21ST INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 2025 is international contest of art photography, organized by The National Photographic Art Society of Sri Lanka
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The contest is divided into the following sections:
• OPEN COLOR
• OPEN MONOCHROME
• NATURE
• WORLD IN FOCUS

Participants may submit up to four images per section

Note: The same image must not be submitted in more than one section.
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Closing date: May 25 2025
Judging date: June 2 2025
Notification date: June 18 2025
Delivery date: August 15 2025
Gallery publish date: August 15 2025
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The entry fee depends on the number of sections the participant enters. The fees are as follows:
• 1 sections = 18 USD
• 2 sections = 22 USD
• 3 sections = 26 USD
• 4 sections = 30 USD

The entry fee can be paid in the following ways:
• PAYPAL ACCOUNT: [email protected]
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• Sri Lankan Entrants Via Bank Transfer
• 1 sections = 2000 LKR
• 2 sections = 2800 LKR
• 3 sections = 3700 LKR
• 4 sections = 4600 LKR

Account No: 000460002133
Account Name: The National Photographic Art Society of Sri Lanka
Bank / Branch: Sampath Bank PLC., Borella, Colombo 08
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Please submit bank receipt through email to [email protected]
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Early Bird Discount up to 10th April 2025 : U$ 26 or LKR 3700/-(Local entrants) for all 4 sections
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(Payment can be made early to get the discount and images can be uploaded later before the closing date)

Images from participants who have not paid the entry fee will not be considered.
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The contest is open to anyone (amateur and professional photographers from all over the world); however, an entry may be rejected when the sponsoring organization or its agent, in its reasonable discretion, believes the entry does not conform to the contest rules and conditions.
Entries must originate as photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or acquired digitally. By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant certifies the image as his own (aliases are not permitted). 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. Note: Entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced or used 'will not be eligible for awards' or inclusion in audio-visuals of the exhibition 'and could be subject to disqualification' by the exhibition sponsors.

By submitting an entry, the entrant certifies legal Age, and own all rights to these images, including copyright or parents or guardians gives permission on his/her behalf if he/she is not of Legal Age. The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright. Images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the maker. All final image must be on photographic film, or on electronic file, or on photographic or electronic print material, mounting excepted.

No title or identification of the maker shall be visible anywhere on the face of an image, print mat or mount.
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Photographs must be in JPEG format, with dimensions 1920x1080 pixels at 300, JPEG compression (if Photoshop used for export): 7-12, file size maximum 4 Mb. Each image must have a unique title. Titles must not include file extensions such as .jpg or .jpeg (or any other camera capture filenames). No title or identification of the maker shall be written anywhere on the face of an image.

Images accepted in previous International Salons of the National Photographic Art Society of Sri Lanka (or too similar to those accepted) will not be submitted for judging

Image titles should be a maximum of 25 characters in English letters. All images must have a unique title;
Words such as “Untitled” and “No Title” will not be accepted. Nature entries should not have "cute titles" but should have descriptive titles that properly identify the subject. Images without an acceptable title will not be judged.

By submitting an entry for the 21st International Exhibition of Photography - Sri Lanka, the entrant permits the organizers to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication in a catalogue, on an internet site and/or in other media related to the above Salon
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The judging will be done by remote online judging. All judges will be using equipment capable of displaying images at 100% of the image resolution. Judges will be using color calibrated equipment. Target Range will be max 30%.
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By entering this contest, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including physical addresses, email addresses, being held, processed and used by the contest organizers for purposes associated with this contest. You also explicitly consent to such information being sent to organizations that have accorded official recognition, patronage or accreditation to this contest. You acknowledge, agree and accept that by entering this contest, your participation status which includes your first and last name, name of the country used during registration at the contest, number of sections entered and number of photos entered in those sections will be made public in a published status list and that the results of your entry shall be made public in exhibition gallery, exhibition catalog.
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If the contest determines before, during, or after the judging that an entrant has submitted entries where one or more images fail to comply with these Conditions of Entry, including the stated definitions, the contest reserves the right and discretion to delete the entry from the exhibition and void any or all acceptances or awards. Fees may be forfeited in these circumstances.
In order to ensure that images comply with the Conditions of Entry and definitions, the exhibition may carry out checks on the images to make sure that:
a) the images are the original work of the entrant and
b) the images comply with the rules and definitions as set out in these Conditions of Entry.
This may involve asking the entrant to provide originally captured image(s), with EXIF data intact, by a set deadline. The questioned image(s) of any entrant failing to comply with such a request for the original image(s) may be considered in breach of these Conditions of Entry, and declined.
Entrants automatically agree to these terms by the act of entering the Exhibition.
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The judges of the event will present the following awards:
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4 x FIAP Gold Medal, 4 x FIAP Silver Medal, 4 x FIAP Bronze Medal, 24 x FIAP Blue Ribbon,
4 x GPU Gold Medal, 12 x GPU Ribbon,
4 x IAAP Gold Medal, 12 x IAAP Diploma,
4 x NPAS Gold Medal, 4 x NPAS Silver Medal, 4 x NPAS Bronze Medal, 40 x NPAS Ribbon,
4 x Judges Selection
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Total 125 awards.
The organizer reserves the right to adjust the number of awards based on the total number of entrants.
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All entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances to be validated by all the international organizations granting recognition or patronage.

[FIAP Definition for “Monochrome"]
A black and white work fitting from the very dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey. A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category; such a work can be reproduced in black and white in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage. On the other hand a black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) to stand in the colour category; such a work requires colour reproduction in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage.

[FIAP Definition for “Nature"]
Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both over water and underwater.
Nature images must convey the truth of the scene. 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 threatening a living organism's life or welfare 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.
• Photographs made where the scene is natural and the animal is unharmed in a carefully managed environment, such as Zoo, rescue centers, and ethically managed natural environment farms are permitted.
• Attracting or controlling subjects through the use of food or sound for the purpose of photographing them is not allowed. Maintained situations such as provided supplemental food due to hardship caused by weather conditions or other conditions beyond the animals' control, where photography is incidental to the feeding of the animal does not fall under this provision.
• Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic, or any other method of restricting natural movement for a photograph is not allowed.
• Human-made elements shall be permitted under the following circumstances:
a) When they are an integral part of the nature story, such as a songbird singing atop a fence post a manmade object used as nest material, or a weather phenomenon destroying a man-made structure.
b) When they are a small but unavoidable part of the scene, such as an unobtrusive footprint or track in the background.
c) Scientific tags, collars, and bands are specifically allowed.
When photographing at a zoo, sanctuary, or rehabilitation centre, it would be construed that the photographer ensured that it’s properly accredited and conforms to best practices.
Wildlife Photography
In addition to the restrictions on nature photography, to be eligible for any Wildlife award and acceptance, images must meet the following conditions:
• Zoological organisms must be living free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat of their own choosing.
• Images of zoological organisms that have been removed from their natural habitat, are in any form of captivity or are being controlled by humans for the purpose of photography are not allowed.
• Botanical organisms may not be removed from their natural environment for the purpose of photography.
• Images that have been staged for the purpose of photography are not 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 colour 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 colour

[FIAP Definition for “World in Focus”]
Just as with travel and tourism pictures, this section encompasses the full range of photographic genres from architecture, culture, events, food, landscape, portraits, etc. A “WORLD IN FOCUS” image expresses the spirit of an era, the essence of a place or of a culture whether it is shown in an authentic scene or whether it is arranged. Digital manipulation to optimise an image in terms of finetuning of levels and colours is allowed as long as the image looks natural. The same applies for removal of dust or digital noise. Techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted.
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Notification cards will be sent by email.
All entrants of the event (participants which submitted images and paid entry fee) will receive on-line PDF catalog of the photo event.
The organizer will take all possible care while handling the emails, awards and catalogs, however will assume no liability for damages and loses during shipment.
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Chamara Ranathunga

email: [email protected]
website: https://npassrilanka.org/