2nd Kantara Photo Awards 2023 is organized by Nicosia Photographic Society (NPS), Cyprus.

The entry of this international photo exhibition is open to amateur and professional photographers all over the world. It will be organized under the approved rules of PSA, GPU, IAAP, ISF and NPS.

This exhibition is PSA approved and acceptances received by PSA members are eligible for PSA Star Ratings, listing in the worldwide PSA Who’s Who of Photography and credited towards the PSA Distinctions of QPSA, PPSA, EPSA, MPSA, MPSA2 and GMPSA, GMPSA/B, GMPSA/S, GMPSA/G and GMPSA/P.
Acceptances in this exhibition are also eligible for GPU, ISF and NPS Distinctions.


CHAIRPERSON
Ms. Buket Ozatay, EPSA, EFIAP/d1
POBox 21889
CY1514
Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: [email protected]
Rules & Submission http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/

RECOGNITION
* Photographic Society of America ( PSA 2023-624 )
* International Association of Art Photographers ( IAAP 2023/230 )
* Global Photographic Union ( GPU L230170 )
* Image Sans Frontiere ( ISF 58 / 2023 )
* Nicosia Photographic Society ( NPS 2023-08 )

SECTIONS
There are six (6) sections, all DIGITAL:

A-OPEN COLOR (color only) PSA PIDC
B-OPEN MONOCHROME (monochrome only) PSA PIDM
C-NATURE (color/ greyscale monochrome) PSA ND
D-PHOTO TRAVEL (color/greyscale monochrome) PSA PTD
E-PHOTOJOURNALISM (color/greyscale monochrome) PSA PJD
F-PEOPLE / LIFE (color only) PSA PIDC


- The maximum number of works is four (4) per section. Total 24 photos.
- Each photo can be presented in only one section.
- NUDES are allowed.
- In PIDM section toned and greyscale images are permitted.

Closing Date 30 December 2023

End of Judging 20 January 2024

Notification 3 February 2024

On-Line Gallery 20 March 2024

Catalog & Awards Sending: 20 March 2024


Result and all awarded images will be posted on our website.

Public Showings: There will be a public projection of all the awards and a representative selection of the accepted in February 2024 Nicosia, Cyprus.

6 Sections
Entry Fee Euro 15
Group Discount 5 persons Euro 10

-For Group Discounts contact chairperson:

Each entrant must indicate a group name during the payment and group representative must send the name list
of the entrants via email.

-Group Participation Fee to Buket Ozatay at PayPal ID: [email protected]

-Single Participation Fee via PayPal through our web site: http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/


-by Bank Payment
For Turkish Entrants: TL IBAN TR93 0006 4000 0016 8130 0351 45
For EURO payments around the world: Euro IBAN TR57 0006 4000 0026 8130 0415 11
-via Western Union. Please contact Buket Ozatay at [email protected]

** Images can be changed after payment **

NON-PAYMENT OF FEES
Entries for which no fee is received will not be judged. Regardless of the results, the fee is non-refundable.

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS
IMAGE AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS This exhibition is open to anyone; however, an entry may be rejected when the Sponsor or the Exhibition Organizers, in their reasonable discretion, believes the entry does not conform to exhibition rules and these Conditions of Entry. Membership in any photographic organization is not required.
Penalties: Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who has put on the PSA Penalties List for Ethics Violation. Entry fees are not refundable in these circumstances
PSA Star Ratings
To receive proper Star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same way in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of name changes or relocating to another country. Using one’s name differently in different exhibition exposes the entrant to the risk that many of their acceptances may not be recognized by PSA Star Ratings.
Image Creation
Entries must originate as photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or acquired digitally.
Certification:
By virtue of submitting an image, the entrant certifies the work as his or her own. Images may not incorporate elements produced by anyone else (for example: clip art, images or art by others downloaded from the Internet). Aliases are not allowed.



Reproduction
The entrant permits the sponsors to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the exhibition. This may include low resolution posting on a website. The Photographic Society of America (PSA) may request specific permission from entrants to reproduce entered images in its educational materials. The terms of that permission will be mutually agreed between the entrant and PSA except in the circumstances where the entered image is found to breach the PSA Ethics Policy. In those circumstances the image may be reproduced by PSA, without the entrant’s further permission, for educational purposes to illustrate serious exhibition rule violations. For those reproductions, the entrant’s name will be withheld.
Entries will not be accepted from entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced in materials related to the exhibition.” The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright.
Alteration and Computer Generation Subject to Divisional restrictions (particularly Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism) images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the entrant; adjustments to enhance images or creatively modify images are allowed providing the underlying photograph is retained in a way that is obvious to the viewer. Images may not be constructed entirely with a computer, and must be the sole work of the entrant
Re-use of accepted images: Any image that has been accepted in this exhibition, past or present, may not be entered again in the same Division Star Ratings Class in any future instances of this exhibition. It may, of course, be entered in any other PSA recognised exhibitions but must always have the same title. Re-titling in another language is not allowed.
Entry: An Entry consists of, up to and including, four (4) images entered by a single entrant into the same Section. An entrant may only enter a specific Section once. Entrants may not enter identical or similar images into the same section or different sections of the same exhibition.
Titles: Each image must have a unique title that is a description of the image. That unique title must be used for entry of that image or of an identical Image into any and all PSA-Recognized exhibitions. Titles must be 35 characters or fewer. No titles may be visible to the judges, and nothing in the image may identify the entrant. Titles may not include file extensions such as .jpg or .jpeg (or any other camera capture filenames such as IMG 471). Titles may not consist of personal identifiers possibly augmented by a number; or include words such as “untitled” or “no title”. Titles may not consist solely of numbers unless those numbers are prominently contained within the image, such as a contestant number in a race.
Color and Monochrome: Color and Monochrome images from the same capture that share substantial pictorial content in common will be considered the same image and must be given the same title.

Authors must fill out an Online Entry Form on the official website and submit entries online:
http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/
- Maximum number of photographs per theme is 4. Total 24 photos.
- Photos with any watermarks are not accepted. No title or identification of the maker shall be written anywhere on the face of an image.
- An entrant’s four images will be distributed throughout four rounds of judging for that section.
- Photos must be in JPEG format, dimensions no more than1920 pixels horizontal by no more than 1080 pixels vertical side max at 300 dpi, JPEG compression value 7-12. Maximum file size is 4 Mb. Please note, portrait images must be no more than 1080 pixels vertically.
-Each Photograph must have a unique title. Words such as “Untitled” and “No Title” are not acceptable as part or all of an image’s title, nor are camera capture filenames. Titles must be 35 characters or fewer.
- No file naming is needed. Digital images cannot be altered, including resizing in either direction, by the exhibition or by the exhibition's equipment before or during judging.
- For the purpose of this exhibition, vignettes are not allowed in NATURE ND, PHOTO TRAVEL PTD, PHOTOJOURNALISM PJD Digital images. Any border added must be a single border of white or grey, no greater than 3 -5 pixels in width.

An image may be entered in only one section.

The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA
An entrant’s images will not be presented to the judges consecutively. An entrant’s four images will be distributed throughout four rounds of judging in that section. Distribution of images will be in the same round order as submitted by the entrant. At no stage will a judge be able to view all the entrant’s images together.

SUBJECT MATTER AND SECTION DEFINITIONS
Statement on Subject Matter - applicable to all sections
The fundamental rule that must be observed at all times and applies to all sections offered in exhibitions with PSA recognition is that the welfare of living creatures is more important than any photograph. This means that practices such as baiting of subjects with a living creature and removal of birds from nests, for the purpose of obtaining a photograph, are highly unethical, and such photographs are not allowed in any exhibition with PSA recognition. Under no circumstances may a living creature be placed in a situation where it will be killed, injured or stressed for the purpose of obtaining a photograph. Images that show live creatures being fed to captive animals, birds or reptiles are not permitted under any circumstances.
There are also concerns about the use of aerial photography, drones, helicopters, low flying aircraft. These should not cause any interference with other individuals or animals which causes a disturbance in their normal activity or disrupt the way any individuals or animals interact with their environment. Entrants in PSA recognized exhibitions should comply with all relevant laws and regulations, associated with aerial photography, in the country in which the image was taken.
Entry into PSA recognized exhibitions is conditional on accepting these policies. The content of images must comply with the General Conditions and with the Division and Section definitions listed in these conditions. Images that - in the sole opinion of the judges or the Exhibition Organizers - do not comply, will be disqualified so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other exhibitions with PSA recognition.

Alperen Akharman, EFIAP/p - Turkey
Nature, Open Monochrome, Open Color

Suniel Marathe, APSA, GMPSA, EFIAP/d2, GPU-Hermes, GPU/CR-4 - India
Nature, Open Color, Photo Travel, Photojournalism

Massimo Tommi, GMPSA/B, EFIAP/P, GPU CR5 VIP5 - Italy
Nature, Photo Travel, Photojournalism, People & Life

Shirley Trinh, EFIAP, PPSA, EVNPC - USA
Photo Travel, Photojournalism, People & Life, Open Monochrome

Herdis Halvas-Nielsen, GMPSA, AFIAP, GPU CR4 -Germany
Open Color, Open Monochrome, People & Life

The jury will accord a total of 160 High Quality Awards

OPEN COLOR PIDC
PSA GOLD
GPU GOLD
NPS GOLD
IAAP SILVER
IAAP BRONZE
PSA HM
GPU RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
ISF DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

OPEN MONOCHROME PIDM
PSA GOLD
IAAP GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS SILVER
NPS BRONZE
PSA HM
GPU RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
ISF DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

NATURE ND
PSA GOLD
ISF GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS SILVER
NPS BRONZE
PSA HM
NPS RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
ISF DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

PHOTO TRAVEL PT
PSA GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS SILVER
NPS BRONZE
PSA HM
NPS RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
ISF DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

PHOTO JOURNALISM PJ
PSA GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS SILVER
NPS BRONZE
PSA HM
NPS RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
NPS DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

PEOPLE & LIFE PIDC
PSA GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS GOLD
NPS SILVER
NPS BRONZE
PSA HM
NPS RIBBON
IAAP RIBBON
3 x NPS RIBBON
NPS DIPLOMA
14x NPS e-HM

Best Author Award NPS Gold Medal
Best Club Award I NPS Gold Medal
Best Club Award II NPS Silver Medal
Best Club Award III NPS Bronze Medal

- NPS e-HM is Nicosia Photographic Society Honor Mentions (PDF certificate).
- e-certificates will not be posted. Entrants are responsible for downloading and printing their e-certificates.
- The jury reserves the right to grant additional awards depend on the total number of the entrants.
- The decision of the Jury is final and irrevocable.
- E-certificates for every acceptance & award.

DISTINCTIONS NPS
The photographic distinctions of Nicosia Photographic Society (NPS) are established to reward
the participants who take part in the exhibitions of NPS patronage.
The NPS distinctions are Artiste A.NPS, Excellence E.NPS, Master M.NPS, Grand Master
GM.NPS, GM.NPS/b, GM.NPS/s, GM.NPS/g and GM.NPS/p. These distinctions are free of
charge. NPS will record all acceptances and share the distinctions to the eligible photographers
by email. For more info please visit: http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/

PSA Monochrome Definition PIDM
An image is considered to be Monochrome only if it gives the impression of having no color (i.e. contains only shades of grey which can include pure black and pure white) OR it gives the impression of being a greyscale image that has been toned in one color across the entire image. (For example by Sepia, red, gold, etc.) A greyscale or multi-colored image modified or giving the impression of having been modified by partial toning, multi-toning or by the inclusion of spot coloring does not meet the definition of monochrome and shall be classified as a Color Work.

Greyscale Monochrome images may be entered for Nature, Photojournalism and Photo Travel but toned images are not permitted for these sections.
Monochrome images may not be entered in Pictorial Prints or PID Color Sections.
Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections.


Editing Guidelines for Nature, Photojournalism and Photo Travel
These sections require images to be truthful records, so there are limits on the amount of manipulation allowed.
Editing Guidelines
Processing or editing must be limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible, except that conversion to grayscale monochrome is allowed.
Allowed editing techniques:
• Cropping, straightening and perspective correction.
• Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens, such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion.
• Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the appearance of the original scene.
• Complete conversion of color images to grayscale monochrome.
• Blending of multiple images of the same subject and combining them in camera or with software (exposure blending or focus stacking);
• Image stitching – combining multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively (panoramas);
•
Editing techniques that are not allowed:
• Removing, adding to, moving or changing any part of an image, except for cropping and straightening.
• Adding a vignette during processing.
• Blurring parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.
• Darkening parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.
• All conversions other than to complete grayscale monochrome.
• Conversion of parts of an image to monochrome, or partial toning, desaturation or over-saturation of color

For the purpose of this exhibition any border added to a digital file must be a single border of white or grey, no greater than 3-5 pixels in width.

PSA Nature Definition ND
PSA/FIAP Nature Definition
Content Guidelines
• Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both animate and inanimate, that have not been made or modified by humans.
• Nature images must convey the truth of the scene that was photographed. A well-informed person should be able to identify the subject of the image and be satisfied that it has been presented honestly and that no unethical practices have been used to control the subject or capture the image. Images that directly or indirectly show any human activity that threatens the life or welfare of a living organism are not allowed.
• The most important part of a Nature image is the nature story it tells. High technical standards are expected and the image must look natural.
• Objects created by humans, and evidence of human activity, are allowed in Nature images only when they are a necessary part of the Nature story.
• Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domesticated animals, human-created hybrid animals and mounted or preserved zoological specimens are not allowed.
• Images taken with subjects under controlled conditions, such as zoos, are allowed.
• Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic or any other method of restricting natural movement for the purpose of a photograph is not allowed.
Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections and to the Editing Guidelines for Nature, Photojournalism and Photo Travel

PSA Photojournalism Definition PJD
Photojournalism entries are images with informative content and emotional impact, reflecting the human presence in our world.
• The journalistic (story-telling) value of the image should receive priority over pictorial quality.
• Images that misrepresent the truth, such as those from events or activities arranged specifically for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography, are not eligible.
• A number of images (typically 2-4), each with a small white border, may be combined into a single image that depicts a progression of events or related activity.
•
Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections and to the Editing Guidelines for Nature, Photojournalism and Photo Travel

PSA Photo Travel Definition PT
A Photo Travel image is a portrayal of the real world we live in, as it is found naturally. There are no geographic limitations.
Content guidance:
1. If the image is predominantly or exclusively a land-, sea- or cityscape, these “scapes” must include characteristic, distinctive and recognizable physical features, although it is not necessary that the image identify the exact location;
2. Images that predominantly or exclusively depict people and their activities must illustrate a distinctive culture of a country, region, or continent;
3. Images that predominately or exclusively depict animal populations are allowed, if the animals are in their native environment and are characteristic of that country, region, or continent;
4. Portraits or other close-ups of people or objects, in addition to meeting the above paragraphs as applicable, must include elements depicting some of the surrounding environment to make it obvious that the image was not taken in a studio setting;
5. Images from events or activities arranged for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography, are NOT allowed.
6. Time exposures are allowed, if they do not dominate the image as a special effect (star trails, for example, are a dominating effect).
7. Highly distorted images such as those produced by fish eye lenses are NOT allowed.

Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections and to the Editing Guidelines for Nature, Photojournalism and Photo Travel.


People & Life Definition PIDC
Images show us people in all situations; such as man, woman, child/children, single or group persons, daily life, street photography, traditions, portraits, people at work, social events, human relations etc.
Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections.
Only Color images are allowed in People & Life section.

Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections

CATALOGUE
Online PDF Catalog (Downloadable from Website).
Salon Chair will send an email to all entrants to notify that Catalog is ready to download from Website http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/

NOTIFICATION CARD
Each entrant will receive via e-mail an auto scoring report card with the results of his/her submitted photos. All results will be uploaded in the website of the Salon.

Ms. Buket Ozatay, EPSA, EFIAP/d1
POBox 21889
CY1514
Nicosia, Cyprus
Email: [email protected]
Rules & Submission http://www.nicosiafoto.com/kantara/