BAKU 2022 is international contest of art photography, organized by Gilavar Photo Club of Azerbaijan

Contest consists of 4 sections, all digital:
A. Open Color (color only) - PSA PID COLOR
B. Open Monochrome (monochrome only) - PSA PID MONOCHROME
C. Travel - (color/ monochrome) PSA PTD
D. People - (color only) PSA PID COLOR

Closing date: 30.10.2022 Awards delivery: 25.01.2023
Judging start: 01.11.2022 Catalogues delivery: 25.01.2023
Judging end: 18.11.2022 Online gallery: 18.01.2023
Notification: 20.11.2022
Results will be sent to participants by email. E-catalog will be prepared b and send by e-mail.

Participation fee is mandatory for all participants: 11 Euro for all sections
Payment can be made on the web site after submitting. The fee can be paid via PayPal through our web site: http://baku.gilavar.net. If for some reason you are not able to make payment - please contact us [email protected].
The works of the authors who did not pay the fee would not be taken into consideration.

The exhibition 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. Membership in any photographic organization is not required. 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 work 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 work 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.
By the sole act of submitting his/her images or files to a salon under FIAP and PSA Patronages, the entrant accepts without exception and with no objection that the submitted images can be3 investigated by FIAP and PSA to establish if these obey to FIAP and PSA regulations and definitions even if the entrant is not a member of FIAP and PSA; that FIAP and PSA will use any means at its disposal for this undertaking; that any refusal to cooperate with FIAP, PSA or any refusal to submit the original files as captured by the camera, or failure to provide sufficient evidence, will be sanctioned by FIAP and that in case of sanctions following the non compliance with FIAP and PSA regulations, the name of the entrant will be released in any form useful to inform the breaches of the rules. It is recommended to leave the EXIF data in the submitted files intact in order to ease eventual investigations. Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is currently sanctioned by FIAP and PSA.

The entrants have to register on web-site baku.gilavar.net. After registration and authorization the applicant enters personal account and uploads images for the contest. The images on CD sent via regular mail are subject to rejection.
Technical requirements for the uploaded images:
Photos must be in JPEG format, dimensions no more than 1920 pixels horizontal by no more than 1080 pixels vertical side max. at 300 dpi, max. 2MB.
Each image must have a unique title that is a description of the image. No title or photos containing visible watermarks, names or initials will be disqualified and for this reason will not be included in the verdict. Please use only English alphabet and numeric (A-Z, 0-9). An author may not enter identical or similar images into different categories and sections of the same salon.
The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA and FIAP.
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. An image may be entered in only one section.

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 FIAP, PSA, IAAP.

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 entry, the entrant certifies the work 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. The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright.
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 work 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.

By the sole act of submitting his/her images or files to a salon under FIAP and PSA Patronages, the entrant accepts without exception and with no objection that the submitted images can be investigated by FIAP and PSA to establish if these obey to FIAP and PSA regulations and definitions even if the entrant is not a member of FIAP and PSA; that FIAP and PSA will use any means at its disposal for this undertaking; that any refusal to cooperate with FIAP, PSA or any refusal to submit the original files as captured by the camera, or failure to provide sufficient evidence, will be sanctioned by FIAP and that in case of sanctions following the non compliance with FIAP and PSA regulations, the name of the entrant will be released in any form useful to inform the breaches of the rules. It is recommended to leave the EXIF data in the submitted files intact in order to ease eventual investigations. Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is currently sanctioned by FIAP and PSA.

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.

Re-use of accepted images:
Once an image has been accepted in this exhibition it may not be entered again in any future instances of this exhibition. It may, of course, be entered in any other PSA/FIAP recognised exhibitions but must always have the same title.
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 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 maker. 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.

Allahkerim Abbasov, AFIAP Azerbaijan
Nenad Nikolic, AFIAP, QPSA Serbia
Sultan Ahmed Niloy, AFIAP Bangladesh
Calal Firidunov, Azerbaijan (alternative)

At the contest there will be 125 international awards from FIAP, PSA, IAAP, Sille Sanat Sarayi and Gilavar Photo Club of Azerbaijan

The Best author: 1 x FIAP blue pin
Open Color: FIAP gold medal, 3 x FIAP blue ribbon, PSA gold medal, 3 x PSA ribbon, IAAP gold medal, IAAP silver medal, IAAP bronze medal, 3 x IAAP ribbon, SSS gold medal, SSS silver medal, SSS bronze medal, Gilavar gold medal, Gilavar silver medal, Gilavar bronze medal, 3 x Gilavar ribbon, 8 x Gilavar diploma
Open Monochrome: FIAP gold medal, 3 x FIAP blue ribbon, PSA gold medal, 3 x PSA ribbon, IAAP gold medal, IAAP silver medal, IAAP bronze medal, 3 x IAAP ribbon, SSS gold medal, SSS silver medal, SSS bronze medal, Gilavar gold medal, Gilavar silver medal, Gilavar bronze medal, 3 x Gilavar ribbon, 8 x Gilavar diploma
Photo Travel: FIAP gold medal, 3 x FIAP blue ribbon, PSA gold medal, 3 x PSA ribbon, IAAP gold medal, IAAP silver medal, IAAP bronze medal, 3 x IAAP ribbon, SSS gold medal, SSS silver medal, SSS bronze medal, Gilavar gold medal, Gilavar silver medal, Gilavar bronze medal, 3 x Gilavar ribbon, 8 x Gilavar diploma
People: FIAP gold medal, 3 x FIAP blue ribbon, PSA gold medal, 3 x PSA ribbon, IAAP gold medal, IAAP silver medal, IAAP bronze medal, 3 x IAAP ribbon, SSS gold medal, SSS silver medal, SSS bronze medal, Gilavar gold medal, Gilavar silver medal, Gilavar bronze medal, 3 x Gilavar ribbon, 8 x Gilavar diploma
The organizer reserves the right to change the number of awards, depending on the total number of the entrants.

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 FIAP patronage or 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 FIAP patronage or 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. This rule applies regardless of whether or not the creature being killed, injured or stressed is visible in the captured image.
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.
Entry in this exhibition is conditional on accepting these 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, will be disqualified so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other exhibitions with FIAP patronage/PSA recognition.

Further details on the PSA's drone policy may be found at https://psa-photo.org/index.php?psa-policies#drone

PSA Monochrome
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. For the purpose of this exhibition, only greyscale images are allowed in monochrome sections. Toned images are not allowed. Greyscale Monochrome images may be entered for Photo Travel but toned images are not permitted for this section.

Photo 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. Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections. For the purpose of this exhibition vignettes are not allowed in Photo Travel Digital images. Any border added must be a single border of white or grey, no greater than 3 -5 pixels in width.

People Definition
People in all situations, such as daily life, street photography, traditions, portrait, people at work, social events, human relations and etc. The main subject in the photo must be one or more human.

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

Notification cards will be sent by email.
The results and PDF Exhibition catalog will be publishing on website baku.gilavar.net and it will be possible to download. All entrants of the contest (participants which submitted works and paid entry fee) will receive on-line PDF catalog of the photo contest.
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.

Salon Chairman Mr. Rashad Mehdiyev, EFIAP
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
Address: Gizil Sharg street 103, flat 28
Postal code: AZ1065, Baku, Azerbaijan