PF-27

1.1. About the Contest
PF-27 is an international contest for original New Year greeting cards in the PF genre (Pour Féliciter, "to send good wishes") and an annual project of the Belarusian Public Association of Photographers.
The Contest draws on a European tradition of the festive card that is more than a century and a half old. It treats PF as an art form in its own right: a vehicle for authorial visual expression in which photography, graphics, design, illustration and text may come together.
PF-27 carries on the tradition of the original greeting card, regarding it at once as an object of visual culture, a form of communication and a small, self-contained work of art.

1.2. Organiser and partners
The Organiser of the Contest is the Belarusian Public Association of Photographers (BPAP; hereinafter the "Organiser" or the "Photo Union").
The Contest's partners are:

• Z. I. Azgur Memorial Museum-Workshop, Minsk;
• Minsk City History Museum.

The Organiser may involve cultural institutions, professional creative associations, photo clubs, educational organisations and other partners in individual Contest events.

1.3. Aims
The Contest aims to:

• support and develop PF as a form of authorial visual art;
• preserve the tradition of the greeting card and reinterpret it for today;
• advance photographic, artistic and design culture;
• discover and support authors working in photography, graphics, design and visual communication;
• provide an international platform for presenting authorial practice and for professional exchange;
• build a collection of contemporary PF cards;
• bring the best works to wider attention through exhibitions, publications and digital editions.

1.4. Objectives
The Contest seeks to:

• identify original artistic solutions;
• support photographers, photo artists, artists and designers;
• foster interest in the history and contemporary culture of PF;
• encourage experimentation with form, image, graphics and text;
• present the authorial card as a self-contained work;
• strengthen international professional and cultural ties;
• preserve the best entries in the Photo Union Collections;
• build an archive of Contest materials.

1.5. Status
The Contest is international and non-commercial, and entry is free of charge.

1.6. Schedule
PF-27 runs according to the following schedule:

• Contest launch: 1 October 2026
• Submission deadline: 15 November 2026
• Jury deliberation: until 30 November 2026
• Results announced: 1 December 2026
• Final exhibition and awards ceremony: late December 2026
• Award shipping: January 2027

The Organiser may adjust individual dates. Any changes will be announced on the official website.

2.1. General provisions
The following are invited to take part:

• professional photographers;
• photo artists;
• designers;
• artists;
• students of relevant educational institutions;
• amateur and emerging authors;
• photo clubs and creative collectives.

2.2. Individual entrants must be 18 or over.

2.3. The Contest is open to authors regardless of citizenship or country of residence.

2.4. Each entrant may submit either:

• one single work; or
• one series of up to 6 cards.

2.5. Individual and group entries
Applications are accepted from individual authors, photo clubs and creative collectives.
A group entry must state:

• the name of the group;
• the names of all co-authors;
• the contribution of each co-author, where authorship of the work is shared;
• a contact person.

The entrant or the named contact person is responsible for the accuracy of the information provided.

2.6. Restrictions
Jury members and persons directly involved in organising and running the Contest may not take part in the competitive selection.
Entries by persons directly involved in organising the Contest or in judging the entries are not eligible for awards.

2.7. The following are not accepted:

• works that infringe the copyright or other rights of third parties;
• works containing material that the author or rights holder has not authorised for use;
• works previously submitted to PF contests held by the Organiser;
• works that do not comply with these Rules.

3.1. The Contest accepts original greeting cards in the PF genre, as well as series of PF cards.

3.2. An entry may be made in any authorial technique and may combine different visual means, including:

• photography;
• graphics;
• illustration;
• typography;
• collage;
• digital and analogue methods;
• other authorial visual means.

Both portrait and landscape compositions are accepted, in colour or monochrome.

3.3. The designation "PF" and the number of the coming year (2027) are mandatory elements of every entry. A greeting text, New Year or other festive symbols, the author's name, a monogram, a logo and any other additional elements are used entirely at the author's discretion and are optional.

3.4. The theme and visual content of the card are determined by the author. The entry must fit the PF genre and read as a self-contained greeting.

3.5. An entry must be an independent authorial visual statement in which the image, text, graphic and any other elements form a cohesive composition.

3.6. An entrant may submit one work or one series of no more than 6 cards. A series is judged as a single artistic project. The individual cards in a series must be linked by a shared idea, visual principle or authorial concept.

3.7. Works previously submitted to earlier PF contests held by the Organiser are not accepted.

4.1. Applications are submitted online through the official entry form on the Photo Union website.

4.2. In the application, the entrant provides:

• surname, in Russian;
• first name, in Russian;
• patronymic, in Russian (if applicable);
• surname, in Latin transliteration as in the passport;
• first name, in Latin transliteration as in the passport;
• pseudonym, if one is used;
• gender;
• date of birth;
• country;
• city;
• telephone number;
• email address;
• Instagram handle, if any.

4.3. The application must include either one single work or one series of no more than 6 works.

4.4. Technical requirements for files
Files must be submitted in JPEG format. Each file must meet the following requirements:

• 4,000 pixels on the long side;
• 300 dpi;
• maximum file size of 10 MB.

4.5. File naming
For a single work:
Smith-pf27.jpg
For a series:
Smith-pf27-frost-01.jpg
Smith-pf27-frost-02.jpg
Smith-pf27-frost-03.jpg
and so on in sequence.

4.6. Description of the work
The application must include one file in DOCX or PDF format containing:

• the title of the work or series, if it has one;
• the technique used;
• the physical dimensions of the original, if applicable.

For a series, entrants are also encouraged to give the project title and briefly state the artistic idea that unites the cards.

4.7. Printed originals are not required when the online application is submitted. Authors may send printed originals of their entries for inclusion in the final PF-27 exhibition and related exhibition events.
A work can be included in the physical exhibition only if a printed original is provided.

4.8. Printed originals should be sent to:
Belarusian Association of Photographers
10 Pritytskogo St.,
220073, Minsk,
Republic of Belarus

4.9. Authors bear the cost of producing and shipping printed originals unless the Organiser decides otherwise.

4.10. The Organiser may ask an author for the source file or for additional information or materials needed to verify the application, prepare a publication or display the work.

4.11. By submitting a work, the author confirms that they created it personally and that it does not infringe the copyright or other rights of third parties.

5.1. The following awards are presented at PF-27:

Grand Prix PF-2027
The Contest's top award.

Best Photographic Card
For expressive, authorial use of photography in the PF format.

Best Design Card
For a cohesive visual solution that brings together image, graphics, typography and greeting.

Best Card Series
For developing a single artistic idea across a series.

"For Creativity"
For an unexpected, bold or unconventional approach to the PF genre.

PF Heritage
For engaging with history and preserving the Belarusian PF tradition in a contemporary authorial interpretation.

5.2. The jury may decline to present an award if the entries submitted do not meet its criteria.

5.3. The Organiser and the Contest's partners may establish additional special awards.

6.1. The jury is appointed by the Organiser and is made up of professional photographers, artists, designers, curators, art historians and other specialists in visual culture.

6.2. The jury's membership is published on the official Contest website.

6.3. Jury members may not enter the Contest as authors.

6.4. Principles of judging
Entries are judged on the basis of professional and artistic analysis. The jury considers independence of authorship, artistic expressiveness, quality of execution and fit with the PF concept. Wherever possible, the first round of assessment gives no weight to the author's identity, professional status or country.

6.5. Judging criteria
Entries are assessed against the following criteria:

1. Fit with the PF genre.
2. Originality of concept.
3. Artistic quality.
4. Visual and design solution.
5. Authorial interpretation of the tradition.

For series, the jury also considers:

• cohesion of the project;
• how the individual cards relate to one another;
• consistency and development of the visual idea.

6.6. Scoring
Each criterion is scored on a ten-point scale. The final score is the sum of the points an entry receives across all criteria. On the basis of these scores, a final list of entries is drawn up and recommended for the exhibition and the awards.

6.7. Ties
In the event of a tie, the jury gives priority to originality of artistic solution, artistic integrity and fit with the PF concept.

6.8. The jury's decisions are final. The Organiser is not obliged to give entrants individual feedback or scores for each entry. Judging materials may be kept in the Organiser's archive.

7.1. Works selected by the jury are included in the PF-27 final exhibition.

7.2. The final exhibition takes place in Minsk at a partner museum or exhibition venue.

7.3. The exhibition is assembled from printed versions of the works supplied by the authors after selection.

7.4. The Organiser ensures that the works are presented professionally and that the overall concept of the project is preserved.

7.5. Selected works may be shown in other exhibition and cultural projects connected with PF-27, the history of the genre, photography and visual culture.

7.6. The final exhibition, or parts of it, may also be presented in digital form.

7.7. Photo clubs, creative associations, regional representatives of the Photo Union and partner organisations may present materials from the final exhibition in their own cultural and exhibition projects, subject to agreement with the Organiser.

8.1. An online catalogue of PF-27 is compiled after the Contest.

8.2. The catalogue may include:

• the best Contest entries;
• titles of works and series;
• information about the authors;
• information about the awards presented;
• information about the Organiser and partners;
• materials about the final exhibition.

8.3. The online catalogue is published on the official Photo Union website and may be made available to entrants in electronic form.

8.4. The best works may be used in materials relating to PF-27, in exhibitions, publications and presentations, and in cultural and educational projects connected with the Contest and the development of the PF genre.

8.5. Selected works may be added to the Photo Union Collections.

8.6. The Contest's final materials may be kept in the Organiser's archive as part of the project's history.

9.1. Rights of the author
The author retains the exclusive rights to the submitted work in accordance with applicable law.

9.2. By submitting a work, the entrant confirms that they:

• are the author of the work, or hold the rights necessary to submit it;
• have ensured that submitting and using the work within the Contest does not infringe the rights or legitimate interests of third parties;
• have obtained all necessary permissions for any third-party material included in the work.

9.3. The entrant is liable for any third-party claims relating to the authorship, content or use of the submitted work.

9.4. Rights of the Organiser
By submitting a work, the entrant grants the Organiser a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use the image of the work solely in connection with PF-27, its documentation, and the promotion of the Contest and the PF genre.
The Organiser may:

• reproduce works in the online catalogue;
• publish them on the official website and the Organiser's official pages;
• use them in informational materials about the Contest;
• include selected works in exhibitions;
• use them in print and electronic publications connected with the Contest;
• use them in cultural, educational and outreach projects devoted to PF and visual culture.

9.5. Granting these rights does not transfer authorship or the exclusive rights to the work.

9.6. When publishing or exhibiting a work, the Organiser credits the author by name, unless the technical characteristics of the format make this impracticable.

9.7. These Rules do not provide for commercial use of a work by the Organiser, or for the transfer of a work to third parties for commercial use.

9.8. The Organiser is not responsible for any subsequent unauthorised use of published materials by third parties.

10.1. Entries must comply with applicable law and must not infringe the copyright, personal rights or other rights of third parties.

10.2. The following are not permitted:

• material whose distribution is prohibited by law;
• incitement to violence;
• material intended to incite hatred or hostility;
• discriminatory or demeaning material;
• unlawfully used images and works;
• any other material that infringes the rights and legitimate interests of third parties.

10.3. The Organiser may refuse an entry, or withdraw it from the Contest after selection, if a breach of these Rules or of third-party rights is established.

10.4. If a serious breach comes to light after an award has been made, the Organiser may revoke that decision.

11.1. Winners and laureates receive diplomas and the corresponding awards.

11.2. All entrants receive certificates of participation.

11.3. Award documents state the author's name, the category and the status of the award.

11.4. Winners are honoured at the PF-27 final exhibition.

11.5. Representatives of the Organiser, the jury and partner organisations, as well as the authors of selected works, may attend the awards ceremony.

11.6. If an author cannot attend in person, the award may be sent by post or provided in electronic form, where this is applicable to the type of award document.

11.7. Official results are published on the Photo Union website and on the official PF-27 channels.

12.1. By submitting an application, the entrant consents to the processing of the personal data they provide for the purposes of:

• registration and participation in the Contest;
• communicating with the entrant;
• running the judging procedures;
• organising the exhibition and awards;
• preparing Contest documentation;
• publishing the results;
• compiling the online catalogue;
• preserving the Contest's archive materials.

12.2. Personal data is processed in accordance with applicable law and the Organiser's Privacy Policy.

12.3. Information about an author is published only to the extent necessary to present the entry, the results and the PF-27 materials.

12.4. If an author uses a pseudonym, the Organiser may use it in publications and Contest materials in accordance with the application data.

Belarusian Public Association of Photographers (BAP)

Address:
10 Pritytskogo St.
220073 Minsk
Republic of Belarus

Registered office:
7, office 209, Yanki Luchiny St.
220112 Minsk
Republic of Belarus

Website: https://photounion.by
Email: phunionby@gmail.com
Telephone: +375 44 736 31 69