entry rules

3RD ART FIESTA CIRCUIT 2025
Georgia, Moldova, Latvia

CIRCUIT ORGANIZER:
Association of Photographers of Georgia
Liaison officer apg.contests@gmail.com

CONTACTS:
Chair: Nino Mghebrishvili – EFIAP, QPSA, CROWN 1,
Address Varketili 3, 2 micro-district, 2 building, app 63, Tbilisi, 0163, Georgia
Email ninomgheb@gmail.com
Location of Entry Form: https://photomarket.ge
Website: http://photo-salons.net

SECTIONS
There are three digital sections and three salons.
a) OPEN COLOR (color only) PIDC
b) OPEN MONOCHROME (monochrome only) PIDM
c) PEOPLE (color only) PIDC

ENTRY FEE
The entry fee for entries is o to be paid after the upload of the photos will be finished. Discounts are not allowed. Cheques are not accepted. Entries for which no or insufficient payment has been received will not be judged.
Entry fee is mandatory for all participants: Entrance fee per person for 3 salons:
1 section €35
2 sections €37
3 sections €39
Possible ways of payment – PayPal transfer.
internationalphotosalons@gmail.com (preferred) (paypal.me/photosalons).
Other payment methods Money Gram/Western Union and Yandex Money are allowed.
Checks are not accepted. For another way for payment please contact us by email: apg.contests@gmail.com.
Payment comments: please write the full name of the author.
The works of the authors who do not pay the fee will not be taken into consideration.
The fee is non-refundable.

CALENDAR
Closing date 23 March 2025
All judging completed by 13 April 2025
Notifications sent by 20 April 2025
Awards mailed by 18 May 2025
On-line Gallery posted by 13 April 2025
On-line Catalog posted by 23 April 2025
Status page and website available to: 13 April 2026
Public Showings: There will be a public projection of all the awards and a representative selection of the accepted in May-June 2025 Tbilisi, Georgia
Notification of Results
All participants will receive individual report card notifications via e-mail. The results of the exhibition will also will be published on the website www.photo-salons.net

JUDGES
The judges will evaluate all 3 sections: Open Color, Open Monochrome, People

Georgia Fiesta Salon 2025
Stefan Stuppnig: GMPSA, BPSA, EFIAPg, GPU CR4, VIP5, Zeus – (Austria)
Mzia Lekveishvili – (Georgia)
Lu Ming: ESFIAP, (China)

Moldova Fiesta Salon 2025
Anatol Poiata: EFIAP – (Moldova)
Paolo Stuppazzoni: EFIAP, QPSA – (Italy)
Buket Ozatay: - EPSA, EFIAP/d1 - (Cyprus)

Latvia Fiesta Salon 2025
Eizenija Freimane: - EFIAP – (Latvia)
Mehmet Gokyigit: - EFIAP/d3, C*MoL, Hon.FAPG - (Cyprus)
Umberto Deramo: – EFIAP/b, MPSA, GPU CR4, VIP3 - (Italy)

PSA Rules for the Judging Process
• The exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA.
• An entrant’s images will not be presented to the judges consecutively.
• An entrant’s four images will be distributed throughout four rounds of judging in that section.
• Distribution of images will be in the same round order as submitted by the entrant.
• At no stage will a judge be able to view all the entrant’s images together.

APG Green badge for the best author awarded an author who collects the most acceptances in the circuit.
GRAND PRIX awarded an author who collects the most awards in the circuit.
To be eligible for Club Trophies, minimum 10 participants from a club must participate and pay their individual entry fees. Club Entry Awards will be sent to a single address as communicated by the identified Group Leader.
Medals and Ribbons will be posted, E-Diplomas in the PDF format can be downloaded from the circuit page http://photo-salons.net

CATALOG
Online PDF Catalog downloadable from web site www.photo-salons.net by exhibitors

DIGITAL ENTRY SUBMISSION
- Authors submit photos online on www.photo-salons.net. Each entry-form must be written only in English. If any problems are unresolved during online registration, entrants can send the registration form with competitive images via email: apg.contests@gmail.com
- Photos must be in JPG file format. Entries size requirements: The maximum size of image 1920 X 1080 pixels horizontal side 1920, vertical side 1080). Max. file size 2 MB.
- Exhibitions are not allowed to resize oversized images. In such cases the entrant is required to resubmit their entry with properly sized images.

ACCEPTANCES AND AWARDS
Judging Method
- The judging will be conducted by remote on-line. The judges will be using color-calibrated monitors. Judges will be using equipment capable of displaying images exactly 100% of the image resolution (that is, the images will not be enlarged - at no point zoomed in - beyond their native resolution).
- An award session will be done at the videoconference by a jury viewing the images together.

Target Acceptance Range
- The acceptance target range will be no more than 30% in each section.
- No image may receive more than one individual award in a section, but in circuits an image may receive an award in different salon sections. Only one award can be given to an entrant in any one section. - For sections with more than 230 images, no more than 10% of the acceptances can receive medals/awards.

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS
Image and Entry Requirements: This exhibition is open to anyone; however, an entry may be rejected when the Sponsor or the Exhibition Organizers, in their reasonable discretion, believes the entry does not conform to exhibition rules and these ES-COE. Membership in any photographic organization is not required.
Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is on the PSA Penalties List for Ethics Violation. Entry fees are not refundable in these circumstances.
PSA Star Ratings: To receive proper Star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same way in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of name changes or relocating to another country. Using one’s name differently in different exhibition exposes the entrant to the risk that many of their acceptances may not be recognized by PSA Star Ratings.
Reproduction: The entrant permits the sponsors to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the exhibition. This may include low resolution posting on a website. The Photographic Society of America (PSA) may request specific permission from entrants to reproduce entered images in its educational materials. The terms of that permission will be mutually agreed between the entrant and PSA except in the circumstances where the entered image is found to breach the PSA Ethics Policy. In those circumstances the image may be reproduced by PSA, without the entrant’s further permission, for educational purposes to illustrate serious exhibition rule violations. For those reproductions, the entrant’s name will be withheld.
Entries will not be accepted from entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced in materials related to the exhibition. The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright
Re-use of accepted images: Any image that has been accepted in this exhibition, past or present, may not be entered again in the same Division Star Ratings Class in any future instances of this exhibition. It may, of course, be entered in any other PSA recognised exhibitions but must always have the same title. Re-titling in another language is not allowed.
Entry: An Entry consists of, up to and including, four (4) images entered by a single entrant into the same Section. The same image can receive no more than a total of twenty (20) acceptances (per star path). Identical or similar Images shall not be allowed in the same section or different sections of the same exhibition as determined by the judges or exhibition chair. Similar images are those which are practically equivalent, as defined on this page: https://psa-services.org/pdf/Practical-Equivalence.pdf When a group of similar images is uploaded by the entrant, all similar images in all sections will be disqualified. Be advised: while similar images may be entered in different exhibitions, these images and acceptances may be disallowed by the separate review process associated with applications for stars, diamonds and galaxies. To avoid disappointment, do not enter images that are practically equivalent.
Titles: Each image must have a unique title that relates to the content of the image. That unique title must be used for entry of that image into any and all PSA-recognized exhibitions. Titles must be 35 characters or fewer. No titles may be visible to the judges, and nothing in the image may identify the entrant. Titles may not include file extensions such as .jpg or .jpeg (or any other camera capture file names such as IMG_xxxx). Titles may not consist of personal identifiers possibly augmented by a number; and may not include words such as “untitled” or “no title.” Titles may not consist solely of numbers unless those numbers are prominently contained within the image, such as a contestant number in a race. When entering titles, exhibitors may use Latin1 or Latin2 character sets (ISO-8859-1 or ISO-8859-2) which allow diacritical marks (é, ñ, ü, ą, ę, ś, etc). While text written in non-Latin writing systems (Hanzi, Cyrillic, Arabic, Devanagari, etc) might be accepted by exhibition software, this practice is discouraged because it may yield unpredictable results in galleries, catalogs and may be rejected in Star applications.

Color and Monochrome:
Color and Monochrome images from the same capture that share substantial pictorial content in common will be considered the same image and must be given the same title.

DATA PROTECTION
By entering this exhibition, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including physical addresses, email addresses, being held, processed and used by the exhibition organizers for purposes associated with this exhibition. You also explicitly consent to such information being sent to organizations that have accorded official recognition, patronage or accreditation to this exhibition. You acknowledge, agree and accept that by entering this exhibition, your participation status which includes your first and last name, name of the country used during registration at the exhibition, number of sections entered and number of photos entered in those sections will be made public in a published status list and that the results of your entry shall be made public in exhibition gallery, exhibition catalog. You also agree and accept the policies regarding Breaches of Rules of the PSA. And FIAP

SUBJECT MATTER AND SECTION DEFINITIONS
Image creation and ownership
In all sections of the exhibition, images must originate as photographs made by the entrant. They may not incorporate identifiable images produced by anyone else (for example: clip art, replacement skies, or stock images). Images created in whole or in part by image creation software (frequently called ‘AI’ images) are not allowed. Editing or alteration of images is permitted within the limits specified in the relevant section definitions that are available here https://psa-photo.org/page/division-definitions
Any person submitting or attempting to submit a totally AI generated image that does not begin with a light capture from the maker, from any Photographic Society of America exhibition, social media, event, or publication, other than for editorial purposes, shall be prohibited from PSA for a period of from 3 years to life.
Statement on Subject Matter - applicable to all sections
The fundamental rule that must be observed at all times and applies to all sections offered in exhibitions with PSA recognition is that the welfare of living creatures is more important than any photograph. This means that practices such as baiting of subjects with a living creature and removal of birds from nests, for the purpose of obtaining a photograph, are highly unethical, and such photographs are not allowed in any exhibition with PSA recognition. Under no circumstances may a living creature be placed in a situation where it will be killed, injured or stressed for the purpose of obtaining a photograph. Images that show live creatures being fed to captive animals, birds or reptiles are not permitted under any circumstances.
There are also concerns about the use of aerial photography, drones, helicopters, low flying aircraft. These should not cause any interference with other individuals or animals which causes a disturbance in their normal activity or disrupt the way any individuals or animals interact with their environment. Entrants in PSA recognized exhibitions should comply with all relevant laws and regulations, associated with aerial photography, in the country in which the image was taken.
Entry into PSA recognized exhibitions is conditional on accepting these policies. The content of images must comply with the General Conditions and with the Division and Section definitions listed in these conditions. Images that - in the sole opinion of the judges or the Exhibition Organizers - do not comply, will be disqualified so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other exhibitions with PSA recognition.

FIAP Monochrome Definition
A black and white work fitting from the very dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey. A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category; such a work can be reproduced in black and white in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage. On the other hand a black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) to stand in the colour category; such a work requires colour reproduction in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage.

PSA Monochrome Definition
An image is considered to be Monochrome only if it gives the impression of having no color (i.e. contains only shades of grey which can include pure black and pure white) OR it gives the impression of being a greyscale image that has been toned in one color across the entire image. (For example by Sepia, red, gold, etc.) A greyscale or multi-colored image modified or giving the impression of having been modified by partial toning, multi-toning or by the inclusion of spot coloring does not meet the definition of monochrome and shall be classified as a Color Work.
• Monochrome images may not be entered in color sections of PPD or PID.
People Definition (color only) PIDC
Show us people in all situations, such as daily life, street photography, traditions, portrait, people at work, social events, human relations and etc. The main subject in the photo must be one or more human.
Where PSA/FIAP Rules differ, all entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances to be validated by all the International Organizations granting recognition or patronage.

FIAP RULES: In order to have legal authority on those who do not respect the rules of FIAP, the organiser must make sure that all participants of an online event under FIAP Patronage tick a box next to which the following text is stated:
“I hereby expressly agree to FIAP document 040/2023 « Conditions and regulations for FIAP Patronage » and FIAP document 033/2023 « Sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list ». I am particularly aware of chapter II « Regulations for International photographic events under FIAP patronage » of FIAP document 040/2023, dealing under Section II.2 and II.3 with the FIAP participation rules, the sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list”
FIAP documents 018/2017 and 017/2017 must be linked to this paragraph so that participants can consult it
Notice:
The mention that by the sole act of submitting his/her images or files to a salon under FIAP Patronage, the entrant accepts without exception and with no objection the following terms: - that the submitted images can be investigated by FIAP to establish if these obey to FIAP regulations and definitions even if the entrant is not a member of FIAP, - that FIAP will use any means at its disposal for this undertaking, - that any refusal to cooperate with FIAP or any refusal to submit the original files as captured by the camera, or failure to provide sufficient evidence, will be sanctioned by FIAP, - that in case of sanctions following the non compliance with FIAP regulations, the name of the entrant will be released in any form useful to inform the breaches of the rules. It is recommended to leave the EXIF data in the submitted files intact in order to ease eventual investigations. If, at any time, it is determined in the reasonable discretion of the exhibition organizer or the judges before, during, or after the judging of an exhibition that an entrant has submitted entries where one or more images may fail to comply with these Conditions of Entry, including the stated definitions, the exhibition organizers reserve the right to delete the entry from the exhibition and void any or all acceptances or awards in connection with the exhibition. Fees may be forfeited or refunded in these circumstances. The entrant acknowledges that the decision of the exhibition organizers or the judges is final.

PSA RULES
Non-compliance
See the PSA Ethics Policy at https://psa-photo.org/page/ethical-practices
See the PSA statement on Subject Matter, Statement on Artificial Intelligence, and Image Creation and Authorship at https://psa-photo.org/page/division-definitions
If an entrant submits an image that appears to be non-compliant, the chair or judges may request the unedited or raw file of the submitted image to verify compliance, including authorship. For composite images all files are required. Such entries may be referred to PSA for further investigation of possible ethic violations. Entrants who do not respond to this request or who do not cooperate with the investigation team may be penalized.
PSA retains the right to investigate all complaints, impose penalties if deemed necessary, void the acceptances of any image found to violate the PSA rules, and add the entrant’s name to the PSA Penalty List which is shared with PSA and FIAP chairs. Entrants automatically agree to these terms by entering the Exhibition.
Agents and other indirect submissions:
• Agencies and third-party entities who process or submit images on an entrant’s behalf must register with Exhibition Services. This is to ensure both the agency and the entrants are aware of the rules prior to submitting images. Agencies who frequently submit images which incur violations may also be penalized.
• Entrants will be held responsible for adhering to the entry rules and will be subject to penalties for any violations to these Conditions of Entry or to PSA’s Statement of Ethics, regardless of whether they submit images through a third party or not.
NOTICE: When entrants fill in the Entry Form to submit an entry they will see the following feature to affirm they have read these Conditions of Entry
“I hereby confirm that I have read, understood and agree to the Conditions of Entry of this exhibition. I have read the PSA document to be found at https://psa-photo.org/resource/resmgr/pdf/exhibitions_/exhibition-entrants-agreemen.pdf. I am aware that PSA may apply penalties for breaches of these Conditions of Entry”
Failure to agree will mean that the application will not proceed.

3rd INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT ART FIESTA 2025 Georgia, Moldova, and Latvia is recognized by the Association of Photographers of Georgia (OM Georgia), Photolife club (ILFIAP Georgia), Creative Photographers Latvian Association (OM Latvia), and Union of Photo Artists of Moldova (ILFIAP Moldova).
Entry is open to photographers all over the world. It will be organized under the approved rules of FIAP, PSA, GPU, APG, IAAP, and Photolife. All acceptances will count for FIAP, PSA, GPU, APG, IAAP and for inclusion in PSA Star Rating and "Who’s Who".

FIAP – Federation Internationale de L’art Photographique
PSA – Photographic Society of America
GPU – Global Photographic Union
APG – Association of Photographers of Georgia
IAAP – International Art Photographers
UAFM - Uniunea Artistilor Fotografi din Moldova
CPLA - Creative Photographers Latvian Association
IIG - India International Group

ORGANIZATIONS
Association of Photographers of Georgia (FIAP OM)
Uniunea Artistilor Fotografi din Moldova (ILFIAP)
Creative Photographers Latvian Association (FIAP OM)