OPEN CALL FOR PHOTOZINE AND PHOTOBOOK DUMMY AWARD 2025 – APPLICATION GUIDELINES 

The Photobook Dummy Award is one of the highlights of the Hong Kong Photobook Festival, which aims to support emerging artists and provide them with opportunities to showcase their work at international festivals.  This year photographers, artists and creative talents from all over the world are as usual invited to submit their works.  Thanks to the support of various partners, the winning and shortlisted dummies from previous year have been toured and exhibited in numerous places, included but not limited to New Zealand, Germany, India, Taiwan, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy. 

In addition the Photobook Dummy Award, this year we are excited to introduce the newly launched “Photozine Award” which aims at encouraging more people, especially the youth, to join the photozine creation and publication sectors.  The worldwide open call for Photozine Award is divided into Open and Student Categories.  Specifically, the Student Category is targeting at open recruits of works from students at various levels globally. 

About the selection scheme, jury from the Photobook Dummy Award will shortlist at most 15 finalists in the first round, while for the Photozine Award, 10 finalists from each category will be shortlisted. Eventually 3 winners for the Photobook Dummy Award and each of the two Photozine Award Categories will be selected among the finalists. 

All the finalists’ works will be exhibited at the Hong Kong Photobook Festival 2025.  Winners can utilise this opportunity to have professional exchange with the jury and also share their creation process with the participating audience. 

Submission Deadline 

Participants should submit their works with their submission form(s) so that the package arrives at Lumenvisum’s office by 15th February 2025 (Hong Kong Time) (by post or in person). Please allow ample time to enter and mail your works. Late submissions will not be considered by the jury. 

Prizes  

  1. Winner’s dummies/zines and other shortlisted dummies/zines will be exhibited in the Hong Kong Photobook Festival 2025.  
  1. The winner of the First Prize of Photobook Dummy will be granted a maximum subsidy of HKD$20,000 for participation in the visit of the international photobook festival; or self-published photobooks. 
  1. The winner of the First Prize of Photozine will be granted a maximum subsidy of HKD$3000 (per category) for participation in the visit of the international photobook festival; or self-published photozines. 

Entry Fees  

  1. The application fee is waived this year. 
  1. Costs of shipping are covered by the applications and are not refundable. 

Eligibility  

Photobook Dummy Award 

  1. The Award is open to photographers, artists, designers and all the creative talents from worldwide. 
  1. There is no specific age and nationality limit for entering the Award.  
  1. The photobook dummy can be done individually or collectively. 
  1. The photobook dummy must be original. 
  1. The photobook dummy must be self-published or unpublished. It cannot be published by any registered publisher or has never been committed to being published by any other publisher.  
  1. ISBN and is not a requirement for the Award. 
  1. The photobook dummy can be presented in any language. 
  1. The photobook dummy must be created on or after the 1st of January 2022. 

Photozine Award (General and Student Category) 

  1. The Award is open to photographers, artists, designers and all the creative talents. 
  1. The theme of this year’s Photozine Award is “Hong Kong” 
  1. Applying for Open or Student Category: There is no specific age and nationality limit for entering the Award, while the Student Category is open to full-time students only. Please upload your student identity card or other proof in your application. 
  1. The photozine can be done individually or collectively.  All candidates in a group must be students if they are submitting jointly under the Student Category. 
  1. The photozine must be original. 
  1. The photozine must not exceed 32 pages. 
  1. The photozine must be self-published or unpublished. It cannot be published by any registered publisher or has never been committed to being published by any other publisher.  
  1. The photozine can be presented in any language. 
  1. The photozine must be created on or after the 1st of January 2024. 

Important Note 

  • Applicants may apply for both awards.  However, every work is only eligible for one award’s application (i.e. either Photobook Dummy Award, Student Category or Open Category of Photozine Award). 
  • Each applicant can only submit one entry for each award. 
  • All shortlisted work will be featured in various exhibitions globally. In order to ensure the pieces’ good condition throughout the tour, shortlisted applicants need to submit a second physical copy of their works to the organiser. This second copy should arrive at Lumenvisum within 21 days after the announcement of the shortlist. 
  • The organiser is not responsible for any damage of the works during the exhibition. 

Timeline 

1st October 2024Applications Opening 
15th February 2025 at 18:00 (HKT, UTC/GMT: +8:00)Applications Closing 
April 2025Finalists Announcement
May 2025Winners Announcement

Application Procedure 

Step One – Online Registration 

  1. Fill in the online submission form below. Upload the PDF file including all pages of the book/zine and the image of the book/zine cover. Please provide the photos of book/zine cover as shown in the instruction below:   
  1. The form must be completed either in Chinese or English. 
  1. The form must be submitted before the submission of the physical copy. 
  1. Print the acknowledgement of receipt or confirmation message as a proof of successful registration.  
Photobook Dummy Award 2025 Online Registration
Photozine Award 2025 Online Registration

 
Step Two – Submission of Physical Copy – Pack your photobook dummy/photozine  

  1. Your submission should include (i) a physical copy of your photobook dummy/photozine; and (ii) a registration proof.  
  1. All the items for submission must be packed in a sealed envelope.  
  1. Mark “Hong Kong Photobook Dummy Award 2025” or “Hong Kong Photozine Award 2025” on the envelope.  

Step Three – Submission of Physical Copy – By Post or In Person 

Submission by Post  Submission in Person 
For submission by post, the package must arrive at the following address by 15th February 2025. All incomplete or late entries will be declined. For submission in person, the applicant should submit the physical copy within the opening hours* of Lumenvisum.  
Address Lumenvisum Company Limited L2-02 Jockey Club Creative & Arts Centre 30 Pak Tin Street,  Shek Kip Mei,  Kowloon, Hong Kong. 
N/A *Opening Hours  
Monday to Friday (09:30-13:00 & 14:00-18:00) Saturday, Sunday & Public holidays (11:00-13:00 & 1400-1800)