The work 'Bệnh Viện Dã Chiến Sẵn Sàng Tác Chiến (Field Hospital Ready for Combat) by Nguyễn Đăng Giang. VNA/VNS Illustration Photo

HÀ NỘI - The culture ministry's Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition (DFAPX) has opened submissions for the Young Photography Festival 2023.

The festival is open to eligible Vietnamese citizens between the ages of 18 and 35, residing both at home and abroad

The submission deadline is set for May 31.

Held biennially, the festival is organised by the DFAPX to cultivate and promote the talents of young photographers.

By providing a platform for publishing works that reflect contemporary life through the eyes of emerging Vietnamese artists, the event seeks to encourage the growth of creative activities in the field.

This is also an opportunity for young people who love photography throughout the country to gather for exchange, study, meet and present their creative achievements, according to the organising board.

Young photographers receive awards at the last Young Photography Festival 2021. Photo vanhoanghethuat.vn

The festival will contribute to introducing and promoting the image of Việt Nam and its people to the domestic and world communities and increase the young's awareness, interest, cohesion and participation in the art of photography in particular, and social issues in general.

According to the rules, the festival welcomes all entries that should bear free themes into two categories: realistic and conceptual photos.

The participating works should reflect contemporary life, people, culture, landscape, nature, construction and defence of the country. They should also cover some issues in the interest of young people, their thoughts, opinions, and ideas about life, or they can include other content exposing the values of truth, goodness and beauty.

In the realism genre, photos are taken by realistic and traditional methods, without collages, which distort reality (except for panorama photos). Meanwhile, for conceptual photos, the author can use all technical and technological measures for creativity.

The eligible work candidates should be single or in a set, black and white photos created from August 2021 to May 2023. For the conceptual category, creation time is not stipulated for the entries.

For single photos, each should be a separate work. If the author submits both a single and a set, the single should not be included.

For the photo sets, each is considered a work consisting of between five and eight sequentially numbered photos.

All entries should include captions according to the rules for each category.

Each photographer can submit up to 12 entries. They should be digital image files in a JPG format with sizes from 5-12Mb and a resolution 300dpi. Up to six sets for both realism and conceptual photos.

In particular, the works must not have been displayed or won prizes at many national and international competitions held by the culture ministry and the DFAPX.

The organising board warned it would not be responsible for copyright and related rights disputes over the submitted works.

Excellent works will be selected and awarded by an arts council, it said.

A total of 17 awards will be given to the most outstanding photos, including two gold, three silver, five bronze and seven consolation prizes. It is expected that about 160 works of both categories will be selected for display to the public by the end of September, 2023.

Submissions can be made via the festival's official website, festivalnhiepanhtre2023.com. VNS