Direct Look Documentary Photography Competition and $ 650 Cash Prize

The FOTODOC Center for Documentary Photography at the Sakharov Center invites photographers all over the world to participate in the Direct Look Photography Contest about problems pertaining to relations between people and society, and the state, as well as ways of addressing these problems.

Goals of the Contest:

• Facilitate growth and promotion of independent journalism,
• Support authors who research issues of the relationship between people and society and state,
• Support photo projects based on respect and advocacy of human dignity, underlying principles of the Constitution of Russia, and the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Contest Categories:

• The Problem:

Issues, friction, disagreements, or discord that arise within the society between people and community, civic institutions, and state.

• The Conflict:

The most heated methods of solving issues, disagreements, or discord within the society between people and community, civic institutions, and state. It is manifested in parties acting against each other and usually accompanied by negative emotions that extend beyond the existing norms and rules.

• The Compromise:

Conflict resolution through dialogue, social change, or reform.

• The winners who will take first place in each nomination will get 50 000 rubles (about $650).
• Nine finalists in three distinct categories will obtain honorable prizes from the Direct Look photo contest.
• The winners’ series will be shown at the exhibition in October 2021.
• Projects included in the short-list will be printed in the photo contest catalog.

Note: The contest does not cover travel expenses and costs of accommodations in Moscow for contest participants.

• The contest is open to all photographers, professional and amateur, regardless of age, sex, or nationality.
• All photographs should be no older than 4 years old (2017 through 2021).
• The submission and entry are free.
• Each photographer may submit up to three photo series (reports) one per category. Each entry shall comprise no less than 5 and not exceed 15 images. All entry descriptions and image captions must be in English. The content of the project, specified in the description, should not be duplicated in image captions. Restriction on the number of characters: the project description should not contain more than 1100 characters, one space per word; image captions should not contain more than 500 characters, one space per word.
• The organizers retain the right to make editorial corrections to the texts of the contest finalists before publishing shortlisted projects.
• By signing the electronic registration form and submitting photos participants acknowledge and agree to the rules, terms, and conditions of the contest.
• Entries must comprise series of images representing reports, stories, or long-term photography projects.
• Digitally edited photos, as well as photos enhanced electronically or by any other means, will not be allowed for submission.
• The curators retain the right to refuse any entry if entrants do not meet eligibility requirements.
• The jury shall announce contest results and name award winners in October 2021 at the Sakharov Center during the opening ceremony of the final gala exhibition.
• Entrants must have sole ownership of the copyright for all images.
• Any work submitted to the contest may be used for promotion. The organizing committee acknowledges that the copyright of each image belongs to the photographer of the work, but no royalties will be payable to the photographer if the image is published in the media or exhibitions related to the contest.

Submission Rules:

Contest and final gala exhibition entries shall be selected in two stages.

Stage 1: Images must be submitted for preliminary consideration and Jury voting in digital format only.

• File type: .jpg image with compression at level 8 (at minimum);
• Width: exactly 1200 pixels on the long side of the image;
• File size: no larger than 400 Kb;
• Resolution: 72 dpi;
• Mode: black-and-white images – Grayscale or RGB, color images – RGB;

Stage 2: Owners of the selected photographs will be contacted to submit a higher resolution of the chosen entries for the final assessment by the jury. These requirements serve to protect the rights of participants, limit replication of images and significantly facilitate the work of the organizing committee and jury.

About Direct Look:

Direct Look International Photography Contest is a joint project of the Sakharov Center and FOTODOC Center for Documentary Photography.

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