GOLD OF RUSSIA is international contest of art photography, organized by International Club of Art Portrait (ICAP), Russia.

The contest is divided into the following sections:
• OPEN COLOR
• OPEN MONOCHROME
• PORTRAIT (Color and Monochrome)
• NATURE (Color and Monochrome)
• TRAVEL (Color and Monochrome)

Closing date: November 10, 2026
Judging date: November 15, 2026
Notification date: November 22, 2026
Delivery date: February 1, 2027

INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES: 20 EUR
ICAP members: 10 EUR
IIG members: 10 EUR
VARADINUM CLUB members: 10 EUR
JBJEKTIV CLUB members: 10 EUR
PAYMENT METHODS:
By PayPal through our website;
PayPal ID: [email protected]

We accept payment in any currency. During payment, PayPal converts your currency to the above stated
Euro fees at its daily exchange rate.

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 ES-COE. Membership in any photographic organization is not required.
Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is on the PSA Penalties List for Ethics Violation. Entry fees are not refundable in these circumstances.
Image creation and ownership
In all sections of the exhibition, images must originate as photographs made by the entrant. They may not incorporate identifiable images produced by anyone else (for example: clip art, replacement skies, or stock images). Images created in whole or in part by image creation software (frequently called ‘AI images) are not allowed. Editing or alteration of images is permitted within the limits specified in the relevant section definitions that are available here https://psa-photo.org/page/division-definitions
Any person submitting or attempting to submit a totally AI generated image that does not begin with a light capture from the maker, from any Photographic Society of America exhibition, social media, event, or publication, other than for editorial purposes, shall be prohibited from PSA for a period of from 3 years to life.
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 ones name differently in different exhibition exposes the entrant to the risk that many of their acceptances may not be recognized by PSA Star Ratings.
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 entrants further permission, for educational purposes to illustrate serious exhibition rule violations. For those reproductions, the entrants 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
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. Similar is defined as almost identical in subject, composition, props, lighting, or technique so that a reasonable person viewing the entries together would decide the entrant has duplicated the previous image except for minor changes.
Titles: Each image must have a unique title that relates to the content 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.
The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA
An entrants images will not be presented to the judges consecutively. An entrants 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 entrants images together.

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.
The photographs of participants with the application are submitted in these ways:
- uploading thought our website: https://theiaap.com/e/gold/
- by e-mail: [email protected]

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%.

By entering this contest, the participant explicitly consents to the personal details supplied, including physical addresses and email addresses, being held, processed and used by the contest organizers for purposes associated with this contest. The participant also explicitly consents to such information being sent to organizations that have accorded official recognition, patronage or accreditation to this contest. The participant acknowledges, agrees and accepts that by entering this contest, their participation status, which includes 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 the entry shall be made public in the exhibition gallery and the exhibition catalog.
The participant also agrees and accepts the policy regarding non-compliance to the rules of PSA.

The publication of works generated by neural networks is prohibited.

• Vladimir Jovanovski, (North Macedonia),
• Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, (Egypt),
• Mohammed Arfan Asif, (Unated Arab Emirates),
• Elina Garipova, (Russia),
• Anastasia Barmina, (Russia).

The judges of the event will present the following awards:
Best Author - Gold Badge ICAP
Best Portrait Author - Art Space Silver Angel
Best Nature Author - Baltic Crystal
5 x IAAP Gold Medal,
5 x Art Portrait Gold medal,
5 x BALTIC Glass gold medal,
5 x Art Space Gold medal,
10 x IAAP Honorable Mention E-Certificate
10 x Art Portrait Diploma E-Certificate,
10 x BALTIC Diploma E-Certificate
10 x Art Space Diploma E-Certificate
5 the judge's prize
Total 68 awards. The organizer reserves the right to adjust the number of awards based on the total number of entrants.

All entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances to be validated by all the international organizations granting recognition or patronage.

OPEN COLOR (Only Color digital)
IAAP Definition of Color
A Color image is defined by the presence of more than a single color or hue. If an image is treated with two or more colors in any manner or any amount (spot coloring, duotone, etc), it is a color image.
All genres of photography are accepted in this section, with emphasis on color.

OPEN MONOCHROME (Only Monochrome digital)
IAAP Definition of Monochrome
Black and white photography is an image that displays a range of shades from black to white, encompassing various tones of gray. Such an image focuses on the nuances of light, shadow, and contrast without incorporating any colors. If the entire image is toned in a single hue, it remains within the black and white category. However, if it is modified by partial toning or the addition of any color, it becomes a color work and no longer qualifies as a black and white photograph.

PORTRAIT (Color and Monochrome)
ICAP Definition Portrait
This section accepts photographs in which the main subject is a person or people: women, men, or children. Portraits of people of all skin colors, races, and religions are welcome, reflecting the full spectrum of human emotions.
It is recommended that the main subject occupy approximately two-thirds of the frame.
This section includes studio portraits, environmental portraits, staged and conceptual portraits, portraits reflecting national and cultural identity, as well as documentary and street portraits that reveal the unique character and individuality of the subject.

NATURE GENERAL (Color and Monochrome)
PSA/FIAP Nature Division Definition
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, anesthetic, 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 center, it would be construed that the photographer ensured that it’s properly accredited and conforms to best practices.
Nature 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

TRAVEL World in Focus (Color and Monochrome)
This section englobes 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 optimize an image in terms of finetuning of levels and colors is allowed as long as the image is looking natural. The same counts 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.
Editing guidance for Photo Travel Division:
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.

Notification cards will be sent by email.

Aleksey Puchkovskiy
email: [email protected]
website: artportrait.pro
software provided by IAAP: [email protected]