THE INTERNATIONAL
PHOTO CONTESTS DIRECTORY 2026

• Revela’t Contemporary Analog Festival • Deadline: November 30th, 2025 • Category: Analog Photography • Prize: €1,000 + Exhibition at Revela’t Festival • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities In a world saturated with images and technological promises, to keep looking in wonder is already an act of freedom. "20 Ways to Escape" is an open invitation to explore routes of escape–real or symbolic–from whatever confines us: routine, memory, b

• Memorial Maria Luisa • Deadline: December 1st, 2025 • Category: Nature / Adventure Photo & Video • Prize: 4,000 € + Exhibition in Spain + Accommodation • Entry Fees: Yes (Free under 19yo) • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Memorial Maria Luisa judging panel will be constituted by decision of the Founders Board and will include photographers of acknowledged prestige, particularly those specialized in mountain and nature subjects. The jury’s reso

• Umbra Awards • Deadline: November 30th, 2025 • Theme: Several Categories • Prize: Statues + Medals + Certificates • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Umbra Awards 3rd Edition 2025 marks another chapter in the continuing evolution of one of the most distinguished honors in photography. Established to celebrate excellence across all genres and disciplines, the Umbra International Photography Awards™ recognize visionaries who pus

• MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas 2026 • Deadline: January 23rd, 2026 • Category: Food and Sustainability • Prize: €5,000 + Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The award dedicated to celebrating food as a source of nourishment for the mind, culture, and spirit Curated by Claudio Composti At MIA Photo Fair, BNP Paribas reaffirms its commitment to meaningful cultural initiatives through the fifth edition of the IRINOX SAVE THE FOO

• Rotterdam Photo • Deadline: December 1st, 2025 • Theme: Echoes of Silence – War in the Artist's Soul • Prize: Exhibition at the Rotterdam Photo Festival • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities This edition of Rotterdam Photo, titled Echoes of Silence , investigates how war and conflict resonate within the creative process of artists who are not direct witnesses but emotional inheritors of trauma. The exhibition examines the psychologica

• World Street Photo Awards • Deadline: November 29th, 2025 • Category: Street Photography • Prize: €2,000 Total Prize Pool + Certificate • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The World Street Photo Awards 2025 celebrates the art of capturing real life — unscripted, emotional, and human. Open to all photographers, from pros to students, the competition welcomes authentic street moments that move and inspire. We aim to uncover fresh tal

• All About Photo • Deadline: December 9th, 2025 • Category: Nature Photography • Prize: $1,000 + Publication + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Before us lies the boundless beauty of the natural world—untamed, intricate, eternal. With its 54th printed issue, AAP Magazine invites photographers to uncover the poetry of Nature in all its forms. From the grandeur of sweeping landscapes to the intimacy of a flower’s petal, t

• Decagon Gallery • Deadline: November 30th, 2025 • Theme: Sanctuary (Spaces of refuge, renewal) • Prize: $1,000 + Online Solo Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The gallery is pleased to announce an open call for entries to Sanctuary , an international online exhibition inviting photographers to reflect on the theme of refuge and renewal. We welcome submissions from artists around the world whose work explores the spaces,

• Dusk Gallery • Deadline: December 11th, 2025 • Category: Color Photography • Prize: Exhibition in Santa Fe (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities We’re truly thrilled to witness the way you interpret and express color in your photography. It’s fascinating to see how even a single shade—whether bold, soft, or unexpected—can shift the entire emotional tone of an image. For this exhibition, we’re seeking photographs in which

• All About Photo • Deadline: December 16th, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: Online Solo Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Maximize Your Exposure: Enter the Solo Exhibition Competition and secure a month-long online showcase designed to elevate your photography career. At All About Photo , we champion powerful visual storytelling—photographs that captivate, challenge, and move viewers around the world. This competition is you

• Shoot The Frame • Deadline: December 31st, 2025 • Category: Portrait Photography • Prize: $2,000 + ViewSonic Monitor + Exhibitions • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities 13 years of Shoot The Frame. Launched in 2012, Shoot The Frame evolved into a global suite of photography contests celebrating exceptional portrait, landscape and wildlife photography. In 2025, we’re pausing the monthly contests and launching the inaugural Shoot The Fr

• Decode Gallery • Deadline: November 28th, 2025 • Theme: Light and Shadow • Prize: Exhibition in Tucson + Sales + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Decode Gallery invites you to enter a world where illumination meets mystery. Our upcoming exhibition, Light and Shadow , calls upon photographers to delve into the spaces where brightness tells stories and darkness keeps secrets. Every beam of light has a purpose, every shadow

• OW • Deadline: December 7th, 2025 • Theme: Water • Prize: €5,000 + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Water flows through every story we tell. It nourishes, divides, connects, and defines us. We invite photographers of all backgrounds —whether you are a professional storyteller or an emerging image-maker—to embark on a visual exploration of how water shapes the human experience . With more than €10,000 in prizes

• PhotoPlace Gallery • Deadline: December 8th, 2025 • Theme: On the Street • Prize: Exhibition in Vermont (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities On the Street is an exploration of the world as it really is — unposed, unfiltered, and alive with energy. From fleeting eye contact between passersby to unguarded moments of emotion, street photography reveals the pulse of life as it moves around us. For this exhibition, we are

• Decagon Gallery • Deadline: December 18th, 2025 • Theme: The Art of Belonging • Prize: Promotion + Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Home is both a destination and a sensation, a physical landscape and an invisible thread that tugs at the heart. It might be the land where your first footsteps touched the earth, the country you once left behind, the rooms that held your childhood dreams, or a place you yearn for with an

Overview of the Contest For more than two decades, the Smithsonian Magazine Annual Photo Contest has celebrated creativity and the power of photography. This contest captures the world’s beauty, complexity, and stories. Now entering its 23rd year , the contest invites submissions from around the globe starting on September 15, 2025 . The entry period will remain open until December 1, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST . Every participant, by submitting, confirms they are 18 years or olde

• Photometria International Photo Festival • Deadline: December 15th, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: Exhibition at Photometria Festival in Greece • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Photography is a language of endless voices—each one unique, each one essential. In celebration of contemporary vision and creative dialogue, the Photometria International Photography Festival is pleased to announce its Parallel Voices Portfolio Contest , ac

• un/producer & un/fund • Deadline: November 25th, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: €10k + Publishing + Residency + Mentorship. • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities un/fund warmly welcomes visionary and underrepresented visual artists worldwide to apply for its annual open call—an invitation to expand creative horizons through four remarkable opportunities. Artists may pursue a transformative residency experience, secure a publishing partn

• Eurordis • Deadline: January 30th, 2026 • Category: Documentary Photography • Prize: GoPro HERO13 Black + Certificate • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The EURORDIS Photo Award offers a powerful opportunity for individuals to visually share what it means to live with a rare disease. Every photograph submitted becomes more than an image—it becomes a story, a voice, and a bridge that connects people living with rare conditions to

• New York Center for Photographic Arts • Deadline: February 8th, 2026 • Theme: Water • Prize: $4,000 Prize Pool + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE H₂O — one of the first chemical equations we ever learn, yet one of the most profound. With just three simple characters, it represents the essence of life itself. Water surrounds us constantly, shaping our world in ways both visible and unseen. It carves valleys into stone, nourishes the roots of e

• Fine Art Photography Awards • Deadline: February 15th, 2026 • Theme: Fine Art Photography • Prize: $3000 + Online Exhibition + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Welcome to a celebration of boundless imagination and artistic courage—the Fine Art Photography Awards have returned, and we’re inviting all creators who see the world through a different, daring lens. This is your moment to step forward and share the visions that others might overlook or deem t

• Chennai International Photo Biennale • Deadline: December 31st, 202 • Theme: Open • Prize: Exhibition in Chennai (India) + Promotion • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Every artist who submits work will have their photography reviewed by a distinguished and international jury composed of curators, institutional directors, festival programmers, and respected leaders within the global photography community. Your submission ensures that your work is seen, considere

• Decagon Gallery • Deadline: January 31st, 2026 • Theme: Human Body: The Art of Seeing Ourselves • Prize: $1,000 Prize Pool + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Human Body: The Art of Seeing Ourselves invites photographers and viewers alike to move beyond the surface—to look past skin and form, and into the deeper stories written within the human body. The exhibition challenges us to see the body not simply as a physical subject to be framed, bu

• Boomer Gallery London • Deadline: December 5th, 2025 • Theme: Transcendence • Prize: Exhibition in London + Exposure • Entry Fees: Free Submission (Pay if Selected) • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Art has always served as a mirror to the most complex aspects of human emotion—passion, conflict, love. These elements intertwine across mediums: the fluid line of a painting, the frozen instant of a photograph, the tactile weight of a sculpture. Within each lies a story, a confession