Greetings from the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain, we pray you are all in the best of health. The General Secretariat of Imam Hussain Holy Shrine(IHHS) is dedicated to the development and creativity of all fields that document the story of Imam Hussain, its effects and rituals. The Alarbaeen Pilgrimage is a ritual that has echoed not only nationally but also globally as it includes humanitarian implications proved by tens of articles, researches and studies conducted by local and international figures and foundations from all faiths. Therefore, we established this contest for the best shot captured by those with a different outlook around the globe.
The 2nd STEPS International Exhibition of Photography is organized by The General Secretariat of Imam Hussain Holy Shrine(IHHS) from Karbala, Iraq. The exhibition is with the recognition of Iraqi Society for Photography (ISP) 2021-002 and the recognition of INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ART PHOTOGRAPHERS (IAAP) 2021-172. The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the ISP & IAAP. Acceptances obtained in this salon will be taken into account for ISP Distinctions.

A. Steps to God (Color/Monochrome) (PIDC)
B. Nature (Color/Grayscale Monochrome) (ND)
C. Religious Architecture (Color/Monochrome) (PIDC)
Each entrant may submit a maximum of 4 images in each of the 3 sections.

Rules & Submission: https://step.imamhussain.org

Image Size: Photos must be in JPEG, RGB file format, maximum 4 MB.
Maximum Dimensions: 1920 pix. Horizontal side and 1080 pix. Vertical side.

Closing date: 30 November 2021
All judging completed by 21 December 2021
Notifications sent by 04 January 2022
Awards mailed by 08 March 2022
On-Line Gallery posted by 08 March 2022
Catalogs posted by 08 March 2022
Public Showings of Projected Images 08 March 2022

No need to pay entry fee! This exhibition is free.

Entry is open to all photographers, amateur and professional, worldwide. Take special note: - In addition, like other cultures, our country has some subjects that are not acceptable. In the case of our country, our culture does not allow images of nudity or of women showing bare breasts, arms and legs. As such images of nudes and insufficiently dressed women will not be accepted. Nude photography and photographs of the naked body of women (including breasts, arms and legs) are excluded from this contest; therefore, any entries, adjudged by the organizers to fall into these categories, will be disqualified. If you have questions, you may contact the chairman. Also last year’s result can give you a guide about the accepted level of naked body of women.
Sections: There are no restrictions as to subject matter except as outlined in the rules and definitions of specific sections, or specified by law in the country.
AN AUTHOR MAY NOT ENTER IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR PHOTOGRAPHS INTO DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
Copyright: All parts of the image have to be photographed by the author who is holding the copyright of all works submitted. Clip Art and Copyright Free material are not acceptable. The PSA , FIAP and ISP assume no responsibility for misuse by anyone of the copyright of published images.
Submission: Images and a completed entry form must be submitted on line using the exhibition website. Entrants MUST use only the English alphabet A-Z when submitting an entry. Don’t use special characters such as - _ ! ? & @ ....
File size: All images are to be submitted in JPEG format. It is recommended that images should use RGB Color Space. Smaller images are acceptable but will be projected smaller on the screen. Please check all image sizes before submission, images with sizes greater than specified will be rejected. The projection background is black, Please DO NOT fill empty space with/or add large borders. Any borders should be no greater than 2 pixels wide.

File Naming: Files must be renamed to the photo title when submitting an entry. However, the titles should appear on the entry form as you wish them to appear in the catalogue.

Judging: Entries are limited to not more than 4 images per section.
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. Judging will be by remote on-line judging due to Covid 19 pandemic. All judges will be using equipment capable of displaying images at 100%.
An image may be entered in only one section where acceptances of that image in multiple sections would be eligible for the same star path.

DISPUTES
In any case of dispute regarding compliance with the Conditions of Entry, payment of fees or matters pertaining to an image (such as receipt, acceptance, compliance, score or award), the decision of the organizers and judges to accept your application (or not) will be final. Violations and perceived violations of the Conditions of Entry may be reported to the various accreditation bodies and may result in a declination of your application to have your images included in this and other exhibitions.

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.

SANCTIONS
Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is currently sanctioned by PSA.

PSA STAR RATINGS
To receive proper Star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of name changes or relocating to another country

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. 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. 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 maker. 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 author. All parts of the image have to be photographed by the author who is holding the copyright of all works submitted.

RE-USE OF ACCEPTED IMAGES
Once an image has been accepted in a PSA Recognized exhibition, any identical image, or near identical image, may not, in future, be entered or re-entered in any section of the same Division Star Ratings class in that exhibition regardless of media, format, or title; may not be re-titled for entry into any other PSA Recognized exhibition, including translation into another language.

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.

TITLES:
Each image must have a unique title. 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 maker. 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.

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.
However, PSA members working on Galaxy and Diamond Star Ratings are allowed to continue using different titles of monochrome versions and color versions of the same capture that have already been accepted until the required number of acceptances for those titles has been completed.

NOTIFICATIONS
Notification of results will be sent by email. Entrants should ensure that they provide an active email address and that spam filters are set to accept emails from [email protected]. Notifications will not be sent by post.

DATA PROTECTION:
By entering this exhibition, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including email addresses, being held, processed and used by the exhibition organizers for purposes associated with this exhibition. You also explicitly consent to such information being sent to organizations that have accorded official recognition, patronage or accreditation to this exhibition. You acknowledge and accept that entering this exhibition means that the status and results of your entry may be made public.

REPRODUCTIONS
By submitting an entry for this salon 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 this salon.

DEFINITIONS
All entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances and awards to be validated by all the International Organizations granting recognition or patronage.

Steps to God Definition: those pictures that show the rituals of peoples to draw closer to God and the believers' journey in places of worship or towards these places.

Alarbaeen Walking Awards Definition: These are the pictures that show the rituals for the killing of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) in Karbala- Iraq on the tenth of Muharram, or they represent the pictures of the march of millions on the fortieth of Imam Hussein killing, in its various details.

Religious Architecture Definition: those images that represent the buildings of worship and the aesthetics of their composition and details.

Islamic Architecture Awards Definition: These images represent the places of Islamic worship in mosques and holy shrines to reflect the beauty of those places and their fine details.

Dr. Kamal Shahrokh-Iran
Mohamed Shabeeb-Saudi Arabia
Fatma Demir-Turkey
Hussain Fardan-Bahrain
Mohammed Sawaf-Iraq

Totally 73 Awards!
Best Author Award: Imam Hussain Holy Shrine Medal and $700
Step to God Section (24 awards)
1. First Prize 1000$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
2. Second Prize 700$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
3. Third Prize 500$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
4. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals (9 Medals).
5. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Ribbons (12 Ribbons).
Nature Section (24 awards)
1. First Prize 1000$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
2. Second Prize 700$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
3. Third Prize 500$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
4. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals (9 Medals).
5. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Ribbons (12 Ribbons).
Religious Architecture Section (24 awards)
1. First Prize 1000$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
2. Second Prize 700$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
3. Third Prize 500$ from IHHS for photo of Alarbaeen Walking.
4. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals (9 Medals).
5. IHHS, ISP & IAAP Ribbons (12 Ribbons).

PSA Statement on 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 recognised 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.

FIAP/PSA Nature Definition
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.
Greyscale Monochrome images may be entered for Nature but toned images are not permitted for this division.

CATALOGUE: Online PDF Catalog downloadable from the result page of the exhibition site.

Salon Chairman
HASANAIN FAISAL KAITAN, Media Department, Holly Shrine Imam Hussain- Karbala-Iraq
Email: [email protected]