FotoRoom’s efforts to create concrete opportunities for talented photographers through our #FotoRoomOPEN calls continues, and today we’re happy to announce gallery foto forum as the juror of the new #FotoRoomOPEN edition: submit your work before next 15 January 2020 for a chance of having a one-month long exhibition at foto forum. Read on to find out more about the gallery, send your project, and good luck!

The Juror — foto forum

Founded in 1994, foto forum (website / Instagram / Facebook) is a platform for contemporary photography that promotes the understanding and the practice of the photographic medium through a series of exhibitions, workshops, talks and other events. In particular, its program of exhibitions is designed to present a wide range of photographic works—from documentary to fine art—and to include both established photographers and up-and-coming talents. In recent years, foto forum welcomed celebrated practitioners like Erik Kessels, Guido Guidi, Rinko Kawauchi and Peter Bialobrzeski, as well as emerging photographers like Laia Abril, Max Pinckers, Daisuke Yokota, and Rob Hornstra, along with journalist Arnold van Bruggen, with their The Sochi Project. The gallery is currently exhibiting Realpolitik, a project by Luca Santese e Marco P. Valli, two members of the Italian collective Cesura (Launch the slideshow in this article to see installation shots of previous exhibitions at foto forum; turn on the captions for details about each image).

foto forum is located in Bozen (or Bolzano), a picturesque city nestled in a valley on the Italian Alps and the capital city of South Tyrol, an autonomous and historical province where German and Italian cultures cross-contaminate one another.

The Opportunity — Have a solo exhibition at foto forum

In line with their mission to support talented photographers, foto forum is offering the winner of this #FotoRoomOPEN edition the opportunity of having a 4-5 week solo exhibition at their gallery in 2020 (exact dates will be established at a later time).

The details of arranging the exhibition will have to be discussed privately between foto forum and the winning photographer as they will depend on where they are located, the nature of their work, the type of installation, etc. As a rule of thumb, the winner will be expected to produce the exhibition (i.e. having the images printed), so there may be costs involved for the selected photographer in case he/she doesn’t already have prints. On the other hand, foto forum will cover: 1) the costs of shipping the prints; 2) the photographer’s travel expenses to reach Bozen (this only applies if the winner is based in Europe); 3) accommodation at a local hotel for 1-4 days for the exhibition’s opening.

Who can participate, and in what categories

Only FotoRoom members can enter #FotoRoomOPEN | foto forum edition. Remember: signing up gives you access to not just one but all #FotoRoomOPEN calls that run while you’re a member, on top of unlocking resources like our useful FotoCal. Become a member today! (If you’re already a member, you can participate at no extra cost).

Members can enter in two categories:

— Single Images (open to both Amateur and Pro members);
— Series (open to Pro members only).

Important notes — please read these!

#FotoRoomOPEN | foto forum edition is open to all photographers, no matter what your age, gender or nationality is. The call has no theme—you’re free to submit any work regardless of subject, style or approach.

Please note that only participants in the Series category are eligible for the opportunity offered by foto forum. In the circumstance that the foto forum team, at their exclusive discretion, did not deem any of the applications a good fit, the “prize” will remain unassigned. (In all honesty, all the 15 organizations that have juried previous #FotoRoomOPEN calls have had this bail-out option, but no one ever used it. They all always selected a winner!)

The winning entries, as well as a selection of shortlisted submissions, will be published on FotoRoom’s website and Instagram feed.

Submission Guidelines

Entrants in the Single Image category should send a maximum of 3 images.

Entrants in the Series category should send a maximum of 20 images.

The images should be in .JPG format and no more than a few MB each, and ideally 1440px wide (for both horizontal and vertical images). The submissions must be sent via WeTransfer to calls@fotoroom.co (we recommend you copy and paste the email address in the WeTransfer box to avoid typos!). Along with the images, you should also send:

1.REQUIRED — A text document (or pdf) with:

a) your full name;
b) a project statement (if you’re submitting to the Series category):
c) a link to your portfolio website (if you have one);
d) an email address we can use if we need to get in contact;
e) the email address you used to sign up as a FotoRoom member (in case it’s different from the contact email)

2. OPTIONAL — Your bio & CV

3. OPTIONAL — Your idea of how the exhibition could be installed—details such as how many images you would like to exhibit and at what size, if you’d like to use any special supports for mounting (e.g. the images of Realpolitik, the current exhibition at foto forum, are hung on metal billboards installed inside the gallery), how you would like to place the works within the gallery space (here you can download the gallery’s floor plan with exact measurements).

Copyright and Terms of Use

All submitted images must be in the sole ownership of the entrant and not infringe on the copyright of any other party; full ownership of the copyright for every submitted image remains with its author.

By submitting your images to #FotoRoomOPEN | foto forum edition you grant FotoRoom the possibility to use the submitted images—properly credited—on its website and social media with the exclusive purpose of promoting your work and the FotoRoom platform.

The Deadline

#FotoRoomOPEN | foto forum edition will close next 15 January 2020 at midnight (Central European Time). Winners will be announced in February 2020.