59^th NATIONAL COMPETITION & EXHIBITION

OF PHOTOGRAPHY 2024

The 59^th National Competition and Exhibition of Photography 2024 is organised by the Malta Photographic Society.

Competition Eligibility: The Competition is open to all members of the Malta Photographic Society and the public living in Malta and Gozo. Participants must be at least 16 years old by the submission deadline on Saturday 28^th September 2024.

Image Ownership: Participants must have full rights of the entries submitted.

Certification & Permissions: By submitting a photographic entry, participants certify that the work is their own and grant the Organisers permission to reproduce all or part of the images for publication or display in any media and on the Society’s website, free of charge. Participants are personally responsible for any claims arising from the publication, exhibition, or use of their entries. The Organisers will not be liable for any copyright or data protection misuse and disclaim any related liability.

Intellectual Rights: The entrant retains the copyright of their photographs throughout the competition.

Number of Entries: Each participant may submit up to four (4) entries in each of the four (4) categories listed below, with a maximum of sixteen (16) images in total.

Colour Prints (CP)                                           – Open Subject

Monochrome Prints (MP)                                – Open Subject

Colour Projected Images (CPI)                       – Open Subject

Monochrome Projected Images (MPI)             – Open Subject

Entry Fees: The fees are €12 for one category, €17 for two categories, €20 for three categories and €25 for all four categories.

Closing Date: Projected images must be uploaded online at mpscompetitions.com between the 1st and the 28th of September 2024.

Prints must be submitted at the Malta Photographic Society, 137 Old Bakery Street, Valletta, on one of the following days:

Thurs 19^th Sept between 1700hrs – 2000hrs  –  depositing of printed images.

Thurs 26^th Sept between 1700hrs – 2000hrs  –  depositing of printed images.

Fri      27^th Sept between 1800hrs – 2000hrs  –  depositing of printed images.

Sat     28^th Sept between 0900hrs – 1400hrs  –  depositing of printed images and

appointments for pen-drive submission.

No entries will be accepted after the closing date.

Application Form: To avoid errors in names, titles and email addresses, each participant needs to submit their application form digitally on mpscompetitions.com. This application form needs to be printed and presented when submitting the printed images.

Image Authenticity: Any submitted images must originate as photographs taken by the participant using a camera, focused onto light-sensitive material or a sensor and made visible and permanent through chemical treatment or digital means. Any image, including creative ones, must only include additional elements captured by the participant or created through editing. Participants are not allowed to use clipart, stock photography elements or Artificial Intelligence (AI). Any modifications to the original image must be done by the participant. The final image must be printed on photographic paper through conventional methods or digitally printed by inkjet or electronic image transfer on photographic or inkjet paper. No watermark of any kind should be visible on the print.

The Competition is focused on celebrating human creativity and originality in photography; therefore, AI-generated images are not accepted. Winners may be asked to provide the RAW/original camera files of their photographs, including Exif data. Any participant found intentionally submitting AI-generated images will be banned from all future MPS competitions, whether detected during judging or after the results are announced. The organisers reserve the right to request RAW files or documentation of the processes used to create the final image if there are concerns about the potential use of AI.

Print Size: Prints must have dimensions between a maximum of 40cm x 30cm and a minimum of 30cm x 20cm, edge to edge. Images can be of any size or format within these limits. Prints should NOT be mounted.

Digital Copies of the Printed Images: These digital copies must be uploaded to the competition’s URL, mpscompetitions.com, or presented on a pen drive if submitting in person on Saturday 28^th September. These digital copies will facilitate the reproduction of awarded or accepted prints for social and print media, including the MPS website. The image file format should be 1920 pixels on the longest side at 300 ppi and not larger than 3 MB. Images should be named according to the example provided below.

Name_Surname_ID number_XN_Image Title

Labelling of Prints: Title of work, full name and address of participant must appear at the back of each print in BLOCK LETTERS. Entries must be numbered individually to correspond with the numbering on the entry form. An arrow indicating image orientation shall be included.

Projected Images: The image file format should be JPEG. For landscape images, the resolution must not exceed 1920 pixels (horizontal) by 1080 pixels (vertical) at 300 ppi. For portrait images, the vertical dimension should not exceed 1080 pixels. (Tip: First verify that the vertical dimension does not exceed 1080 pixels, then ensure the horizontal dimension does not exceed 1920 pixels.)

The judging monitor is set to 1920 pixels (horizontal) x 1080 pixels (vertical). While your image dimensions should fall within these limits, they do not need to match this exact ratio. When saving your images, set the compression ratio to 12 or the maximum level available. The colour space should be sRGB, and the file size must not exceed 3MB. Images that do not conform to these specifications will be automatically disqualified.

Naming of Projected Images: Images should be named as indicated in this example:

Name_Surname_ID number_XN_Image Title

Example:Joe_Borg_12345M_M2_Sunset

• Replace X with C for Colour or M for Monochrome
• Replace N with number 1, 2 or 3 as denoted in the Entry Form.
• Underscores ( _ ) are required and thus, need to be included as per above example.

Image titles must be no longer than 30 characters and should not be visible to the judges, nor should any part of the image reveal the creator’s identity. Titles must not include file extensions like .jpg or .jpeg, as well as terms such as “untitled” or “no title,” and cannot be made up solely of numbers.

When completing the entry form, provide the full titles as you wish them to appear in the catalogue and ensure correct spacing.

All required information will be collected through the online entry system.

Do not use invalid characters such us / \ : ? * ” < > | ‘ # ( )

Eligibility of Images and Prints: Images and prints that have been accepted in any previous National Competition & Exhibition of Photography organised by the Malta Photographic Society are not eligible. Works previously submitted by the same participant and accepted in any such exhibition cannot be re-submitted in a different medium, regardless of the title or section entered. The same image cannot be entered into more than one section.

Photographs taken during workshops or classes organised by the MPS, where the tutor or conductor arranges the elements (such as the model, lighting, props, poses, etc.), making it clear that the image was not conceived, set up, and created by the participant, will not be eligible for this competition or exhibition.

Rejections: The Organisers reserve the right to reject any print or projected image before judging, providing a specific reason for their decision.

Medals, Honourable Mentions and Special Awards: The MPS GOLD MEDAL and a certificate will be awarded to the first-place entries. The MPS SILVER MEDAL and a certificate will be given to the second-place entries. The MPS BRONZE MEDAL and a certificate will be presented to the third-place entries in all four categories: Colour Prints, Monochrome Prints, Colour Projected Images and Monochrome Projected Images.

A total of three HONORABLE MENTION RIBBONS and certificates will be awarded for each of the four categories: Colour Prints, Monochrome Prints, Colour Projected Images and Monochrome Projected Images.

Special Awards will be given for:

• Best Nature photograph in projected images,
• Best Still Life photograph in projected images,

• Best Street photograph in prints images,
• Best Portrait photograph in prints section,
• Best Architecture photograph in prints section and
• Best Landscape photograph in prints section
• Best in Special Awards Theme ‘Unmistakably Malta’ in prints section

All submitted printed images are eligible to participate for these awards. No photographic work is eligible for more than one special award, except that participants can submit the same image in both the ‘Unmistakably Malta’ category and in any other special award category, such as Street, Portrait, Architecture and Landscape.

A minimum of 10% of the printed images displayed during the 59th National Competition and Exhibition of Photography 2024 will be from the special award category ‘Unmistakably Malta’. The exact number may vary based on the judge’s discretion.

Images in the ‘Unmistakably Malta’ category can encompass any genre, but they must clearly depict something that represents Malta or was taken in Malta. This is intended to promote Malta and Maltese culture. Each entry should feature recognisable elements that clearly identify the scene or subject as distinctly Maltese.

Labelling of Special Awards Entries: If participants want their work to be considered for any Special Awards, they must indicate this by inserting the appropriate abbreviation in the S.A. column of the Entry Form. For the prints section, they should also write the S.A. initial on the back of each submitted print as follows:

Best Street                              – S

Best Portrait                            – P

Best Architecture                    – A

Best Landscape                      – L

Best ‘Unmistakably Malta’      – U

Organisers’ Liability: All submitted entries will be handled with care. However, the Malta Photographic Society cannot accept liability for any loss or damage to submitted entries, regardless of the cause.

Judging: All works will be judged at the Malta Photographic Society’s premises in Valletta by a panel of non-participating judges. Preliminary judging is scheduled for Saturday 19^th October and Sunday 20^th October 2024. The final adjudication will take place on Tuesday 22^nd October and Wednesday 23^rd October 2024. The Society reserves the right to adjust these judging dates based on prevailing circumstances.

Post Judging Rejections: If any selected or award-winning entry is later found to have violated any of the listed conditions, the Organisers reserve the right to take appropriate action, including the withdrawal of any prizes awarded. In such cases, the winning image will be declared null and the award will be considered void.

Exhibition: Images that achieve the qualifying mark will be included in the National Photographic Exhibition, which will be held at Palazzo de la Salle, 219 Republic Street, Valletta, from Friday 29^th November to Friday 20^th December 2024. The exhibited images may also be displayed at other locations in Malta and/or Gozo. The MPS will cover the cost of hiring the exhibition space and no additional charges will be incurred by the authors of the works accepted into the 59^th National Exhibition of Photography.

Exhibition Framing: The accepted printed photographs will be exhibited framed in the MPS’s standard frames, which measure 40 cm x 50 cm. All prints will be mounted in a standard white passe-partout. The MPS will handle the purchase of all passe-partouts and will custom cut the windows to fit each print. Participants whose photographic work has been accepted for the exhibition are required to purchase passe-partout mounts for each accepted print.

The cost for each passe-partout mount is €8, which includes cutting and mounting. The passe-partout mounts will remain the property of the author and can be reused for future exhibitions, provided they are in good condition and match the colour standards of the current exhibition. The organising committee reserves the right to reject any mounts that do not meet these standards.

To allow sufficient time for cutting and mounting, the applicable fees must be paid by 31^st October 2024. Prints will not be exhibited if payment is not received by this date.

Catalogue: A high-quality, full-colour catalogue will be distributed to all participants.

Acceptance of Conditions of Entry: The participation in the 59^th National Competition & Exhibition of Photography 2024 signifies full and unconditional acceptance of all the above conditions.

Data Protection: The Malta Photographic Society collects contact information from its members to facilitate communication between the Society and its members. This data will be securely maintained in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018. It will not be shared with any third parties except as required to meet legal obligations. Only committee members will have access to this data, which will be used solely for communication purposes related to MPS. The Society will retain this data for as long as membership and consent are active. After this period, the data will be securely deleted. Individuals have the right to view their data upon request and to withdraw consent for MPS to hold this data. Upon request, all data will be securely deleted from the records.