Official Regulations
1 - Name and Promotion
FOTOFOTO PRIZE (hereinafter “the Prize”) is an annual photography competition promoting social justice and the arts, created and administered by KOMONA, a non-profit association duly formed for cultural purposes. All profits generated by the Prize are redistributed for social purposes aligned with the association’s mission.
2 - Objective and Scope
The Prize aims to celebrate and support photographic works that explore themes of social justice, LGBTQ rights, decolonial perspectives, and other culturally significant issues, with a geographic focus on Latin America and Caribbean.
3 - Definitions
For the purposes of these Regulations:
a) “Participant” is an individual who submits work to the Prize in accordance with the eligibility rules below.
b) “Jury” refers to the selected panel responsible for evaluating submissions and determining finalists and winners.
c) “Submission” means the set of images and text submitted for consideration.
d) “Prize Website” refers to the official online platform where entries are submitted, judged, and results published.
4 - Eligibility
To participate in the Prize, an individual must be at least 18 years old and meet one of the following criteria:
a) Being a citizen* of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela.
* Having a legal citizenship
b) Being a resident* of one of the following countries for at least two years. Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, UK Virgin Islands, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela.
* Living on the territory (excluding the mainland territories of the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States of America).
c) Member of the Latin American and Caribbean diaspora, defined as an emigrant or a direct child of emigrants originally from Latin America or Caribbeans.
5 - Submission Requirements
a) Participants can only enter the competition once per edition. As a jury or as a photographer.
b) Submissions must consist of 1 to 5 original photographs.
c) Each file must not exceed 5 MB and must adhere to the technical requirements specified on the Prize Website.
d) Photographs must have been taken within the last 3 years or be new original work.
e) AI-generated or AI-assisted content is not permitted. The winners are required to grant the Prize access to their RAW files.
f) Participants may only submit work they personally created; submission of another person’s work is prohibited.
g) Participants must provide accurate contact and legal information if selected as a winner. Failure to provide the required information may result in disqualification.
h) Works that don’t have a social justice theme won’t be considered. The Jury, in its discretion, will define the relevance of the works with the social justice themes.
i) Works that don’t have a geographic focus on Latin America or Caribbeans won’t be considered.
6 - Jury System
a) Jury members must be at least 18 years old.
b) Jury eligibility includes having legal nationality and residing at least the last five years of in Latin America or Caribbeans.
c) There are no other criterias to be eligible as a Jury member.
d) Applying to be a jury member is free.
e) The names of the Jury members will not be disclosed publicly.
f) Each member of the Jury will be paid an average of 30 US dollars (before taxes) per hour for their work, for a maximum of 3,000 US (before taxes) dollars in total.
g) Applicants may apply to serve on the Jury at no cost. Final selection will be made through a randomized software sorting process.
h) Jury members will be contacted by email following the submission deadline.
i) Between 1 and 1,000 participants, 1 Jury member will be selected for every 100 entries. Between 1,001 and 5,000 participants, 1 Jury member will be selected for every 200 entries. Between 5,001 and 10,000 participants, 1 Jury member will be selected for every 400 entries. Between 10,001 and 20,000 participants, 1 Jury member will be selected for every 800 entries. Between 20,001 and 50,000 participants, 1 Jury member will be selected for every 1000 entries.
j) The jury process will happen in two phases.
During the 1st phase, each jury member will be assigned a number of entries between 100 and 1,000 to evaluate depending on the total number of participants. The Jury member will have 2 weeks to evaluate their assigned entries. At the end of the two weeks, the Jury members will choose their 10 favourites entries.
During the second phase, all the 10 favourite entries of each Jury member will be evaluated again by the entirety of the Jury members. Each Jury member will rank their 20 favourite entries, assigning each entry a score from 1 to 20 (the 1st favourite receive a score of 20, the last favourite receive a score of 1). The entry with the most points will be declared winner, and the following entry in the ranking will be declared second winner.
k) Each selected Jury member will receive compensation for participation in accordance with a payment schedule published on the Prize Website.
l) Jury decisions are final and binding.
m) Failure to provide proof of eligibility will result in removal from the Jury pool or participant list.
7 - Entry Fees and Prize Allocation
a) The entry fee for the Prize is USD 15 (plus applicable taxes).
b) A transparent breakdown of fee allocation, including contributions to prize funds, jury remuneration, organizational support, and platform costs, will be published in the official Prize policies document on the Prize Website.
c) Prize structure based on participation tiers is as follows:
• If total participants are up to 1,000, a Jury of ten (10) members will be appointed. • If total participants reach 5,000, a larger Jury may be appointed in proportion to the number of submissions. • If total participants are between 5,000 and 10,000, one (1) Jury member will be responsible for reviewing 500 submissions in rotation.
d) The Prize is limited to a maximum of 50,000 participants per cycle.
8 - Winners and Awards
a) All the prizes are in US dollars.
b) The cash prizes are proportional to the number of participants. The first prize is proportional to the number of participants by a factor 5 (x5) and the second prize by a factor 2 (x2). This way, if there are 100 participants the first and second prizes will be $500 and $200 before tax, if there are 1,000 participants the first and second prize will be $5,000 and $2,000 before tax. And so on…
c) The Prize winners will be announced two months after the final enrollment deadline This announcement is scheduled for August 30th of each year.
d) Winners will be notified by the contact information provided at registration, and must provide proof of citizenship or residency, ownership of the winner photograph and valid bank account details to receive award funds.
e) If the total number of participants exceeds 20,000, the first and second prize winners will each be invited to participate in a joint physical exhibition in a Latin American or Caribbean city, with travel, accommodation, and per diems provided. Local community members will also be invited, and free food and beverages will be made available at the event. A free lottery for printed artworks may be held as part of the exhibition.
f) A specific exhibition budget will be allocated as part of the Prize’s annual operating budget.
9 - Time Frame and Payments
a) The official enrollment period will conclude in late June each year.
b) Jury evaluations and compensation payments must be completed by the end of September.
10 - Organizational Budget and Limits
a) The combined annual compensation for organizational workers shall not exceed USD 100,000 (one hundred thousand) in total.
b) Any budget surplus after operating costs will be allocated to the nonprofit’s social justice initiatives, artist residencies, and grant programs.
c) A portion of the annual budget will be allocated for digital advertising and promotion, including Google Ads and targeted campaigns to increase participation.
11 - Terms and conditions
a) All participants and Jury members must sign a binding agreement outlining obligations, rights, intellectual property usage, and terms of participation.
b) The Prize organization reserves the right to revise these Regulations. Participants will be notified of material changes via email and public notice on the Prize Website.
c) Submission to the Prize implies full acceptance of these Regulations and any published updates thereto.
d) The Prize will retain the top 20 evaluated works for archival and exhibition purposes; all other files will be permanently deleted in consideration of digital ecological impact.
e) We use cookies on this website. By using this site, you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual.
f) We take care about your personal data. As part of our commitment we offer you: access to your personal information, correction of your personal information, erasure of your personal information, right to be forgotten.
g) By submitting, participants agree to the use of their images in promotional materials and communications related to current or future editions of the Prize.