Who can enter the competition?

The competition is open to media photographers, freelance photographers, and young aspiring photographers or students up to the age of 26.

Photographers who are permanent residents of the Slovak Republic, freelance photographers, media creators, and students can all enter the categories News, Reportage, Sports, and The World of Art and Culture.
Photographers from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine, freelance photographers, media creators, and students can all enter the categories Daily Life, Long-Term Document, and Environment and Nature.
The category Students and Young Photographers up to 26 Years is open to students and aspiring photographers up to 26 years of age from Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.
The Short Video category is open to freelance and professional video creators, as well as students up to 26 years of age from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine.

All categories are open to creators with photographs taken between 8 August 2024 and 26 June 2025. Exceptions are Long Documentary and Short Video categories, where the submitted photos or videos must have been created over a period of at least three years. In the case of Long Term Document, at least one of the photographs must have been taken during the previous year, i.e. after 8 August 2024.

Entries will be entered into the competition upon the submission of a completed online application form and the payment of the administration fee. Full-time students are not required to pay the administration fee if they indicate the school at which they are studying on the application form.

Registration for the Competition

The registration of photographers and their photographs will take place at this website >> Registration for the Competition

The requirement for participation in the competition is to fill out the online application form on the above-mentioned website. Contestants will fill in all the required data in the electronic form. By submitting the application, they agree to the competition’s rules, terms and conditions, and the processing of the personal data provided. Based on the electronic registration, an entry number will be generated, which will serve as an identifier of the registered contestant.

How to enter the competition?

1. Creating a new application form.
2. Completing and submitting the application form.
3. Payment of the administration fee.

Creating a new application form

In case you haven’t created an application for the 2025 edition of the competition, proceed by clicking on the "Create a new application" button. Then fill in the required information (first name, last name, phone number, email and a password of your choice).

Your phone number and email address are required for communication purposes. The password will enable you to access your application later, should you wish to complete it in stages or make any corrections.

After clicking the "Create a new application" button, you will be presented with an electronic form of your application in progress, which you need to fill in and submit.

Your application number will be displayed at the top of the application form. To re-enter your application, you will need the application number and password you created when creating it.

Opening an Existing Application

In case you have already created an application according to the previous point, you can go back to said application by clicking “Log in to application” at registracia.slovak-press-photo.sk with the application number and your password.

Filling in the Application - Personal Information Section

Fill in all the fields of the electronic application.

Filling in the Application - Additional Information Section

Fill in all the fields of the electronic application. In this section, upload your profile picture.

Filling in the Application - Photography Section

In this section, upload photos you wish to enter in the competition. You must upload them into the competition categories as a single photo or a series.

Filling in the Application – Video Section

The short videos will be judged by a three-member international jury appointed by the organiser of the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO competition. The jury will evaluate: the journalistic and documentary value of the videos (informativeness, urgency, relevance) and the aesthetic value of the videos. Short videos are submitted to the jury in electronic format.

In the "Where can we download your video" section, please provide a link to the video along with any additional information required to access it.
For videos uploaded to online video-sharing platforms (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.) that are not set to public, any access data or passwords required to view the video must be provided in a note.

If using video upload platforms (e.g., WeTransfer), please provide a download link in the "Where can we download your video" section.

The jury will select a maximum of four finalists from the videos submitted to the competition, from which the winner will be determined. The jury may select fewer finalists and reserves the right not to select any entries or determine a winner.

Video length: up to 15 minutes.

Photo Dimensions

Contestants upload their individual competition photos to the registration system in JPG/JPEG format with the highest possible compression quality and a resolution of at least 2,000 pixels for the shorter side and 3,000 pixels for the longer side of the image (adobe RGB, sRGB).

Photo Series Description

In case you are uploading a photo into a series of photos, you need to provide a description of the series itself. Each photo in the series must also be described separately.

Every photo series must have the following description:

• Title in Slovak language
• Title in English language
• Description in Slovak language
• Description in English language

The title of a series gives a shortened description of the events of said series. The description provides the context of the events or why the series is special and explains the circumstances under which the series was created. The description must indicate whether the photographer influenced the scene in any way or gave any instructions to the subject in the photograph.

Please, write the information provided here in general terms for the entire series of photographs, as you may write specific information and events for each photograph separately.

All the provided information should be both traceable and verifiable.

Description of the Photographs and Credits to the Author

Photographs must not display the name of the photographer, agency, publication, or any other information that could reveal the photographer’s identity. Such details may be included in the photo’s metadata but must not be visible on the image itself.
All the photographs must have truthful and precise descriptions, written in Slovak and English language.

Descriptions must be accurate, not misleading, and should address the fundamental questions of quality journalism.

Every photograph must have the following description:

• Title in Slovak language
• Title in English language
• Description in Slovak language
• Description in English language
• Date of Photograph

The title of a photograph gives a shortened description of the events of said photograph. The description should provide context for the event or explain why the photograph is significant, including the circumstances under which it was taken. The description must indicate whether the photographer influenced the scene in any way or gave any instructions to the subject in the photograph.

All the provided information should be both traceable and verifiable.

Photo Editing

Colour editing and grey scale conversion of photographs will only be accepted if the content of the original image is not altered. Conversion of a coloured photograph to black and white, which does not alter the content of the photograph, is permitted in the following cases:

• the changes in colour do not cause a significant change in hue to the extent resulting in a significant departure from the original colour,
• changes in density, contrast, colour and/or saturation may not significantly alter the content of the photograph.

The content of the photographs must not be altered by adding, moving, blurring, or removing people and/or objects from the frame. Only the following exceptions are allowed:

• cropping to remove unnecessary detail is permitted,
• it is permitted to remove dust on the sensor or scratches on scans or negatives.

The following will not be accepted into the competition:

• multiple exposures,
• panoramas created from multiple images,
• photographs with added or removed elements.
• In case of doubt, the jury may request the original image or images taken immediately before and after the submitted shot. Participants are required to provide the organiser with the original files as recorded by the camera for detailed examination if they are selected as finalists. Failure to provide these files will result in disqualification from the competition.

Criteria for Submitting Photographs to Categories:

• A maximum of 9 entries (i.e. individual photographs and/or series) may be submitted to the competition, with no more than two entries per category.
• Foreign entrants participating in the 4 selected categories may submit up to two entries per selected category, with a total maximum of 8 entries.
• A series must consist of 3 to 9 images. An exception applies to the Long Documentary category, where a series must contain 12 to 18 images.
• Each photograph can only be entered once, either as a single photograph or as part of a series.
• Photographs are uploaded by category as: single photographs – each photograph must be labeled with a title and a short description.
• Photographs are uploaded by category as: a series of photographs (3 to 9 photographs, or 12 to 18 photographs in the Long-term Documentary category) – each series must be labeled with a title and a short description, and the photographs in each series must be labeled with a sequence number indicating their order in the series.

Finishing the Registration

Once the creator has finished entering the data, they should review all the uploaded information and close the registration if no further edits are intended. Once registration is submitted, no further edits or additions to information or photos will be possible. Creators whose entries have been excluded from the competition due to a violation of the rules will not be able to enter their works in the competition for the next three years. By submitting the application form, the creator declares that the submitted work is their exclusive copyrighted work, or a joint work of the listed authors, and that the creator is entitled to grant consent for its use in accordance with the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO competition rules. By completing the electronic application form, the author grants the competition organiser an exclusive, time- and territory-unlimited licence to use the submitted work for the purposes of the competition and any subsequent exhibition(s) organised by the competition organiser. The organiser is also authorised to provide the work to third parties for exhibitions related to SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, both without alteration and for processing.

Application Form and Administration Fee

To complete your application, you must submit it using the 'Submit Application' button and pay the administration fee.

The information about the payment of the administration fee of 27 EUR will be indicated on your electronic application form. The administration fee must be paid by 26 June 2025 at the latest. Full-time students are not required to pay the administration fee if they indicate the school at which they are studying on the application form.

Competition Closing Date

The competition is open for entries from 21 May 2025 through 26 June 2025, until 23:59. After this date, the registration system will be closed.

How will the photographs be judged?

Each photograph entered in a particular category as a single photograph will be judged as a piece of work with its specific aesthetic and informative qualities. Each series will be judged as an aesthetic and informative piece of work in its entirety, as selected and arranged by the author.

In exceptional cases and by mutual agreement, the jury may select a single photograph from a series and award it as an individual entry, provided that the original series has not already received an award. - The photographs will be judged anonymously.

Photographs must not display the author’s name or the name of the medium or agency for which they were produced in any visible area. - Photographs will be evaluated by a five-member international jury appointed by the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO contest organiser. The jury will judge the journalistic qualities of the photographs (informativeness, urgency, relevance) as well as their aesthetic value.

The photographs will be presented to the jury in electronic format, sorted by competition categories. - In each category, the jury will select up to four nominees from among the singles and series submitted to the competition and will appoint the winners. The jury reserves the right not to nominate any works or to withhold awarding a winner in any category.

Competition Results and Presentation of Winning Works

The main prize GRAND PRIX will be announced at the press conference after the jury meeting. Nominees will be announced no later than one week before the awards ceremony. The final results, including the names of the winners of SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO 2025 will be announced at the awards ceremony in Bratislava on 19 September 2025. The awarded works will be exhibited publicly at the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO 2025 photography exhibition on Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava from 19 September 2025 until 19 October 2025.

Processing of Winning Entries

The creator grants the organiser the right to convert the electronic format of the competition work - the photograph - into printed form, as well as to publish the work on the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO website and social media channels if the work places in the competition. The organiser undertakes to print the photographs without alterations, in a format that meets the requirements of the exhibition.

By submitting the electronic application form for SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO 2025, the contestant grants consent for their personal data to be processed by the organiser, SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, s.r.o., for the purposes of administering the competition and presenting the winning works.

Personal Data Protection

In accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter referred to as "the Regulation").

Controller’s Data:

SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, s.r.o., registered seat Björnsonova 16, 811 05 Bratislava, Business ID: 36 844 748, registered in the Commercial Register of the District Court Bratislava l., Section: Sro, Entry: 48302,43 (hereinafter referred to as the “Controller”).

Contact Details - SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, s.r.o.:

If you have any questions about the processing of personal data, or if you wish to object and exercise the rights of the data subject, you can contact us by e-mail at slovakpressphoto@gmail.com or in writing to the Controller’s address: SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, s.r.o., Björnsonova 16, 811 05 Bratislava.

Rights of Data Subjects:

By providing your data to the Controller you acquire the status of a data subject under Section III of the Regulation, especially

• the right to access your personal data,
• the right to correct your personal data - the Controller will correct (based on request submitted by the data subject (you) or upon Controller’s discretion) any incorrect personal data related to you, without undue delay
• the right to have your personal data deleted, the Controller will without undue delay delete your personal data, provided that at least one of the below occurs:
• the personal data are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed,
• the data subject revokes the consent to have his/her their data processed, and there is not another legal basis to have such data processed,
• the personal data have been processed illegally,
• personal data must be deleted to comply with the legal duty under the law of the European Union or its member state, depending on the jurisdiction applicable to the event organiser.
• the right to restrict your personal data processing, if
• the data subject does not consider personal data correct and accurate during the period of time when the Controller can verify their accuracy,
• data processing is illegal, the Controller is not willing to delete personal data and requires the restriction of their use instead,
• the Controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but the data subject needs them to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• the right to transfer your personal data,
• the right to object to your personal data processing (data profiling included) and
• the right to be excluded from fully automated decision-making (data profiling included).

At the same time, pursuant to Article 77 of the Regulation, the data subject has the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, which is the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic, Hraničná 12, 820 07 Bratislava 27.

The data subject may exercise the above rights under the conditions set out in the Regulation.

The Controller must always uphold a legitimate request when technically feasible.

The purposes and legal background of personal data processing:

The purpose of the processing of personal data of data subjects who are participants in the competition organised by the Controller is/are:

• the fulfilment of obligations arising from the contractual relationship (Article VI, paragraph 1, point b of the Regulation). Their personal data are processed before concluding the contract and for the duration of the contract,
• keeping records of the participants in the competition (Article VI, paragraph 1, point b of the Regulation),
• proceedings for the fulfilment of a legal obligation of the Data Controller towards institutions, authorities and other institutions or companies (Article VI., paragraph 1, point c of the Regulation), arising from the following laws:
• Act 563/2009 Coll. on Taxes (Tax Act) and on amendments and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts, as amended,
• Act No 595/2003 Coll. on Income Tax, as amended,
• Act 395/2002 Coll. on Archiving, Registration and on amendments and supplements to certain acts, as amended,
• Act 431/2002 Coll. on Accounting, as amended,
• sending the newsletter (Article VI, paragraph 1, point a of the Regulation),
• to competitions organised by the Data Controller and publishing their results, the participant’s personal data may be disclosed in mass media and on the Data Controller’s website. This also applies to the metadata of the submitted photographs.

Data Retention

Your personal data will be kept depending on the purpose they are processed for:
Personal Data Processed for - Personal Data Retention Period
Contractual Rights and Duties - The personal data of the finalists and winners will be processed for the duration of the existence of the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO Foundation and its eventual successors. The personal data of the other contestants will be disposed of immediately after the end of the competition.
Keeping records of competition participants - 10 years,
Bookkeeping - 10 years,
Newsletter - For the duration of the data subject's consent.
Data Controller’s Legal Duties - Period defined by the respective legal regulations.
Promotion of competitions and disclosure of results - Personal data will be disclosed on Data Controller’s web page according to the document registration rules and in mass media for their duration period.

Personal Data Disclosure:

Your personal data are neither disclosed nor provided to third parties unless required by a specific legal regulation or needed to fulfil the contractual duties.

For the fulfilment of contractual obligations, the following entities or groups of entities are authorised to process your personal data (within the meaning of Article 28 of the Regulation):

• THE SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO FOUNDATION, registered seat: Bjömsonova 16, 811 05 Bratislava, Business ID: 50057651, registered in the Register of Foundations of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic under e.203/Na-2022/1124 on 16.11.2015
• graphic designers, copywriters, programmers/web developers, PPC specialists, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialists, accountants, and other operators we cooperate with in our activities.

Third Countries: The Data Controller does not intend to transfer your personal data to a third country or an international organization. Automated Decision Making and Profiling: The Data Controller does not apply automated decision making (profiling included) to process clients‘ personal data. Failure to provide personal data prevents the Controller from preparing and concluding a contractual relationship with the data subject and his/her participation in the competition.

In Bratislava, on 21 May 2025