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I, imperfect light YAP Festival 2026 is the open call for the Young Artists Photo Festival in Montebelluna, Italy, a project dedicated to contemporary photography and emerging young artists. The 2026 edition centers on identity as something fragile, changeable, exposed to light and shadow. It asks young photographers to look at the self as a process: something built, revealed, protected, fragmented, and transformed through images.
The call is open from February 17 to June 30, 2026, with the festival scheduled in Montebelluna from October 23 to November 30, 2026. Participation is completely free, and each participant may submit up to three photographs. For photographers looking for photography contests with a contemporary and reflective focus, this free photography contest is built around a clearly defined curatorial theme.
The selected finalists will take part in the exhibition “Io, luce imperfetta,” with their photographs shown in YAP Festival exhibition spaces for the duration of the show. The project also gives visibility through the festival’s official social media channels and may include exhibition in other spaces connected to YAP Festival. Its focus on identity, body, memory, gender, environment, technology, and visibility places the call close to a conceptual photography, while remaining open to contemporary visual languages connected to photography.
Prizes
I, imperfect light YAP Festival 2026 is structured around selection, exhibition, and visibility. The main recognition is participation in the festival’s curatorial program and public presentation of the selected work.
- Finalists: Selected artists will have their photographs exhibited in the YAP Festival spaces in Montebelluna during the “Io, luce imperfetta” exhibition, which remains open until November 30, 2026.
- Winning works: The winning photographs will be identified as such during the exhibition period in the YAP Festival exhibition spaces.
- Social media publication: Each finalist is entitled to publication of their photograph on the official YAP Festival social media channels.
- Additional exhibition spaces: Finalist photographs may also be exhibited in other spaces connected to YAP Festival.
- Festival archive: After the exhibition, the works will be kept in the YAP Festival archive.
For young artists, the value of the call lies in its public presentation within a festival dedicated to contemporary photography and emerging practices. The exhibition element also makes it relevant for photographers seeking exhibition opportunities connected to an in-person cultural program.
Other Free Contests
Categories or Themes
The contest does not use separate categories. All entries must respond to the central theme of the 2026 edition: I, imperfect light. The theme reflects on the self as a fragile and mutable space, away from ideas of transparency or perfection. Photography is considered not only as representation, but also as a practice of awareness and a political act of visibility.
Selected works may approach the theme through photography and contemporary visual languages, including video, installation, archives, and hybrid practices. The call is especially suited to artists working with identity, self-representation, personal narrative, and experimental photography.
Dates and Entry Fees
The I, imperfect light YAP Festival 2026 open call follows a defined calendar, from the launch of submissions in February to the exhibition period in autumn.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Call opens | February 17, 2026 |
| Submission deadline | June 30, 2026 |
| Selection of winners | By July 31, 2026 |
| YAP Festival 2026 | October 23 – November 30, 2026 |
| Finalist works on display | Until November 30, 2026 |
Entry fee: Free.
The call is a free to enter photo awards opportunity, with each participant allowed to submit up to three photographs.
How to Enter
To participate, applicants must send low-resolution photographs by email.
If selected, the same photographs must later be sent in high resolution and JPEG format, together with a project synopsis, a short biography of the author, and the signed release form. Images with logos, signatures, watermarks, or other recognizable marks are not accepted.
About the Jury
The photographs will be evaluated by a jury composed, in alphabetical order, of Francesca Della Toffola, who serves as president, Stefania Garatti, Marco Guerra, Daniele Macca, and Andrea Pellizzer.
The jury will assess the works according to creativity, originality, photographic quality, and adherence to the theme. Its judgment is discretionary and final, and the jury reserves the right not to assign all prizes if the submitted works are not considered suitable.
Why Enter I, imperfect light YAP Festival 2026?
This open call gives young artists a specific curatorial frame for work about identity, exposure, vulnerability, and the right not to be fully legible. Its theme is broad enough to support personal, poetic, documentary, staged, or hybrid approaches, but precise enough to give the selected works a shared conceptual ground.
The festival setting also matters. YAP Festival is designed for artists aged 18 to 29 and is built around visibility, discussion, and artistic development for emerging photographers. For young artists comparing the best photography challenges to participate, this call offers a free route into an exhibition program focused on contemporary photography, identity, and the visual languages of the present.
Rules and Copyright
This section about the rules and image rights of the I, imperfect light YAP Festival 2026 has been generated automatically. If you are interested in participating in this contest we suggest you review the complete rules provided by the contest.
Rules
The open call is aimed at young artists under 29. Participants must be between 18 and 29 years old on July 31, 2026, meaning they must already be 18 and must not yet have turned 30. Applications from minors may be considered at the sole discretion of the jury.
Each participant may submit three photographs. The works must be inspired by the title of the 2026 edition, “Io, luce imperfetta,” and by the themes of the exhibition project. Photographs must not include minors, promotional or advertising content, merchandising purposes, or material considered inappropriate by the jury, including obscene, vulgar, defamatory, threatening, political, religious, racial, or otherwise offensive content.
All submitted or published works will be reviewed by a qualified committee, which may exclude images considered off-topic, not aligned with the open call, inappropriate, or lacking the required release form.
Copyright and Image Usage
Participants must submit their own works and must fully hold the rights to the photographs. By entering, they authorize the exhibition of selected works and the publication of submitted images in media connected to the promotion of the contest.
Authors remain personally responsible for the content of their works and for the statements and authorizations they provide. They also authorize the use and dissemination of the images on YAP Festival-related websites, partner websites, press outlets, and connected social media pages for promotional and dissemination purposes, without economic compensation.
YAP Festival is not responsible for uses that third parties may make of images downloaded from the listed websites or related platforms. After the exhibition, the selected works will be kept in the YAP Festival archive.
For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
