The Federation of European Photographers

What is the FEP?

The FEP, Federation of European Professional Photographers, is an internationally respected, not for profit qualifying organisation for photographers since 1999, supporting and networking with photographers and governments worldwide. We represent over 50 000 professional imagemakers in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom through their national associations. We also have some individual members in Estonia, Greece, Poland, Republic of Moldova and Switzerland, that are countries not represented by national associations.

Can you afford not to be part of this?

Image by Michael SchnablImage by Michael Schnabl

Image by Vicente EstebanImage by Vicente Esteban


What the FEP can do for you?

The FEP delivers distinctions, education, and professional development, together with a code of ethics/conduct and a demanding qualifications structure, together with a programme of events and a number of special promotions on some products and services. With international members there’s a vast community of support accessible to all. A tremendous way to confirm your professional status within the photographic industry.

The FEP defends the rights of professional photographers directly and in communion with national and international organisations. It represents the interests of member associations on a global scale on topics like education, training, professional standards, authors rights etc. The FEP cooperates in the organisation of national events of member associations and international congresses, and promotes an exchange of keynote speakers.
FEP has a 3 tier qualification system both for photographers and for videographers, you can read more about it here.

We also organize a popular annual competition called the European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards to promote the highest standard of European professional photography. There is also a biannual FEP European Photo Book of the Year competition, annual competition for the young emerging talents of the trade as well as a monthly Facebook competition. Read more about our competitions here.

Becoming a member

Primarily FEP is an association of associations, i.e. its members are national associations of professional imagemakers. It has three kinds of members: full members, affiliated members and individual members.

Image by Thomas SchauerImage by Thomas Schauer

Full members

The full members are the actual member associations and those admitted as such by the General Assembly. To be admitted as a full member: a national association must be made up of professional photographers based in Europe, legally constituted in their country of origin, provided they are nationally representative, they include a significant number of professional photographers and they operate democratically, with each member having one vote.

Affiliate members

May be admitted as affiliate members of the FEP : Associations of Professional Photographers from countries outside Europe; all legal persons (such as societies, corporations, foundations, institutions and national industries, international corporations etc.) related to professional photography in Europe.

Individual members

Individual members can be accepted into the FEP, providing they are professional photographers legally registered in European countries and resident in countries where the FEP has not yet a member national association, the proviso being that if a member organisation was admitted, they should join it within 2 years. Affiliate or individual members, once admitted, may participate in all training and qualifications organised and authorised by the FEP.

How to join

In order to become a full, affiliated or an individual member of FEP, the candidate must officially communicate their request, by sending the FEP Secretariat (info@europeanphotographers.eu) a letter of intent and (for the full members) a copy of its constitution. The admission decision will be made at the General Assembly by a simple majority of votes present or represented.

Annual Fees

All members pay an annual fee whose amount is fixed by the General Assembly. Full and affiliate members have different annual fees, depending form their actual membership. For an individual, there is a fee of € 70,00, for which they would receive the information and be eligible to apply for the FEP European qualifications, and to enter the FEP competition at the members rates.