will be automatically loaded from the file metadata.

Individual photos and series

– Only one image is allowed within each .jpg file, except in open categories.

– A photo may be submitted only once in an individual category.

– A photo submitted in an individual category may appear in only one series.

– Each series can only be presented once.

– All series or essays consist of a group of 5 to 10 photos, except those that offer other instruction.

– A series or essay should not be submitted more than once in the competition. If several versions of the same essay are submitted in different categories, the photographer may be disqualified by the jury. Only the “Photojournalist of the Year” category allows the submission of several essays submitted in other categories, as it is a personal portfolio.

File type

– Images can only be submitted as .jpg files.

– The minimum size is 4,000 pixels in height or width, but it is preferable to send them in their original size.

– If your original photos are smaller than 4000px on the longest side, we suggest that you enlarge them in photoshop so that they have the minimum size accepted by our platform.

– All images must be recorded in 8-bit, Adobe RGB (preferred) or sRGB color space.

Judging and winners

– The judging of the classic categories will be broadcast virtually on May 25 and 28, and the open categories will be judged on May 26 and 27. The jury will be announced soon.

– The jury will select one winner in each category and will select up to five outstanding entries. Second and third place will not be designated. We encourage the judges to highlight, whenever possible, a wide variety of entries.

– The jury has the power to declare a category deserted or not to award the first prize, but they are always encouraged to highlight the best works.

– The photography jury will meet online and review each and every photograph submitted to the contest. Unlike previous POY Latam competitions, and because the judging will be virtual, the jury will vote privately and anonymously within the Picter platform, and only the images that have received at least two affirmative votes will pass to the final round, which will be broadcast live on our social networks.

– The jury’s decision is final.

– Winners will be announced by Friday, June 1, 2023.

Awards

Photojournalist of the Year: US$1,000 paid directly by POY International.

Winners of the other categories: Certificates sent digitally and various prizes to be awarded by the sponsors, which will be communicated in due course.

The winners of the Transmedia category will be screened at the Museo de Imagem e Som de Ceara in Fortaleza, Brazil on September 16th, 2023. 

Quick answers

– All series must have 5 to 10 photos.

– All images must be taken in Ibero-America, except in the category Ibero-Americans in the World (essay) and/or Person of the Year (portfolio).

– Photos do not need to have been published to participate in the contest.

– Anyone can participate, however the majority of participants are people who are professionally engaged in photography or video.

– Photographs must have been taken between January 1, 2021 and April 30, 2023, except in the special categories that are not subject to this limit: “Nuestra Mirada”, “Resignification of the Archives” and “Long-Term Projects”.

– Photos must include captions within the digital file in the IPTC field, never on the photo itself. You will be able to verify that the information is correctly embedded in the file when you upload your images to Picter. Please do not submit photos without information.

– The deadline to upload your work is April 30, 2023 at 11:59pm (Quito or Bogota time).

Copyrights

The copyrights of the submitted works belong to the persons who created the images. They grant POY Latam the international, irrevocable and perpetual authorization to reproduce the works submitted to the call for entries in any of its publications, web pages or exhibitions, always making reference to the photographer and the prize received in the contest.

The persons who submit their work to POY Latam guarantee that the work submitted is original and that they hold the copyright of the work submitted; and that the person who submits the work has the right to publish it physically or digitally or submit it for possible exhibition and grants POY Latam all the required permissions. The persons who apply to POY Latam declare that the works submitted to the contest (1) do not infringe the copyright, intellectual property, industrial property, personal or moral rights of third parties, as well as any other nature, including but not limited to, copyright, trademark, patent, professional secrecy, privacy, publicity or confidentiality obligations; and (2) that in no case do they violate applicable state, federal, provincial or local law.