“URBAN ANIMALS” – Photography Open Call full regulation

Open call

dotART and Exhibit Around APS associations, creators of the Trieste Photo Days festival, are launching an open call for the new project “Urban Animals.”
This call is open to photographers from around the world.
Submissions to the Open Call are free.

Deadlines

The call is open from 6th December 2024 to 2nd March 2025.

To submit your work you must:

• Register or log in to the online upload portal at my.dotlogic.net
• Select the call URBAN ANIMALS
• Read the project description, rules and regulations
• Follow the uploading procedure for Single Photos and/or Projects/Portfolios.
• Wait for the confirmation email from dotLogic to ensure the upload was successfully completed.

Photo volume

Only the Selected Authors will be featured in a prestigious photographic volume, which will be presented during the Trieste Photo Days 2025 international photography festival (held at the end of October). A selection of photos and/or projects will also be included in the official festival catalog.

Exhibitions

The best photos will be displayed in an international collective exhibition at the end of October 2025 as part of the Trieste Photo Days festival.

• Exhibition venue: “Umberto Veruda” Hall, Costanzi Palace, in the heart of Trieste’s historic center.

After the exhibition at the “Umberto Veruda” Hall, there may be an opportunity for the exhibited photos to be used in future exhibitions curated by Exhibit Around.

Video

Exhibit Around APS will contact some of the selected photographers for interviews to be included in the official video of the project. This “behind the scenes” video documentary will be officially screened during the presentation event and published on the social media pages of Trieste Photo Days and Exhibit Around. The video will also be available on our official YouTube channel.

Meetings and conferences

URBAN ANIMALS will also include a series of conferences, meetings, and related events, aimed at promoting and presenting the photographic volume, the exhibition, and the themes explored within the project.

Selection and fees

Participation in the Open Call is free.

Exhibit Around APS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art of photography. Only selected photographers will be contacted by the Exhibit Around staff by the end of March 2025 and will receive a proposal for publication and a contribution request to help cover expenses for being part of the project and the Exhibit Around circuit.

The willingness to contribute to the costs does not in any way affect participation in the initiative or selection as a finalist.

The requested contribution will cover costs for logistics, organization, photo printing and volume production, video documentary production and editing, merchandising, visual communication, transport, set-up, and photographic reportage, all of which will be managed by Exhibit Around.

All photographers published in the book will be entitled to a special discount on the purchase of one copy of the volume (no free copies are provided unless otherwise specified). All participants will receive a digital copy of the book in PDF format, which will also be published online.

“Editor’s Picks” selection

The photos and projects/portfolios submitted during the Call may be selected as “Editor’s Picks” and published during the Call phase for inspirational or promotional purposes, with credit given to the author and the photo or project/portfolio.

Please note: being selected as an “Editor’s Pick” does not guarantee inclusion in the photo book, the exhibition or video, as the choice of the Selected Authors will only be made after the conclusion of the Call.

Awards

Exhibit Around will choose one Best Author among the selected photographers, who will be awarded with:

• Free 3-night stay for 2 people in Trieste during the official presentation of the URBAN ANIMALS photography book at Trieste Photo Days 2025
• A unique STELE created and personalized by artist Giorgio Celiberti
• A featured interview in text and/or video format highlighting the winning photo or project/portfolio, with related promotion through social media and blog post
• 25.000 PhotoPoints (learn more)
• Invitation as guest of honor to the Authors’ Dinner as part of Trieste Photo Days 2025.
• Sharing of the photo and author on our social media
• Best Author digital certificate
• 1 free entry to a photography masterclass with a special guest during Trieste Photo Days 2025. (masterclass TBA)

Honorable Mentions will be chosen from the Selected Authors, and will be awarded with:

• A silver SIGIL created and personalized by artist Giorgio Celiberti
• 10.000 PhotoPoints (learn more)
• Invitation as guest of honor to the Authors’ Dinner as part of Trieste Photo Days 2025.
• Honorable Mention digital certificate

Remarkable Rewards will be chosen from the Selected Authors, and will be awarded with:

• A bronze SIGIL created and personalized by artist Giorgio Celiberti.
• 5.000 PhotoPoints (learn more)
• Remarkable Reward digital certificate

PhotoPoints Note: Photographers who are not Exhibit Around Members at the time of the announcement of the winners will receive half of the PhotoPoints awarded for the prizes. More on Membership and full PhotoPoints regulations here.

Themes and style

URBAN ANIMALS explores the fascinating relationship between animals and urban spaces. Animals, whether wild or domesticated, adapt and coexist with humans in unexpected ways. This is the essence that Exhibit Around APS aims to highlight through a new photography project to be presented at the Trieste Photo Days 2025 festival.

The submitted photos can capture moments from the daily lives of animals in cities, from their natural behavior in urban environments to the way they interact with human spaces. Whether it’s stray cats roaming city streets, pigeons gathering in historical squares, or pets reshaping home environments, we want to showcase the diverse ways animals navigate and influence urban life.

We seek to gather snapshots of animals in various settings: from wild animals adapting to city life to domestic pets that redefine our homes. It could include images of city wildlife, pets in cozy urban spaces, or animals in surreal, human-made environments. We invite photographers to capture both the ordinary and the extraordinary moments—whether it’s the peaceful presence of a dog in a park or a wild fox wandering through a bustling neighborhood.

The goal is to collect images of connection, coexistence, and adaptation – moments of grace and resilience, calm and chaos, showing animals in their urban habitats, from the street to the home, and everywhere in between.

Here are some other suggestions:

• City Traces: Capturing the subtle signs of animal presence in the urban environment – whether it’s footprints in the sand, nests in unexpected places, or improvised dens tucked away in hidden corners.
• Adapting Fauna: Observing how animals like pigeons nesting in historic monuments or foxes crossing through city parks adjust to urban life, blending into the fabric of the city.
• Daily Coexistence: Documenting the relationship between humans and animals in public spaces – whether it’s neighborhood cats curiously exploring their surroundings or dogs walking alongside their owners on bustling streets.
• Home Sweet Home: Highlighting how pets redefine domestic life – from the sofa to the windowsill, showcasing how animals adapt and personalize human living spaces.
• The Hidden World: Exploring the secret life of urban animals – like city mice scurrying through alleys or bees finding refuge on rooftops – revealing the unnoticed creatures that inhabit our cities.
• Exploring Representations: Featuring the ways animals are represented in the urban landscape – animal murals, zoomorphic sculptures, shop signs, and even mascots that bring animal imagery into city life.
• Nature vs Urbanization: Capturing the striking contrast between the animal world and urban architecture, showing how wildlife and human-made structures coexist or collide in the modern city.
• Animal Memories: Highlighting spaces dedicated to animals, such as pet shops, veterinarians, or even empty cages that remind us of animals’ presence in our daily lives.
• Emotions in Human-Animal Relationships in the City: Capturing the emotions of connection and interaction—tenderness, surprise, fear, curiosity – experienced by both humans and animals in urban settings.
• Urban Rituals: Documenting the everyday rituals of human-animal interaction – walking the dog, feeding pigeons, the cat lounging on the windowsill – simple moments that reflect the quiet coexistence between humans and animals.
• Surreal in the City: Exploring the whimsical, surreal side of urban life, such as animal-shaped toys, decorative balloons, or surreal installations that bring animals into the human world in unexpected ways.
• Exploring Urban Biodiversity: Showcasing the diverse array of animals that contribute to the biodiversity of the city—from the wildlife in public parks to market animals, documenting the richness of urban ecosystems.

Each photographer is encouraged to interpret the URBAN ANIMALS theme through their preferred photographic genre – whether it’s street photography, portraiture, social reportage, creative photography, documentary photography, or fine art.

We welcome diverse perspectives and styles that capture the unique stories of animals within the urban landscape, from candid moments to artistic representations, from raw documentation to abstract interpretations.

Guidelines

• Non-Exhibit Around members can upload up to 10 Single Photos and 1 Project / Portfolio (which must consist of a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 20 photos).
• Exhibit Around APS members will be able to upload up to 20 single photos.
  Subscribers will be able to upload a different amount of portfolios based on their subscription level: Photography Member: up to 3 portfolios, Photography Enthusiast: up to 4 portfolios, Photography Master: up to 5 portfolio and Photography LEGEND: up to 10 portfolios. The portfolios must consist of a minimum of 3 photos to a maximum of 20.
  For more information on how to sign up and become an Exhibit Around member, visit our dedicated page.
• We accept both color and black & white photos.
• Projects and portfolios have to be accompanied by a brief description or presentation. Exhibit Around reserves the right to modify, edit and / or not publish it. The author’s name will always be present.
• An author can also participate with single images from an already submitted project/portfolio, however, it is recommended to upload only the images that best represent the theme of the call.
• The editors of Exhibit Around will select one photo to become the cover image and the official visual of the URBAN ANIMALS project. Photographers wishing to be considered for this selection are encouraged to title one of their candidate photos as “Book Cover.” The ideal image for the cover should be evocative, capturing the essence of the project while leaving “empty space” for the insertion of the title. Examples of cover photos can be found in our Exhibit Around Bookshop area, offering a reference for the type of imagery we are looking for.
• Photos must not contain signatures, filigrees, watermarks or frames.
• Artificial Intelligence cannot be used.

Upload technical specifications

• JPEG format only
• RGB color profile only
• File size must be less than 10MB for each photo
• Short edge of the photo minimum 2000 pixel wide
• Long edge of the photo maximum 6000 pixel wide
• Nospecial textual characters nor glyphs in the name of the files (example of special characters in a file name: %, /, @, £, €, etc.)

Upload

To make sure to have the right sequence of images in the Project / Portfolio, please add add the sequential number to the beginning of the file name.

• Example: 03filename.jpg / 03_filename.jpg / 03-filename.jpg

Time Limit for Photos

There is no specific time limit for when the photos were taken. However, we encourage photographers to submit images that reflect current urban environments and contemporary issues, capturing the essence of how animals interact with urban spaces today.

Copyright

Each participating author declares to own all rights to the photographs submitted for the contest and guarantees that these do not infringe in any way the copyright or other rights of third parties, exempting the Exhibit Around APS association from any liability relating to complaints or legal actions connected to the use of the photographs, including copyright infringement, unauthorized use of trademarks, infringement of privacy or publicity rights, defamation, violations of moral rights or other personal or property rights, in any jurisdiction.

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

Each author also grants the Exhibit Around APS the non-exclusive right to use the winning or selected images for the promotion and advertising of the association’s non-profit activities, in traditional print media (catalogues, trade magazines, etc.), subject to official communication to the author (whose name will always be attributed to the work). In the event of use of the author’s work on online graphics, social networks, newsletters and other web communication media, Exhibit Around APS undertakes with the best professional diligence to cite/tag the author. We apologize in advance in case of oversights and errors and ask you to report missing attributions to [email protected] so that we can provide timely assistance.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE REGULATIONS

By registering for the competition, each participant accepts without reservations these Regulations and assumes full responsibility for the images sent, releasing the Exhibit Around APS from any dispute related to the photographs submitted by the author to the contest.

The author also accepts that his/her works remain published on the Exhibit Around, and URBAN websites for an indefinite period: for technical reasons it will not be possible to request the removal of a work after publication.