c © ESO 2003 Astronomy Astrophysics

Abstract. The FORS Deep Field project is a multi-colour, multi-object spectroscopic investigation of a ∼7 ′ × 7 ′ region near the south galactic pole based mostly on observations carried out with the FORS instruments attached to the VLT telescopes. It includes the QSO Q 0103-260 (z = 3.36). The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the young Universe. In this paper the field selection, the photometric observations, and the data reduction are described. The source detection and photometry of objects in the FORS Deep Field is discussed in detail. A combined B and I selected UBgRIJKs photometric catalog of 8753 objects in the FDF is presented and its properties are briefly discussed. The formal 50 % completeness limits for point sources, derived from the co-added images, are 25.64, 27.69, 26.86, 26.68, 26.37