The 13th edition of GETXOPHOTO International Image Festival invites visual artists from all over the world to share their vision on the 2019 theme Post Homo Sapiens, Programming the Future. Programming, defined as the new literacy of the digital age, along with advanced scientific and medical developments, poses new bioethical challenges to traditional social conventions. The way society engages with education and information, establishes human relations or chooses to entertain itself is undergoing a significant shift, and it is still too early to fully evaluate its impact.

Just as the industrial age transformed human labour arising from the relationship between the physical body and the machine, the digital age is exploring the mind's limitless capacities and digital network creations that can surpass human capabilities or simplify complex intellectual processes.

Thinking about humanity's future and reflecting on its possibilities is this year's Festival theme. We are looking for projects which explore this topic in a broad sense, including multidisciplinary narratives and diverse visual languages (photography, video, installation, archives, documents, among others). The intention is to showcase the very best visual works which challenge the way we think and question established ideas of engagement. The entrance fee is 20€ per project.

All those shortlisted will be published on May 13th. The four (4) winners will be announced on May 16th and their work will be exhibited during the Festival, which runs from September 4th to 29th, 2019. Getxophoto will assume the exhibition expenses and it will be designed under the criteria of the curator of GETXOPHOTO International Image Festival, in agreement with the artists.

To carry out the Call, the Festival have partnered with the Der Greif Collective and submissions platform Picter.

All the information must be uploaded in English

What winner receives

Four (4) artists will benefit from:

• Exhibiting at the GETXOPHOTO Festival with recognized contemporary visual artists

• Exhibition at one of the most special Festival venues

• €400 fee as Festival participant

• Accomodation for 2 nights during the Opening Week

• Inclusion of the work in the Festival's programme and book

• Inclusion in the Festival's communication campaign

• Dedicated entry on the Festival's website

• Being seen by a large number of visual arts professionals

All submitting artists will be reviewed by all the members of the jury.  

About GETXOPHOTO International Image Festival

Promoted by the Begihandi collective, GETXOPHOTO is a festival dedicated to image, which takes place in Getxo (the Basque Country, Spain) during September. It brings works by photographers and visual artists to the city, engaging in a contemporary conversation about the theme proposed each year.

GETXOPHOTO aims to push preconceived boundaries about visual narration and the spaces where it is shown, predominantly exhibiting in unconventional public spaces and creating an open dialogue with its audience, while filling their everyday world with images. Exhibitions, installations, projections, talks, collaborations, experimental labs and many other activities make up the programme.

The Festival will celebrate its 13 year anniversary following an impressive artistic trajectory showcasing critically acclaimed photographers including Martin Kollar; Martin Parr; Martin Schoeller; Nadav Kander; Naomi Harris; Peter Dench; Phil Toledano; Marcos López; Ricardo Cases; Wang Qingsong; Alessandra Sanguinetti; Roger Ballen; Cristina De Middel; Thomas Mailaender; Vincent Fournier; Pieter Hugo; Jacques-Henri Lartigue; Paul Fusco; Simon Norfolk; Zanele Muholi; Yann Gross and Erik Kessels among many others, in approximately 20 annual exhibitions and under the curatorial vision of international professionals Alejandro Castellote, Frank Kalero, Christian Cajoulle and Monica Allende. For more information about the Festival, visit getxophoto.com  

Juror information

Elena Navarro
Artistic director of FotoMéxico Festival and director of the Image Center of Mexico
Elena Navarro has more than twenty years of experience in the cultural sector. After working at the ARCO Contemporary Art Fair, at the Student Residence in Madrid and having founded the Arte y Parte magazine, in 2001 she created Canopia, a company for the creation and development of cultural projects based in Madrid and DF. She has been the director until 2018. Canopia has represented the Aperture Foundation and has been a cultural agent of Magnum Photos in Spain and Mexico. Between 2013 and 2018 she was the artistic director of the FotoMéxico International Photography Festival and in 2018 she was appointed director of the Image Center of Mexico. She has also participated as an ICP Infinity Award nominee in 2018, in Prix Pictet in 2019 and in the Joop Swart Masterclass 2019 - Word Press Photo Foundation, as well as being a jury member for the Canadian Institute of Photography's New Generation Photography Award in 2018 and the Foam Paul Hauf Award in 2018 and 2019.

Fiona Shields
Head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group
Fiona has over twenty years' picture editing experience across a range of newspaper titles and was picture editor of the Guardian for nine years before taking up the role of Head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group. Throughout her career she has been involved in the coverage of some of the most historic news stories of our time including the events surrounding 9/11 and the subsequent terror attacks in London and across Europe, conflicts around the world from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan, the revolution of the Arab spring and the continuing violence in the Middle Aast, large scale natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in southern Asia, famine in Sub-Saharan Africa and the humanitarian crises resulting from the growing refugee numbers across the globe. Also a good few UK general elections and political change and upheaval worldwide. In addition she has delivered talks at photo festivals, taken part in mentoring programmes for students of photojournalism and has enjoyed judging the Sony World Photography Awards, the UK Picture Editors Guild Awards, the Renaissance Photography Prize to name a few. Last year she was on the jury of the esteemed Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and is a regular nominator for the world famous Prix Pictet Award.

Azu Nwagbogu
Director of African Artists' Foundation and LagosPhoto Festival
Azu Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists' Foundation (AAF), a non- profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. Nwagbogu was recently elected as the Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in South Africa. Nwagbogu also serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the creator of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary African Art. Nwagbogu served as a juror for the Dutch Doc, POPCAP Photography Awards, the World Press Photo, Prisma Photography Award (2015), Greenpeace Photo Award (2016), New York Times Portfolio Review (2017-2018), W. Eugene Smith Award (2018), PhotoEspaña (2018) and is a regular juror for organizations such as Lensculture and Magnum. For the past 20 years, he has curated private collections for various prominent individuals and corporate organizations in Africa. Nwagbogu obtained a Masters in Public Health from The University of Cambridge. He lives and works alternatively in CapeTown, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria.

Emilia van Lynden
Artistic Consultant
Emilia van Lynden is an Art Consultant specialized in contemporary photography with a focus on talent development and the photography market. Having worked with an array of artists, gallerists, collectors, curators and critics, she has a vast amount of knowledge concerning the recent developments taking place within the photographic medium and market. Up until April 2019, she was the Artistic Director of Unseen, the leading platform for contemporary photography, where she set and managed the artistic vision and programming. In addition to this, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the biannual publication Unseen Magazine from 2015 to 2019.

Monica Allende
Artistic Director of GETXOPHOTO
Monica Allende is an independent curator, consultant and educator. She is the Artistic Director of GETXOPHOTO Photo Festival and Landskrona Foto Festival. She has collaborated with WeTransfer as a Consultant and Creative Producer, she was the director of FORMAT17 International Photography Festival, she collaborated with Screen Projects and is producing and curating Blue Skies, a multidisciplinary project with artist Anton Kusters to be exhibited at PhotoLondon in May. Previously Monica was the Photo Editor at the Sunday Times Magazine, where she launched Spectrum, the award-winning photography section. She is a visiting lecturer at the London College of Communication, London & EFTI in Madrid. Allende nominates photographers for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, the Prix Pictet, The Joop Swart Masterclass/ WPP or FOAM Paul Huf award, and is a reviewer and Ambassador for Reminders Photography Stronghold in Japan and Docking Station in Holland. She has served on juries worldwide including the Vogue Festival, Bar Tur Photobook award, La Fabrica / Photo London dummy award, Landskrona Foto, Burn magazine emerging photographer fund, phmuseum award, Visura Grant, National Portrait Gallery's Taylor Wessing photographic Portrait Prize, World Press Photo among many others. She is the recipient of the Amnesty International Media Photojournalism Award, the Picture Editor's Award, the Online Press Award and Magazine Design Award for Best Use of Photography.

Do I have to be a qualified visual artist to participate?

No, you don't have to be qualified in order to participate. GETXOPHOTO Open Call is open to all emerging and established visual artists worldwide.

Is there a theme for the GETXOPHOTO Open Call?

Yes. The submitted works must correspond to the topic of this year's festival, Post Homo Sapiens. Programming the Future. We are looking for works which challenge the way we think and question established ideas of engagement.

When is the deadline?

The deadline is 21st April2019, 11:59 pm, UTC +1, Spanish time.

How much does it cost?

€20 per project.

How many projects can I submit?

You can submit a maximum of 3 projects.

What are the age requirements?

All the participants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submission.

Can I send my submission by email?

We do not accept entries by email as an alternative to digital uploading. Please register on picter.com and upload your entries online.

Can I submit video stills or installation shots with my submission?

Yes, you can submit video stills and/or installation shots as part of the images for a series. Make sure to explain that these are stills from a video or installation shots in the series description. It's not possible to upload the video itself but in both cases you may provide a link in the description.

My work has been awarded in other competitions. Can I still submit them?

Yes. There is no restriction to submitting work that has been part of other photo competitions or prior exhibitions.

Can I enter as a duo or collective?

Yes, duos and collectives are more than welcome.

Can I submit using an artist name?

Yes, but you must include your real name on the application form as well.

Will my images be sold?

No. You retain copyright to your work and your images will not be sold or used for commercial purposes.

If I win, will I have to send in high-resolution files of my work?

Yes. Once the jury has made its final selection, we will contact you to request high-resolution files to produce the exhibition.

Who will decide which photographers are selected?

A select group of internationally renowned jurors from around the world will view all the images submitted and select the winning entries.

When will I know if I have been selected?

A shortlist will be announced on the Festival website as well as social networks, and notified to all the participants on May 13th 2019.The winners will be announced to all the participants and published on the Festival website and its social networks on May 16th 2019.

Got a question not covered by this FAQ?

Get in touch with a member of our team via email (getxophoto@getxophoto.com), and we'll be more than happy to answer your questions!