FREE ENTRY / FOTOAWARD - Annual Photography Contest

The non-commercial, free annual photo contest. In its 7th year. Entry is limited to invited, selected accomplished photographers. There is a special challenge in the absence of genre-based categories or nominations. Awards include medals, diplomas, photo filters, software licenses, and more.

Submissions are made by publishing entries on the contest's exhibition site foto.d3.ru, which is a Russian-language platform. This photo site, with the motto "Make raw, not war," promotes photography as a means to unite people from different countries with diverse views. It's the independent photography section of D3.ru, a very large and the oldest Russian social-networking portal, established in 2001. Its audience consists of Russian-speaking viewers from many countries, and their ratings are the initial judging stage. For 2025, the contest has been adapted to accommodate English-speaking participants.

This initial stage is followed by two rounds conducted by juries, which include world-renowned photographers from various countries. The judging process is powered by a sophisticated, transparent online voting platform hosted at FOTOAWARD.org, with integrated AI features.

Regular contest participants currently include winners of prestigious international contests such as Hasselblad Masters, Smithsonian Magazine, Trierenberg Super Circuit, HIPA, Xposure, the Russian Geographical Society (RGO) awards, Golden Turtle, and more.