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Belgrade Photo Month New Talents 2027 returns with REBORN as its central theme, looking for photographic projects that explore what it means to move into a new state while carrying something of the past forward. The competition is part of the ninth Belgrade Photo Month Photography Festival, scheduled for May 2027 across venues in Belgrade, Serbia. Entry is free, placing it among the free photo contests available to emerging photographers internationally.
The call is open to photographers of any nationality, professional or amateur, born after January 1, 2002. Rather than individual images, entrants submit one project containing 8 to 15 photographs. The closing date is February 14, 2027, with successful photographers due to be notified on March 7. Four selected projects will be presented during Belgrade Photo Month, including first, second and third place together with the best local Serbian proposal.
REBORN is deliberately broad. Projects may address changes in people, places, memories, identities, communities, nature or society, but no particular photographic genre is required. What matters is how the photographer develops the idea through a coherent body of work. For photographers using Deartline’s photo contest list to find project-based opportunities, New Talents 2027 combines a focused curatorial theme with a physical festival exhibition and a published international jury.
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Prizes
New Talents 2027 is centered on exhibition. First, second and third place are selected from the submitted projects, alongside a separate award for the best local Serbian proposal. The organizers state that all four projects will form part of the New Talents 2027 exhibition during Belgrade Photo Month, and the award information supplied for the competition also includes diplomas.
Finalists must provide the selected photographs as high-resolution files within five days of nomination so that their work can be printed for the exhibition. For emerging photographers, the main award is therefore a place within the festival itself, making this primarily an exhibition opportunity.
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Categories or Themes
There is one theme: REBORN. It can be interpreted through personal transformation, memory, identity, communities, changing places, nature, society or other forms of renewal and transition. These are possible directions rather than separate categories.
Any photographic genre or artistic approach is accepted. The emphasis is on the photographer’s perspective, visual language and the story developed across the project, giving the theme considerable room for photographers working around ideas commonly found in conceptual photography contests.
Dates and Entry Fees
Participation in Belgrade Photo Month – New Talents 2027 is free. The main dates for this edition are:
| Key Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 14, 2027 at 23:30 Belgrade time | Submission deadline |
| March 7, 2027 | Successful photographers notified |
| May 7, 2027 | New Talents 2027 exhibition in Belgrade |
There is no entry fee.
Results will also be published on the Belgrade Photo Month website.
How to Enter
Each photographer may submit one project containing 8 to 15 color or black and white photographs by email to newtalents2027@belgradephotomonth.org. JPG files should measure no more than 1,920 pixels on the longer side at 72 dpi. The project must have a title, and individual files should include that title and be numbered in the intended viewing order.
The submission must also include an artist statement, a short CV or biography including the photographer’s date of birth, and a text about the project of no more than 3,000 characters in English. Projects submitted to previous editions cannot be entered again, and AI-generated photographs are not accepted.
About the Jury
The Belgrade Photo Month – New Talents 2027 jury brings together five professionals with backgrounds spanning documentary photography, photojournalism, festivals, galleries and cultural management. Joan Alvado is a Barcelona-based photographer whose work uses imagination to reconsider territory and documentary representation. Julio Pantoja is an Argentine documentary photographer, cultural manager and researcher whose work addresses memory, identity and human and environmental rights.
They are joined by German-Iranian photojournalist and documentary photographer Shirin Abedi, Belgian photographer and Brussels Street Photography Festival director Sigrid Debusschere, and Serbian gallerist, publisher and cultural manager Vesna Latinović. Submitted projects will be considered on creativity, originality and technical quality, together with other criteria used by the jury in its assessment.
Why Enter Belgrade Photo Month New Talents 2027?
New Talents differs from many calls aimed at younger photographers because the selection is based on a developed project. The requirement to submit 8 to 15 photographs puts sequencing, consistency and the development of an idea at the center of the entry. For photographers already building a coherent body of work around transformation, identity, memory or renewal, that format offers room to communicate considerably more than a one-image competition allows.
The absence of an entry fee also makes it accessible among international free photography competitions, while the final outcome is tangible: selected projects are printed and shown as part of a photography festival in Belgrade. Photographers comparing opportunities through an online photography contest listing should also note the age requirement and project format, since both are central to what distinguishes this call.
Rules and Copyright
We reviewed the official rules of the Belgrade Photo Month New Talents 2027 to summarize the key participation requirements, copyright terms and image usage conditions. Before entering, we recommend checking the complete rules published by the organizer.
Rules
The competition is open to photographers of any nationality, professional or amateur, born after January 1, 2002. Festival members cannot participate. Entries must be the photographer’s own work, and pseudonyms are not permitted. Images may be digitally or otherwise altered by the author, but AI-generated photographs are expressly excluded.
Only one project of 8 to 15 photographs may be submitted per entrant. Previously submitted New Talents projects cannot be entered again. Photographers selected as finalists must supply high-resolution versions of the requested images within five days of nomination for exhibition printing.
Copyright and Image Usage
Copyright and other authors’ rights remain with the photographer. By entering, photographers permit the organizers and general sponsors to reproduce submitted photographs without payment for publication, exhibition, publicity and other promotional uses connected with Belgrade Photo Month, including press, television, digital media and low-resolution website display.
Photographers are to be credited in official festival publications and when their work is exhibited. Nominated and winning photographs also become part of the Belgrade Photo Month festival collection, which the organizers state is administered to promote both the festival and the participating photographers.
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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
