Ready for the IPFA Portfolio Reviews?
Complete Guide!
This guide will help you organise your ideas, select your images, and communicate your project in the best way possible.
The IPFA Barcelona 2026 Portfolio Reviews are an exceptional opportunity to present your work to festival directors, curators, and international programmers. To make the most of your 20-minute session, it is essential to prepare your portfolio and your presentation with clarity, precision, and professionalism.
Get started with the complete guide now!
1. Define Your Goal
Before preparing your portfolio and your review, ask yourself:
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What do I expect from this review? Critical feedback, exhibition opportunities, networking, editing reviews...
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What do I want the reviewer to remember about me?
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What project do I want to present? A series, a photobook, a dummy, a work in progress...
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What value can I offer to the festival?
2. Select the Right Project
Reviewers prefer to see a single project or, exceptionally, two coherent short series. Do not try to show all your production.
✔ Recommendation
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Present a coherent series with between 12 and 25 images.
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Order the images in a narrative form:
beginning → development → climax → conclusion. -
Avoid including photographs that do not contribute or break the coherence.
3. Professional Portfolio Editing
✔ What DOES work:
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A clean and careful selection
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Well-ordered images
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Fluid visual rhythm
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A defined narrative
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A brief and clear statement
✘ What DOES NOT work:
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Mixing many series
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Including works that are too different from each other
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Showing redundant images
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Interrupting the presentation to justify weaknesses
What Reviewers Value
Conceptual clarity
Visual coherence
Artistic depth
Originality and consistency
Exhibition or editorial potential
Confidence and desire to promote your work
4. Recommended Formats
You can present your work in the format you prefer. All are allowed:
✔ Digital Portfolio
– Ordered, lightweight, and visual PDF
– 12–25 photographs
– Maximum 20 MB
– Include title, brief text, and contact information
✔ Printed Copies
– Ideal format: 20×30 or 30×40 cm
– Clean presentation
– Sleeves or simple folder
✔ Photobooks or Dummies
Perfect for narrative projects. Provides context and materiality.
✔ Tablet or Computer
If you use it, remember:
– 100% charge
– Adequate brightness
– Downloaded files (do not depend on the internet)
– Clean screen (optional gloves)
5. Your Presentation: Clear, Brief, and Direct
Total duration: 20 minutes.
Recommended structure:
Minute 1–2: Personal Presentation
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Who you are
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Where you work
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What type of photography you do
Minute 2–5: Project Presentation
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Title and motivation
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Conceptual focus
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Process and techniques
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What you want to achieve with this project
Minute 5–15: Reviewer Feedback
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Portfolio viewing
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Critical comments
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Suggestions for improvement
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Specific questions
Minute 15–20: Closing
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Ask what steps they would recommend
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Ask for references or possible contacts
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Thank them for their time and attention
6. What Materials to Bring
✔ Mandatory
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Your project in the chosen format
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Your review schedule
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Notepad and pen for taking notes
✔ Recommended
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Business cards
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Photobook or dummy (if applicable)
7. Punctuality & Professional Attitude
The reviews operate on strict times. Out of respect for the reviewer and the other participants:
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Arrive 15 minutes early and find the correct room
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Maintain the exact duration
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Avoid over-explaining too much
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Allow the reviewer to explore your images on their own
Recommended attitude: Open, Curious, Flexible and Receptive to criticism.
Reviewers look for photographers who know how to listen, evolve, and build professional dialogues.
8. Choose Your Reviewer well
One of the most important aspects of getting the most out of the reviews is correctly selecting the reviewers you will meet with. Not all festival directors and curators work on the same themes, formats, or approaches; each one has a specialization, a sensibility, and specific curatorial lines.
✔ Before booking your reviews:
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Research each reviewer: look at their website, review editions of their festival, previous exhibitions, and the aesthetic or conceptual line they work with.
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Define your objective:
– Do you want to improve a project?
– Look for exhibition opportunities?
– Show a finished photobook or a dummy?
– Better understand how to position yourself internationally? -
Align your project with their profile: if you work on documentary, look for someone who programs documentary; if you are experimental, look for someone who values experimentation; if you have a photobook, choose reviewers interested in editing and publications.
✔ Why is choosing well so important?
Because a suitable reviewer can:
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Give you precise and specialized feedback,
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Recommend useful editorial adjustments,
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Open doors for you at their own festival,
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Propose your work to other institutions,
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Help you define the future of the project,
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Deeply understand your visual language.
An “incorrect” reviewer may not be aligned with what you are looking for or the type of work you are presenting. Choosing well is a fundamental part of the review's success.
IPFA Tip:
Spend at least 10–15 minutes reviewing each profile before making your selection. This decision can make a big difference in your career.
9. After the Review: Intelligent Follow-up
The experience does not end at the table. The most important thing happens afterwards. We recommend sending a brief email to the reviewer you were most interested in during the following week:
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A brief thank-you message
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Two or three key images in the body of the email
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A PDF of the project, adapted to their festival or context
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Link to your website and Instagram
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Any updated information (recent exhibitions, awards, publications, etc.)
This helps maintain contact and stay on their radar for future opportunities.
10. Frequent Mistakes to Avoid
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Showing too many images
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Presenting an unfinished project
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Bringing loose images, without order
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Starting to explain before showing the photographs
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Over-justifying each image
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Constantly interrupting the reviewer's reading
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Showing low-quality material
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Exceeding the total 20 minutes
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Not having a clear objective
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Trust your work
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Enjoy the meeting: it is a safe and professional space
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Be honest with your processes
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Accept feedback as a gift
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Take advantage of networking spaces
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Talk to other photographers: valuable connections are generated
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Prepare a 15-second elevator pitch
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Relax: reviewers want to discover you