For its 2025 edition, the ZOOM Photo Festival is launching a call for presentation of photographic reports on the theme of New Frontiers.
A place for sharing and exchange between the Quebec public, the media and photographers from all around the world, ZOOM organizes these meetings around twenty exhibitions brought together on the theme of multiple new borders created, modified or eliminated in the tumult of our radical era.
This call for proposals is limitless in its physical, conceptual or symbolic territories, and is driven by our certainty that in the cognitive cacophony, into which the dominant media discourses plunge us, photojournalism is invested with a primordial responsibility: that of an authentic testimony, seen, felt and affirmed as a means of knowledge and intelligence in the world.
APPLICATIONS SUBMISSION
Applications are free and open to all international professional photographers, with no age limit.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Relevance of the subject to the theme “New Frontiers”;
- Visual and technical quality of the photographs;
- Narrative strength of the reportage;
- Originality and personal approach to the subject;
Application Form Content
- A selection of 20 to 30 photographs (each between 10 and 50 MB, 300 dpi), in JPEG format;
- Each photo must include IPTC metadata captions;
- Each photography must be named as follows: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_PHOTO NUMBER (e.g., TREMBLAY_JEAN_01), following the narrative order of the reportage / documentary;
- A text introducing the photographic series (maximum 500 words, PDF format, in French or English);
- A biography of the photographer (maximum 150 words, PDF format, in French or English);
- All files must be placed in a folder named as follows: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (e.g., DOE_JOHN_CANADA)
Deadline for submission
Participants must upload their application file to the festival’s online platform at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/request/CQhouFMdVuhISQNWTAoh
- Deadline for submission: March 30, 2025, at 11 PM UTC−4.
- Please ensure compliance with file size and caption requirements, submission formats, and word limits.
Jury
The jury is composed of:
- Olivier Laban-Mattei / Documentary photographer and director, member of the MYOP agency.
- Xavier Soule / DPLG Architect, Doctor of Contemporary Art History, DESS in Archeometrie, MST Restauration / Conservation, Maitre es Lettres, CEO AV Tech, CEO Agence VU’
- Justin Mignot, Festival Artistic Director.
- Christiane Gagnon / Author and graduate in art history, regional studies, holder of a PhD in planning and a postdoctorate.
- Marie Borgia / Artistic Projects Producer, Images Producer
- Valérian Mazataud / Montreal-based documentary photographer
- Michel Tremblay / Co-founder and president of Groupe Photo Média International Inc., founder and CEO of Zoom Photo Festival, photographer.
Obligations
- Participants declare on their honor that they are the authors of the photographs they submit to the jury;
- They guarantee that they hold the rights to these photographs and release the festival from any claims from third parties;
- Artificial intelligence (AI) generated images are strictly prohibited. Photographers certify that their submitted work has not been created or altered using generative AI;
- Post-production editing must comply with the ethical guidelines of documentary photography: basic adjustments such as cropping, slight color correction, and contrast modifications are allowed. Adding or removing elements from the image (except by cropping) is strictly forbidden;
- Photographers grant the festival the right to use their name and submitted materials for the following purposes: Festival communication, Exhibition of the selected prints, projection on a screen in Chicoutimi;
- For its communication, the festival reserves the right to extract passages and quotes from the texts presented, without altering their content;
- Participants agree to deliver three royalty-free photos for the press, for articles related to the Zoom Photo Festival promotional period. These three photos will be chosen by their authors;
Professional Week
Exhibiting photographers are invited to attend the festival’s professional week (early October 2025) and are expected to participate at:
- The festival’s inauguration;
- A guided tour of their exhibition;
- Roundtable discussions and public exchanges;
- Meetings with the press;
- Workshops with student groups;
Expenses Support During the Professional Week
The festival will cover the following expenses for exhibiting photographers:
- Transports (plane, car, train) up to 1,000 CAD (Canadian dollars);
- Accommodation (hotel room in Chicoutimi);
- A daily stipend of 60 CAD (subjected to confirmation);
- Transportation from Quebec Airport to Chicoutimi, will be subjected to shuttle availability;
NB
- All visa-related fees remain to be the responsibility of the photographer. Any additional government-required document fees are also the responsibility of the photographer
- Photographers are responsible for their own transportation cost to and from the departure or arrival airport
Exhibition prints (up to 15) are fully covered by the festival and will be produced in our lab in conformity with the festival’s technical and quality standards.