"Membership will be offered only to photographers working with the highest standards of journalistic and documentary integrity, [and photographers that] will extend the breadth of work we currently produce and who we believe can work within the management structure of VII," says the agency in introduction to its annual call for submission.

However, this year, VII Photo will be more attentive to who joins the agency, as it is currently undergoing a massive restructuring, which will see its Network division close down and some of its Network members join the agency.

The dissolution means that all Network members will have to reapply for membership - but the agency is still opening its call for submissions to non-VII members. However, "while that opportunity exists, we don't anticipate to take on many, if any," warned managing director Stephen Mayes in June. "But it would be foolish for us not to consider options from elsewhere."

The call for entries is opened until 09 September, with interested photographers invited to submit, in English, "a brief explanation of [their] desire to join VII," a short biography and "an explanation of the content of the images [they] are submitting."

Images - "no more than 50," warns VII - should be 72dpi and no greater than 1440 pixels in length or height . Each image must be labelled with the photographer's initials followed by the sequence number.

Submissions should be sent on a CD-ROM, addressed to:

Folio Submissions
VII Photo Agency
28 Jay Street
Brooklyn
NY 11201
USA

For more information, visit viiphoto.com.