As part of the 32nd edition of Encontros da Imagem - International Photography and Visual Arts festival, the open call for the Photobook Awards EI 2022 is now open until the 15th of May, 2022.

Aware that the publication of photography books has gained, in recent years, a leading role in the promotion of photography projects through creative processes of storytelling, it’s Encontros da Imagem intention to promote independent authors as well as their body of work. In that way the festival proposes to be a privileged channel for its dissemination and promotion, carrying out the Photobook Award EI 2022, inviting all interested artist to submit an application with their photobook.

Only self made photobooks will be accepted, author books, with more or less handcrafted production, original, personal and independent. It won’t be considered valid an application whose books have been published or received a commitment to publish from any publisher until the moment of application. If the project is a dummy, it should be the closest to its final form, in the materials used and its format.

Besides the monetary prizes 1st place 750€, 2nd place 500€, 3rd place, 250€, the 30 finalist photobooks will be part of a collective exhibition that will happen between the 16th of September and the 30th of October in Braga, during the festival.

How to enter

• Add up to 10 images of the book
• Add a video flipping through the book to your submission.

1. We will only accept author books, with more or less handcrafted production, original, personal and independent. The project must be as close as possible to the final version, both in its form and the materials used (type of paper, etc.). It won’t be considered valid applications books have been published by a publishing house.

2. To submit and validate the application you must proceed with application through Picter, where you will pay a 20€ fee. You also have to send the physical book to us by post.

Please send the book to the following address:

Subject: Photobook Award EI 2022

AC: Carla Bacelar Ferreira / Noora Manty

Largo da Estação, 40 - Salas 5 e 6 4700 - 223 Braga Portugal**

3. The deadline to send the photobooks is 31st of July 2022.

To insure the application for the prize, even if the book arrives after the mentioned date, it will need to have the post stamp before that date.

Please write in the outside of the package the following message:

“BOOK WITH NO COMMERCIAL VALUE”

4. If the packaging of the photobooks are held up in customs, the applicant will be responsible for paying the customs clearance costs.

5. The candidate can submit up to 3 books, for each book a submission fee is required;

What winners receive

The Board of Directors taking into account the difficult situation that we are all going through, especially within the arts community has decided to give three monetary awards.

• First Prize: : 750€ award
• Second Prize: 500€ award
• Third Prize: 250€ award

About Encontros da Imagem

Encontros da Imagem, with more than thirty years of existence, is a non-profit cultural association that promotes annually an International Photography and Visual Arts Festival in the city of Braga, Portugal. The festival celebrates classic and contemporary photography and visual arts in general by showcasing emerging and established artists. Every year Encontros da Imagem promotes 3 open calls. First the Discovery Awards, where the winners have the opportunity to exhibit their work during the festival. Second the Photobook Awards, where the best photobooks are selected to be exhibited at the festival and third Emergentes - International Photography Award Encontros da Imagem, this prize is awarded after the Portfolio Review, which gives photographers the opportunity to show their work to an international jury, composed by commissioners, gallery owners and expert editors, thus establishing solid foundations for the promotion of their work. The festival has developed an eclectic programme. This year the theme is Common Places, where numerous artists emerging and established, national and international will be shown in several public and private spaces (historical and monumental buildings, museums, galleries and others). Encontros da Imagem is a cultural photographic reference in Portugal, and has reached a prominent position in the international panorama, being one of the oldest photography festivals in Europe.

Olmo González Moriana, Co-director at Fiebre Photobook

Olmo is a cultural manager, specialized in photobooks, and co-director at Fiebre Photobook, the first festival of photobooks in Spain. He participated in lectures and workshops in institutions like otocelectania, Imaginaria, Migra, Art Photo BCN, IED Madrid, Campo among others and was part of the team of extinct Escuela Blank Paper. Olmo was also part of the editorial team of "This Book is True" with Cristina de Middel for four years. He published thee photobooks independently, fifteen fanzines and numerous dummies. In 2021 he officially retired as a photographer.

Rui Ribeiral, bookseller, editor and curator

Rui founded Photo Book Corner in 2012, a bookshop exclusively online until it opened physically in Lisbon in 2020. Besides the books and the shop, the space as also served as an exhibition space for Portuguese and foreign artists.

In 2017 Rui created a publishing label called Shinto Co. Ltd, where he edited the book of japanese artist Emi Anrakuji.

Ana Catarina Pinho, visual artist, editor 

Ana Catarina Pinho is a visual artist, researcher and editor. She's the founder director of Archivo Platform since 2012, where she manages the annual program, including the international symposium Reframing the Archive, and is the editor-in-chief of Archivo Papers Journal and Archivo Press. In her visual practice she works with photography and moving image, combining new and archival imagery through documentary and fictional strategies. Pinho has a background in fine arts, holds an MA in Photography and Documentary Cinema and is developing a PhD at the European Centre for Documentary Research, in the UK, with a fellowship granted by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. She's currently a member of the research groups Global Art Archive, at the University of Barcelona, and Instituto de História da Arte, at NOVA University of Lisbon. Both her artistic and academic work has been exhibited and published internationally.