Session Details 2025

June judging session

The QEP session “June 2025” will be in Sweden, June, 2025.

Registrations will open in 2025 . The application fee is € 185,00. Early birds fees for a first period will be 170€.

A cost of 60,00 euro is asked for panels return. (NB! Return shipping to non-EU countries may include additional fees).

The minimum number of applications must be reached to confirm the event has been confirmed.

The address to send panels will be communicated on a later stage.

Apply to become a Qualified European Photographer

Rules and Regulations

Eligibility for QEP Qualification

To be eligible to apply for a QEP Certificate, the candidate:

must earn a living as a maker of still images, either photochemical or digital. The QEP Certificates are only available to those who are authors of the original images and they are not intended for photographic laboratory technicians or support staff.
must be a member of a national professional photographers association. The national association must be a member of the Federation of European Professional Photographers. Unless otherwise agreed by the relevant FEP member association, applications have to be sent directly to the FEP, but in any case a copy of the entry form must be transmitted by the entrants to the relevant association. Application by non members can be accepted providing they are professional photographers legally registered and resident in European countries where there are no FEP member national associations to represent them. If such an application is received from a photographer who is not member of a FEP member association, they must be registered with the tax authorities as a professional photographer and they must show their VAT registration number or certificate of professional insurance which will be validated by the FEP.
may be self-employed or an employee.
must have operated as a professional photographer for at least three consecutive years.
must fulfil the necessary requirements in technical skills and meet an internationally acknowledged artistic and aesthetic standard necessary to uphold a highly accomplished professional status.
must satisfy the requirements for professional practice skill, which will be assessed by the FEP member national association.
must accept the FEP European Code of Professional Conduct.
FEP Code of conduct

Submission of Work

each candidate must submit a panel of 12 printed images. Every print must be clearly numbered on the back to correspond with the visual guide; a directional arrow is also required.
each submission must be accompanied by a QEP application form. (Candidates have to print it after the application online and send it together with the prints)
the application is done online. Log-in then apply through our website (if application is open).
apply online
during the registration online, candidates have to upload the digital version of all 12 images. These images will be published in the QEP gallery online in case of success of the candidate. Images can be also uploaded later, on a second step, after the payment has been made, however both payment and image upload are required for the entry to be considered complete.
Files should be uploaded at the original file resolution, at least 4,000px on the long side.
Note: Filenames should be under 32 characters and contain no special symbols or accents.
panels may be submitted in the category of the candidate’s specialist field of activity, such as Portrait, Wedding, Advertising, Landscape, Architecture, Industrial, Commercial, Press, Reportage, etc.
the submission must be prints, colour or monochrome or a mixture. Supporting evidence such as books, albums, calendars etc is not allowed in QEP applications. However, the candidate may give a name to his/her panel or give a written description of a few sentences about the work if he/she so chooses.
prints must be mounted on light cardboard or <10 mm foamboard, polyboard, kapaboard or the equivalent. Each mount must contain a single image. The mounting boards must not be longer than 50 cm on the longest side and not shorter than 30 cm on the shortest side.
no frames are permitted. Total weight of pictures max. 2.5 kg.
all photographic prints must be submitted in a reusable case, not exceeding the maximum sizes of 55×60 cm, for easy handling and return shipping. Cases received exceeding these sizes will not be returned. FEP cannot be held responsible for loss or damage during transit.
any deviation for the mentioned requirements (sizes, mounting, resolution, weight, etc.) must be communicated in advance when submitting the entry form. Failure to comply with these criteria may result in disqualification.
anonymity of the candidates will be respected at all times; however, the FEP secretariat will inform the national headquarters of the relevant FEP member association of the candidates about their application.
if the application is submitted by a photographer who is not member of a FEP member association, he/she may be asked to submit, beyond the registration number as indicated above, some evidence of professional status, perhaps a photo of premises, interior or exterior, and/or an example of a brochure, website address, or any further publicity material; the requested criteria are indicated in the application form.
the appropriate application fee must also accompany the submission, as indicated in the QEP application form. It is possible to pay online through the website or by wire transfer.
the submitted images will be judged by 5 international judges. The QEP candidate must achieve a majority of the Jury votes to be deemed successful.
successful photographers will receive a printed certificate for display in their studio.
QEP certificate holders may then apply for a MASTER QEP certificate at the first available session.
unsuccessful candidates will receive from the FEP a constructive critique of their panel indicating why, on this occasion, it has not been successful.
these candidates may repeat the application at the first available judging session.

Application Fee

In order to facilitate the organisation of the judging session as early as possible, we would like to invite you to send your application early. An application fee of € 185,00 is due to cover costs, such as venue charges, certification, jury expenses, etc. However, those sending in their application within the given date, an Early Bird saving of € 15,00 will apply. After that date the full application fee of €185,00 will apply. Be an early bird. Save money!
Candidates have to pay their fees through the website by credit card (or in absence of one, through a wire transfer directly to the FEP). The FEP secretariat will keep tracks of the membership of the candidate and of the payment of the entry fee. The registration will be considered only when FEP will receive evidence of the payment of the entry fee made by the candidate.

Return of QEP Prints

To cover the costs of return transportation of your works to the address indicated on the application form you must enclose proof of an additional fee in the amount of € 60,00. ATTENTION: Candidates who don’t pay for this service must in any case withdraw the panels; after 15 days, panels will be removed. (NB! Return shipping to non-EU countries may include additional fees)

Judging

The Jury will be drawn from delegates nominated annually by the national organisations within their relevant QEP and Master QEP holders, and then selected by the FEP Jury Chairman.
The decisions of the jury are final and binding. No contact with the Jury Chairman or Jury members are allowed before the judging.

Copyright and Releases

The copyright of all images submitted remains with the copyright holder. However the FEP reserves the right to use any of the images submitted, without payment, for display and publicity purposes for this and future FEP awards or projects. It is vital that the candidate obtains the permission of the client and/or the copyright holder and any relevant model release forms, where appropriate before submitting the work.

Violation of the rules

Any violation of the FEP Qualifications rules will result in sanctions ranging from disqualification of the photographs submitted by the violator for the qualification session in question, to a suspension from participating in subsequent editions of the FEP Qualifications and FEP Awards competition for a period of 2 years.

Any disqualifications due to the participant not being the sole copyright holder of submitted entries, will automatically mean disqualification of all submitted entries and a two-year suspension from participation in the FEP qualifications and FEP competitions, as decided by the FEP’s board on May 15, 2023.

A validation committee consisting of the Chairman of the FEP Qualifications, the FEP President and the FEP CEO will investigate the violations and decide on sanctions to be taken.

The jury reserves the right to disqualify a panel if the content contravenes contemporary ethical standards.

Secretariat and Organisation

A minimum of 20 QEP applications or 15 QEP applications + 5 MASTER QEP applications are required to proceed with a first line of judges. A second line of judges will be activated when reached a minimum of 40 QEP applications or 35 QEP applications + 5 MASTER QEP applications.

All candidates will receive written notification of the result of their submission from the FEP Secretariat. A list of all successful candidates ONLY will be announced. The anonymity of all candidates will be respected at all times including during judging sessions. Only the judges and the organisational staff is allowed to enter the judging room. However, upon agreement with the relevant FEP member association hosting the judging session, some public maybe be admitted in the judging room for educational purposes.

The FEP Secretariat will not put forward for judging any panels unless the following procedures have been adhered to, neither will these panels be returned to their authors, if:

the images submitted do not conform to these rules
the submission fees has not been paid
the membership of the candidates has not been confirmed by the relevant association.

The relevant National Association will assist with organising and checking that everything is in order for their own candidates before submissions are judged.The total weight of the panels, including the case, must not exceed 8 kg. Submissions exceeding this weight or submissions whose return of print service fee has not been paid will be not sent back. In those cases candidates have to withdraw the panels within 15 days, otherwise they will be removed.

The level of illumination for all print jury session will be equivalent to one second at f16 with a meter setting at 100 ISO.