THE INTERNATIONAL
PHOTO CONTESTS DIRECTORY 2026

• Delta Birding Festival • Deadline: July 31st, 2026 • Category: Bird Photography • Prize: €1,000 Nikon Camera + Exhibition in Spain • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED, Click HERE For More Opportunities Every year, the Ebro Delta, recognised as one of the most significant natural areas in the Western Mediterranean, becomes the meeting point for birdwatchers, wildlife photographers, conservationists, and nature enthusiasts from around the world during the Delta Birding F

• Decode Gallery • Deadline: July 24th, 2026 • Theme: Endless Summer • Prize: Exhibition in Tucson (USA) + Sales + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Some seasons pass quietly, but summer lingers. It stretches out through long afternoons, warm evenings, and memories that seem to glow long after the days have ended. For this exhibition, we invite photographers to explore the feeling of a summer that refuses to fade—a season sus

• Black Box Gallery • Deadline: July 10th, 2026 • Theme: Trees and Water • Prize: Exhibition in Portland (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Black Box Gallery is excited to present a juried group photography exhibition exploring the captivating relationship between Trees and Water. These two essential elements of the natural world have inspired artists for generations, and this exhibition aims to showcase the many creative

• La Forma del Ritratto • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: The Shape of the Portrait • Prize: Exhibition in Pavia (Italy) • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities At the heart of a theme devoted to portraiture lies the desire to reclaim the camera as an object of connection, a talisman capable of bringing people together and unveiling the invisible threads that bind one life to another. Far from being an exercise in aesthetics alone, portr

• Open Doors Gallery (London) • Deadline: August 12th, 2026 • Category: Contemporary Photography • Prize: £2,000 + Exhibition in London + Interview • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Open Doors Gallery is pleased to announce the sixth edition of the OD Photo Prize, our annual international open call dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging artists working within the first ten years of their photographic practice. Established as a platform for identifying exc

• Tokyo International Foto Award (TIFA) • Deadline: August 1st, 2026 • Category: Several Categories • Prize: $3,000 + Exhibition + Trophy • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE The Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) is dedicated to acknowledging, promoting, and celebrating exceptional photography from every part of the world. By bringing together photographers from diverse cultural and creative backgrounds, TIFA highlights the power of photography as a universal lan

• Berlin Photo Awards • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: Several Categories • Prize: €4,000 + Certificate + Honorable Mention • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities You’re moments away from completing your entry to the Berlin Photo Awards 2026. Upload your strongest work below and take the opportunity to compete for a share of the €4,000 total prize fund. Beyond the awards, selected photographers gain international recognition, increased

• Rotlicht Festival For Analog Photography • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: Anthropocene: Hybrid Realities • Prize: €250 + Exhibition in Wien + Publication • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities In 2026, the festival returns once more to the extraordinary halls of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, transforming over 1300 square meters into a space for encounter, experimentation, and dialogue through analog photography. The exhibition

• La Forma del Ritratto • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: The Shape of the Portrait • Prize: Exhibition in Pavia (Italy) • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities A thematic exploration dedicated to portrait practice offers photographers the opportunity to reconsider the role of the camera as a relational device capable of generating dialogue, intimacy, and mutual recognition. Rather than limiting itself to the production of visually compe

• Nikon Comedy Wildlife Award • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: Pet / Wildlife / Nature • Prize: Kenyan Safari for 2 + Camera Kit • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Entry to this competition is entirely free, and participation is open to everyone regardless of experience level or camera brand. Whether you are a professional photographer or simply enjoy taking pictures as a hobby, you are welcome to take part. To enter, all you need

• KH Fund • Deadline: July 13th, 2026 • Category: Women Documentary Photography • Prize: $5,000 Grant + Exposure • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Kari Howard was an exceptional storytelling editor whose work was guided by a deep appreciation for the moments that often go unnoticed yet reveal the essence of human experience. She championed writing that illuminated resilience in the face of hardship, dignity amid struggle, unexpected

• PhotoPlace Gallery • Deadline: July 6th, 2026 • Category: Cyanotype Photography • Prize: Exhibition in Vermont (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities PhotoPlace Gallery invites artists and photographers from around the world to participate in Cyanotype: A Celebration of Process and Possibility, a juried exhibition devoted to one of photography’s most enduring and expressive alternative processes. Since its invention in 1842

• The SG Foundation • Deadline: July 2nd, 2026 • Category: Documentary Photography • Prize: $10,000 + Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Created to nurture emerging talent and champion the power of visual storytelling, the Emerging Photographer Grant awards $10,000 to photographers at the beginning of their professional journeys. The grant provides recipients with the resources and freedom to develop impactful, socially rel

• Unesco

• Revela't Contemporary Analog Photography Festival • Deadline: July 30th, 2026 • Category: Analog Photography • Prize: 11 Expert Portfolio Reviews • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Experience the Revela'T Festival Portfolio Review, an exceptional opportunity designed to connect photographers with leading professionals from across the photography and visual arts industry. During this exclusive event, participants will engage in a series of personalized one-on-one m

• IPA International Photography Awards • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Category: Several Categories • Prize: $10,000 + Exhibition + Publication • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Since 2003, the International Photography Awards™️ has proudly held an annual competition that brings together photographers from every background—professionals working at the top of their field, passionate amateurs pursuing their craft, and students developing

• La Forma del Ritratto • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: The Shape of the Portrait • Prize: Exhibition in Pavia (Italy) • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The fundamental premise of a theme centered on portraiture is to encourage artists to employ the camera not merely as a recording device, but as a symbolic instrument of encounter, connection, and human exchange. In this context, photography transcends the pursuit of formal beaut

• Leica

• Exposure Photo Gallery • Deadline: June 30th, 2026 • Theme: The Shape of a Moment • Prize: $500 Exhibition in USA and Argentina • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities There are moments so brief they seem to dissolve the instant they appear, yet they leave behind a lasting impression, as if time itself has quietly marked them. These are the subtle, almost invisible intersections where light shifts, emotion surfaces, and meaning emerges fo

• Decode Gallery • Deadline: June 27th, 2026 • Theme: Open • Prize: Exhibition in Tucson + Sales + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Collection 2026 is Decode Gallery's annual open exhibition dedicated to discovering and presenting outstanding photographic work without thematic constraints. Free from predefined categories or conceptual frameworks, the exhibition focuses entirely on the strength of the image itself. It is a pl

• FGAP

• Allora Gallery • Deadline: June 27th, 2026 • Category: Black & White Photography • Prize: Solo Exhibition + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Black and white photography continues to endure because it asks us to see differently. Without colour to guide perception, attention shifts toward light, composition, contrast, movement, and emotional atmosphere. The image becomes less about description and more about interpretation. Shadows carry tension. Highligh

• All About Photo • Deadline: July 7th, 2026 • Theme: Shapes • Prize: $1,000 + Online Exhibition + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE We invite photographers to submit work that explores the visual power of shape through photography. From striking geometric forms to subtle organic patterns, shape is one of the essential building blocks of photographic composition and a key element in creating visually engaging images. The ability to recognize and interpret

• The SG Foundation