Applications open for Center for Iberian Studies Competition Regulation 2025

Based on these references and on the importance of image in contemporary societies, the project Transversalities: Photography without Borders uses photography as a means of promoting the inclusion of territories and breaking with processes of exclusion to which vast areas of the planet are subjected by the media. Pursuing objectives that coincide with those that guide CEI’s work, this Photography without Borders contest contributes to overcoming the artificial borders that are imposed between communities, peoples and cultures.

The call for submissions that portray spaces beyond and beyond borders, scattered across the various continents, aims, by documenting the diversity of Territories, Societies and Cultures, to read and interpret the multiplicity of natural, economic, social and cultural landscapes that are scattered across the vast geographies of the planet. In a project that uses image as a means to promote territorial cooperation, the following issues are privileged:

• Taking advantage of the aesthetic, documentary and pedagogical value of the image to promote the inclusion of less visible territories, inventory resources, enhance local landscapes, cultures and heritage;
• To promote cooperation between people, institutions and territories, from here and from abroad, to encourage the exchange of experiences and knowledge between spaces united by the common Iberian matrix, spread across different countries and several continents;
• To form new audiences and use new communication technologies as a privileged means of communication, appealing to the participation of young university students and, in this way, to widen the international network of researchers that is being organized from the CEI.

Themes

• The pictures collected under this contest should portray the diversity of territories, societies and cultures of different continents in order to allow crossed looks on the changes which are taking place in different parts of the world, show different styles of social organization and space, capture signs of continuity and change, archaisms and innovations that manifest themselves in the most populous cities or rural areas, located in the most remote and distant and areas, which are facing depopulation. The interpretation of the natural, economic, social and cultural landscapes validated in photos will make them an important component of territorial cooperation, as they are valuable resources of promoting the inclusion of remote and less visible regions.
• Photos must allude to one of the following subjects:
  • Landscapes, biodiversity and natural heritage (Natural resources and risks; use, management and planning of natural areas; diversity of contexts and intercourse between man and the environment, etc.).
  • Rural areas, agriculture and settlement (Goods and agricultural products, organization of rural areas; places and rural architecture, mobility, etc.).
  • The city and the urbanization process (City, architecture, regeneration and urbanization processes; landscapes, urban environments and experiences, etc.).
  • Culture and society: cultural diversity and social inclusion (Constructed legacy and cultural heritage, ways of life and social conditions; fight against poverty and social exclusion, etc.)

Funding Information

• Of all participants and photos submitted to the competition will be selected and awarded the following:
  • General Awards:
    • The Overall Winner (1) for the best and most complete submitted portfolio will receive a prize money of EUR 1,500.00 (one thousand five hundred euros)
    • The Winner of each theme (4) for the best and most complete portfolio will receive EUR 750.00 (seven hundred and fifty euros)
    • The Jury will also award up to 12 portfolios, each being awarded with EUR 150.00 (one hundred and fifty euros).
  • Special Awards:
    • For a Portuguese competitor: prize money of EUR 500.00 (five hundred euros);
    • For a competitor from the Portuguese Speaking African Countries (PALOP): prize money of EUR 500.00 (five hundred euros).

Application Requirements

• Registration is free and universal.
• Each candidate may only submit one portfolio with six (6) photos about a single subject of the contest
• Applications will be submitted electronically
• The application consists of:
  • The application form properly filled with the following fields: personal information about the author; description for each photo;
  • File with portfolio of six (6) photos:
    • Photos must be numbered from 1 to 6 according to the captions on the form;
    • The file name must be identified by the identification the number of each contestant: identity card number, passport or other.
• Photos: terms and technical requirements
• The applicant must guarantee that pictures:
  • Are originals
  • Don’t include any identification element of its author
  • Have not been awarded a prize at the time of submission to this competition;
  • In the event of non-compliance, the candidate will not be able to compete in the following two editions.
• Formats and dimensions of the photos:
  • After filling out the application form, please send the photos in digital format, JPG type [file high quality compression (9)], In order to upload files larger than 20MB, send through the website.
  • Contestants must only send a single file – type zip or rar – which should contain all the contest photos.
  • Photos must have a screen resolution of 72 dpi and size (W or H) from 2000 to 2500 pixels (horizontal or vertical, according to the angle of the photo);
  • The authors of the awarded photos may subsequently be contacted in order to provide the files of the photos with a higher resolution in order to make a public exhibition of their work, which is a necessary condition to receive the award.

For more information, visit Center for Iberian Studies.