Open Call for the 6th Split Format: this year's theme is BORDERS/BOUNDARIES

Open Call for the 6th Split Format: this year's theme is BORDERS/BOUNDARIES

Photo Club Split has launched an open call for the sixth edition of Split Format, an international photography festival whose overarching theme this year is boundaries. As in previous editions, the festival is preceded by an international photography competition inviting photographers to respond to the theme through a photographic series.

The theme can be explored through tangible, physical borders or, more broadly, through social, cultural and personal boundaries. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on and explore the boundaries of photography itself, its possibilities and the ways in which it shapes our gaze.

Photography can document reality, but it can also transform it, bring it closer to abstraction or prompt a perceptual shift—a change in how we look at and understand what we see. The call is open until 1 November 2026, and the winning entries will be selected by a professional jury comprising Jelena Matić (art historian), Mane Radmanović (visual artist and designer), Lucija Čibals (art historian), Davor Konjikušić (visual artist and photographer) and Marin Margeta (photographer and Vice President of Fotoklub Mostar).

The five highest-rated series will advance to the final round and be presented in the finalists’ exhibition, opening on 16 November 2026. The three winning series will be announced at the opening, and their authors will receive cash prizes: €600 for first place, €400 for second place and €300 for third place.

The “Borders/Boundaries” photography competition is open to professional and amateur photographers and photography enthusiasts from Croatia and abroad. Entrants must have turned 18 before the publication of the call. The approach to the theme is unrestricted, provided it respects the competition’s underlying concept.

Each photographer may submit an unlimited number of entries. Each entry must include 10–15 photographs that conceptually engage with this year’s festival theme. This year’s festival curator is art historian Jelena Matić.

An entry fee of €30 per submission applies (€20 for members of Fotoklub Split).

Photographs must have been taken in 2021 or later and may be in colour or black and white. Signatures, watermarks and borders must not be added to photographs. Photographs created using artificial intelligence or other graphic tools are not permitted. Each submission must also include a short description.

Photographs uploaded must meet the following requirements:

  • A maximum of 3,000 pixels on the longest side

  • Saved in JPEG format at quality level 10 (100%)

  • No logos or borders

  • A file size of less than 4 MB

Payment details for entrants from Croatia:
Fotoklub Split, Marmontova 5, 21000 Split, Croatia
IBAN: HR5324070001100578753, OTP banka
Payment reference: Potpora za Split Format 2026

Payment details for international entrants:
Fotoklub Split, Marmontova 5, 21000 Split, Croatia
IBAN: HR5324070001100578753
BIC (SWIFT): OTPVHR2X
Payment reference: Potpora za Split Format 2026
Bank: OTP banka d.d., Domovinskog rata 61, 21000 Split, Croatia

Full details on copyright, participation requirements and how to submit an entry are available on the official Fotoklub Split and Split Format websites.