Female Portraits in Dialogue – Photography Open Call Regulation

Open call

Exhibit Around APS and Trieste Photo Days, in partnership with the Fototeca dei Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte di Trieste, launches the Open Call Female Portraits in Dialogue: From Historical to Contemporary Photography. This call offers photographers a unique opportunity to present a solo exhibition dedicated to past and present visions of the female figure, within a museum context of the highest prestige.

The project is funded by the Consiglio regionale del Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Deadline

The call is open from 10 April 2026 to 17 May 2026.

To submit your project/portfolio, you will need to:

• Log in or register on our user platform at my.dotlogic.net
• Select the open call Female Portraits in Dialogue
• Read the rules and technical specifications for image uploads
• Follow the project/portfolio upload process
• Await a confirmation email verifying that your submission has been received successfully

The winner will be contacted by Exhibit Around by the end of July 2026.

Themes and Style

The challenge for participating photographers is to capture the essence of the contemporary female portrait. The lens must bear witness to the plurality of womanhood, exploring its many facets through the power of the gaze and of presence. Themes surrounding the female figure include: identity and self-exploration, motherhood, work, and social transformation.

The selected work will then become part of an ideal bridge between past and present, entering into direct dialogue between the contemporary and the precious historical memory held within the Fototeca.

Participation is open to all photographic genres and techniques that celebrate the art of portraiture. Participants are invited to submit projects/portfolios that, with particular attention to a well-defined and original visual and expressive approach, convey the full complexity of the theme in depth.

The selection of the winning project will be entrusted to Claudia Colecchia, Head of the Fototeca dei Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte of Trieste.

Exhibition and inauguration

The exhibition will form part of the official programme of the 13th edition of Trieste Photo Days – International Festival of Photography. 

It will be curated at a prestigious exhibition venue of the Municipality of Trieste in collaboration with the Fototeca dei Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte of the Municipality of Trieste. 

The extended duration of the exhibition will offer a singular occasion to experience the event, drawing visitors from around the world. The winning project will benefit from a team of experts who will oversee every aspect of the exhibition’s production, from curation to installation and promotion.

Exhibition Production

The production process includes:

• Project supervision and graphic design
• Image editing for pre-press
• High-definition photographic printing on sandwich panel
• Photographic reportage
• Online promotion and social media coverage

Prizes

The selected work will take centre stage at an exhibition held at a prestigious exhibition venue of the Municipality of Trieste during the 13th edition of the Trieste Photo Days 2026 festival, offering a unique platform for international visibility and artistic exchange. 

In addition, Honourable Mentions and Remarkable Rewards will be presented for outstanding contributions.

Project Guidelines

• Participants may submit projects/portfolios only. Single images will not be accepted.
• Each project/portfolio must comprise a minimum of 20 photographs.
• Both colour and black-and-white photographs are accepted.
• Projects/portfolios must be submitted in digital format.
• Projects/portfolios may be accompanied by a statement or description, which Exhibit Around reserves the right to edit and/or not publish. The author’s name will always be credited.
• Photographs must not contain signatures, watermarks, or borders.
• Duplicate images within the same portfolio will not be permitted.
• In the Portfolio section of the dotLogic portal, to ensure the correct ordering of images, please add numbers to the file names in the desired sequence (e.g. “filename03.jpg”, “08filename.jpg”, etc.).
• The use of images generated or manipulated through artificial intelligence is not permitted.

Images Technical Specifications

• Format: JPG
• Colour mode: RGB or sRGB
• Individual file size: no larger than 10 MB
• Minimum dimension of the shorter side: 2,000 px
• File names (filename.jpg) must not contain special characters (e.g. %, /, @, £, €, etc.)

“Editor’s Picks” selection

Submitted projects/portfolios may be selected as “Editor’s Picks” and published for inspirational or promotional purposes, always crediting the author and the title of the work. Please note: selection as an Editor’s Pick does not guarantee winning the Call. The winner will be chosen solely by the appointed jury.

Copyright

Promoters: Exhibit Around APS, dotART Associazione Culturale, Trieste Photo Days, Fototeca dei Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte del Comune di Trieste, with the contribution of Consiglio regionale of Friuli Venezia Giulia

Each participating author declares that they hold full rights over the photographs submitted to the contest and guarantees that these do not infringe upon the copyright or any other rights of third parties, thereby releasing the Promoters from any liability in relation to claims or legal proceedings connected to the use of the photographs, including copyright infringement, unauthorised use of trademarks, violation of privacy or publicity rights, defamation, breach of moral rights, or any other personal or property rights, in any jurisdiction.

Each author retains the moral and intellectual property rights over the works submitted.

Each author also grants the Promoters the non-exclusive right to use the winning or selected images for the promotion and publicity of the associations’ non-profit activities, in traditional print media (catalogues, trade publications, etc.), following official communication to the author (whose name will always be credited alongside the work).

In the event that an author’s work is used in online graphics, social media, newsletters, or other digital communications, the Promoters undertake to credit and/or tag the author with the utmost professional diligence. We apologise in advance for any oversights or omissions, and kindly ask that any missing attributions be reported to info@exhibitaround.com so that we may address them promptly.

Acceptance of the Rules and Regulations

By registering for the competition, each participant unreservedly accepts these Rules and Regulations and assumes full responsibility for the images submitted, releasing the Promoters from any dispute arising in connection with the photographs entered into the contest by the author.

The author also accepts that their works will remain published on the Promoters‘ websites indefinitely: for technical reasons, it will not be possible to request the removal of a work once it has been published.

Final Approval

The Call offers members of Exhibit Around APS a unique opportunity for visibility and professional growth: participation in the Trieste Photo Days exhibition programme with a solo exhibition.

The aim is to create an exhibition at one of the prestigious exhibition venues of the Municipality of Trieste in collaboration with the Fototeca dei Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte of the Municipality of Trieste – establishing it not only as a highlight of the festival but as an integral part of the city’s artistic and cultural landscape. This initiative has been made possible through the support of the institutions that have long championed the associations behind the festival.