THE INTERNATIONAL
PHOTO CONTESTS DIRECTORY 2026

• Kyotographie • Deadline: October 31st, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: ¥500,000 Grant + Exhibition in Kyoto • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE From the pool of applicants, ten artists will be chosen by a jury of experienced professionals. Each of these ten artists will be provided with a production subsidy of 200,000 yen, enabling them to develop and realize an exhibition project. The exhibitions will be presented at assigned venues across the city, offering unique c

• O.P. • Deadline: October 19th, 2025 • Category: Sport Photography • Prize: €4,500 + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Watersport Photography Awards by Ocean Power® was created with a simple yet powerful idea: to celebrate the beauty and excitement of water sports through the lens of photography. Across oceans, rivers, and lakes, moments of passion and athleticism unfold every day—surfers carving waves, dive

• The Photo Global Awards • Deadline: October 20th, 2025 • Category: Landscape Photography • Prize: €1,000 + Certificates + Exposure • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities To practice landscape photography is to step into a dialogue with nature itself. This genre of photography is devoted to capturing the vastness and beauty of the natural environment, often favoring wide, panoramic views that immerse the viewer in the scene. A single im

• The Chateau Gallery • Deadline: October 17th, 2025 • Theme: In the Nude • Prize: Exhibition + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The official prospectus for this exhibition isn’t ready quite yet — we’re still letting the idea breathe. To be honest, this show might not make perfect sense on paper, but that’s exactly what excites us about it. It began with the provocative title “Send Nudes,” a phrase that speaks to the tension

• Decagon Gallery • Deadline: December 31st, 2025 • Theme: B&W (Light, Shadow, Tone and Texture) • Prize: $1,000 Prize Pool + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities When an image is stripped of color, it reveals something essential. What remains is the raw language of photography itself—light and shadow in delicate balance, lines that guide the eye, forms that create structure, tones that breathe atmosphere, and texture

• PhotoPlace Gallery • Deadline: October 13th, 2025 • Theme: Frozen: Cold, Quiet, Pure • Prize: Exhibition in Vermont (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The exhibition FROZEN seeks to explore the aesthetic and emotional resonance of winter through the medium of photography. We invite submissions that capture the distilled essence of this season, whether in its stark simplicity or its intricate detail. Photographers are

• L.C. • Deadline: October 15th, 2025 • Category: Black and White Photography • Prize: $3,500 + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards is an international call to artists who see the world in shades of light and shadow. Monochrome photography has a unique ability to strip away distraction, focusing instead on the essential: form, tone, contrast, and emotion. Whether you

• Travel Photographer of the Year • Deadline: October 13th, 2025 • Category: Several Categories • Prize: £10,000 + 7-day Trip to Sri Lanka • Entry Fees: Yes (Free for young Photographers) • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Travel Photographer of the Year Awards (TPOTY) is a distinguished international photography competition, established and organized by photographers for the benefit of the global photographic community. Its founding principle is

• New York Center for Photographic Arts • Deadline: November 2nd, 2025 • Category: Animal Kingdom • Prize: $4,000 Prize Pool + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The world around us is alive with animals of every kind. Some are majestic and wild, like lions prowling across the savanna, tigers lurking in the jungle, and bears roaming forests and mountains. Others are powerful yet gentle, such as elephants helping in

• Getxophoto International Image Festival • Deadline: November 6th, 2025 • Theme: Reset • Prize: €500 + Exhibition in Spain + Accommodation • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities In June 2026, the Getxophoto International Image Festival will celebrate its twentieth anniversary — two decades of exploring the evolving language of photography and visual storytelling. After three memorable editions dedicated to the themes PAUSE , PLAY , and

• Homiens • Deadline: November 1st, 2025 • Category: Art and Photography • Prize: $12,000 Awarded Annually + Exhibition • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Homiens Art Prize is a prestigious award that has become a fixture on the international art calendar. Each year, it distributes more than $12,000 USD in prizes, supporting artists at every stage of their careers. What sets Homiens apart is its inclusivity: the prize is open to

• The Chateau Gallery • Deadline: October 17th, 2025 • Theme: In the Nude • Prize: Exhibition + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities We don’t have a finalized prospectus for this call for entry just yet — it’s still taking shape. Honestly, this exhibition might be a little risky, maybe even a questionable idea, but that’s exactly why we’re going forward with it. Originally titled “Send Nudes,” the concept has evolved into someth

• BCNDH - Mas Retina • Deadline: October 10th, 2025 • Theme: Human Rights and Global Justice • Prize: €3,000 + 3x400€ + Exhibition in Spain • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Ten projects will stand out from the rest after the jury’s deliberation, earning a special place in the festival. These projects will come to life in the heart of Barcelona, exhibited along its streets so that festivalgoers and passersby can engage with them dir

• Sonntag Grant • Deadline: October 31st, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: €3,000 Grant • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Sonntag Grant for Photography is opening its doors for the very first time, inviting submissions for an international open call. At the heart of this initiative is the commitment to amplify voices from the FLINTA community —female, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans, and agender photographers—who are shaping the f

• Kuala Lumpur Portrait Award • Deadline: October 31st, 2025 • Category: Experimental Self Portraits • Prize: €1,000 + Exhibition in Malaysia • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities After the overwhelming success of our very first AUTOPORTRAIT open call, we are thrilled to announce the 2025 Interim Edition , which returns with the thought-provoking theme of Experimental Self-Portraits . This special category dares participants to expand t

• Profoto • Deadline: October 15th, 2025 • Theme: Dramatic Lighting • Prize: $2,000 USD in Profoto Gear + Exposure • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Light holds an incredible power — the ability to shape mood, evoke emotion, and heighten visual impact. It can transform an ordinary moment into something cinematic, mysterious, or deeply moving. In this first challenge, we invite you to step into the bold and daring side of photograph

• Black Box Gallery • Deadline: October 10th, 2025 • Category: Color Photography • Prize: Exhibition in Portland (USA) + Sales • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE Black Box Gallery is thrilled to announce an international call for entries for a juried group exhibition celebrating the full spectrum of color photography . In our daily lives, color shapes how we see and feel, and in photography, it has become a powerful means of communication and storytelling. Today’s

• TSD • Deadline: October 17th, 2025 • Category: Photography Project • Prize: €1,000 Monthly Stipend + Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The “Dresden Grant in Photography” , jointly awarded by the Dresdner Stiftung Kunst & Kultur der Ostsächsischen Sparkasse Dresden and the Technische Sammlungen Dresden , is dedicated to supporting photographers who demonstrate both artistic commitment and professional merit. Eligible a

• Pispa • Deadline: November 2nd, 2025 • Category: Street Photography • Prize: $3,000 + Exhibition + Publication • Entry Fees: Yes • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Paris International Street Photo Awards 2025 is proud to announce a groundbreaking development that marks a turning point in our history. For this edition, our winners, special mentions, and finalists will not only receive international recognition but will also see their work showca

• Travel Photographer of the Year • Deadline: October 13th, 2025 • Category: Several Categories • Prize: £10,000 + 7-day Trip to Sri Lanka • Entry Fees: Yes (Free for young Photographers) • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities At its heart, the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards (TPOTY) is a celebration of journeys—not just the journeys across countries and continents, but also the creative journeys of photographers themselves. Born out of a love for

• Boomer Gallery London • Deadline: November 5th, 2025 • Theme: Open • Prize: Exhibition in London + Exposure • Entry Fees: Free Submission (Pay if Selected) • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Over the last century, humanity has lived through an age of extraordinary change and innovation. We have seen the skyline of cities transformed by towering skyscrapers, witnessed the impossible become possible with moon landings, and experienced a revolution in

• Leica • Deadline: October 15th, 2025 • Prize: Leica Q Camera + Travel • Eligibility: Latin American Countries • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities Across Latin America, photography has always been a powerful tool for storytelling, capturing the spirit of people and the landscapes that define their lives. With this tradition in mind, Leica introduces its First Travel Photography Award , a competition that aims to highlight the artistr

• Smithsonian Magazine • Deadline: December 1st, 2025 • Category: Several Categories • Prize: $2,500 + Publication • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The Smithsonian magazine’s 23rd Annual Photo Contest officially opens for submissions on September 15, 2025 , and closes on December 1, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time . All individuals who choose to participate acknowledge, through their entry, that they are 18 years of age or

• L.C. • Deadline: October 15th, 2025 • Category: Black and White Photography • Prize: $3,500 + Online Exhibition • Entry Fees: Free • REGISTRATION: CLOSED. Click HERE for more Opportunities The LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards welcome photographers from around the world who dedicate themselves to the expressive power of monochrome. Whether your practice is rooted in traditional darkroom methods, advanced digital techniques, or bold experimental approaches that