The international exhibition of art photography MUSALA is exhibition of art photography organized by Photo club PIRIN from Razlog, Bulgaria.

The contest is divided into following sections:

OPEN COLOR (PIDC)
PORTRAIT (PIDC)
OPEN MONOCHRME (PIDM)
MINIMALISM (PIDM)
NATURE (ND)
BIRDS (ND)
PHOTOJOURNALISM (PJD)
PEOPLE (PJD)
TRAVEL (PTD)

Closing date: 17 October 2021
Judging date: 31 October 2021
Notification date: 05 November 2021
Delivery date: 1 December 2021
Gallery publish date: 1 December 2021

Depending of the number of sections participant enters, the entry fee cost as follow:
- any 3 section = 15 eur
- any 6 section = 20 eur
- for all = 25 eur

Payment of entry fee can be made in the following ways:
- through our website: https://musala.photoclubpirin.com/

Images from participants who did not pay entry fee will not be taken into consideration.

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.

PROTECTION
By entering this contest, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including 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 and accept that entering this exhibition means that the status and results of your entry may be made public.

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), or words such as "untitled" or "no title". Titles may not consist solely of numbers.
Digital images cannot be altered, including resizing in either direction, by the exhibition or by the exhibitions equipment before or during judging.
The photographs of participants with the application are submitted in these ways:
- uploading thought our website
- by e-mail: [email protected]

NOTICE: When an entrant fills in the Entry Form to submit an entry the entrant will see a feature to affirm he or she has read these Conditions of Entry when he or she fills out the entry form. If the entrant does not so affirm the entry will not be submitted.

To participate in this contest entrants will apply with black & white or color works. The maximum number of photographs per section is 4. No title or identification of the maker shall be written anywhere on the face of an image.
Photographs must be sent in digital form, as a picture file with dimension 1920x1080 pixels at 300 dpi. The maximum file size is 4 Mb.

BREACH
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.

[PSA]
In order to ensure that images comply with the Conditions of Entry and definitions, the exhibition organizers may carry out reasonable measures to verify 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.
These steps include, but are not limited to, questioning any entrant, requiring the submission of RAW files or other digital files representing the original capture of the submitted image(s), confronting the entrant with evidence that one or more submitted images fails to comply with the Conditions of Entry (also known as Entry Rules), and offering the entrant a reasonable opportunity to provide counter evidence to refute the exhibition organizer’s evidence by a set deadline. Such entries that are not cleared or are still questionable after the entrant has presented evidence may be considered in breach of these Conditions of Entry, and declined. Such entries may be referred to PSA for further investigation of possible ethics violations.
PSA retains the right to investigate in any way all complaints/suspicions of breaches of entry conditions, impose sanctions if deemed necessary, void the acceptances of any image found to violate the PSA rules, include the entrant’s name on the list of sanctions provided to Exhibitions, and share such investigations with FIAP. Entrants automatically agree to these terms by the act of entering the Exhibition and agree to cooperate with any investigation.
If another party is submitting images on the entrant’s behalf, the entrant will still be held responsible for adhering to these Conditions of Entry (Entry Rules) and will be subject to sanction for any violations to these Conditions of Entry and PSA’s Statement of Ethics that may result.
When an entrant fills in the Entry Form to submit an entry the entrant will see a feature to affirm he or she has read these Conditions of Entry when he or she fills out the entry form. If the entrant does not so affirm the entry will not be submitted.

Dragan Prole (MF AUFBiH, EFIAP/P, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Marjan Janevski (AFIAP, North Macedonia)
Zoran Djordjevic (EFIAP, MF FSS, ULUPUDS, Serbia)

At INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION PHOTO MUSALA there will be awarded these medals:
9x PSA Gold, 18 ribbons;
9x IAAP Gold, 9x Silver, 9x Bronze medals and 27 ribbons;
The organizer reserves the right to award the most successful authors of Musala depend on the total number of the 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.

[SUBJECT MATTER]
There is one hard and fast rule, whose spirit must be observed at all times and applies to all sections offered in PSA recognized exhibitions. The welfare of the subject is more important than the 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 PSA exhibitions.
There is also a PSA policy on the use of aerial photography - aircraft, helicopters and drones. This policy can be found at https://psa-photo.org/index.php?psa-policies#drone. The purpose of this policy is to prevent any interference with other individuals or animals which will or may cause a disturbance in their normal activity or disrupt the way any individuals or animals interact with their environment. Entry in this exhibition requires exhibitors to agree to this and other PSA policies. The content of images must comply with these 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 are likely to be disqualified so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other PSA recognized exhibitions.

[MONOCRHOME]
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.
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.


[NATURE]
Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation.
• The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality.
• Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves.
• Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible.
• Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement.
• No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted.
• Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning.
• Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed.
• Stitched images are not permitted.
• Color images can be converted to greyscale monochrome.
• Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed.
• Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food. Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections.

[PHOTOJOURNALISM]
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. Techniques that add, relocate, replace, remove or change any element in the original scene, except by cropping, are not permitted. All images must look natural. The only allowable modifications are removal of dust, scratches or digital noise and restoration of the appearance of the existing scene, or complete conversion to greyscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not eligible.

[TRAVEL]
A photo travel image expresses the characteristic features or culture of a land as they are found naturally. There are no geographical limitations. Images from events or activities arranged specifically for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography are not permitted. Close up pictures of people or objects must include features that provide information about the location. Techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted. The only allowable adjustments are removal of dust or digital noise, restoration of the appearance of the original scene, and complete conversion to greyscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not permitted. All images must look natural.
[MINIMALISM]
Minimalist photography is style of art photography created with the use of simple geometric shapes, flat color, and arrangements of ordinary objects.

Notification cards will be sent by email.
All entrants of the event (participants which submitted works 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.

Chairman:
Radoslav Dimitrov
0747 Razlog; Bulgaria
[email protected]
photoclubpirin.com