Photo contests
A directory of open photography contests from around the web. Looking for fotoclub.md's own community contest?
PhotoVogue Brave New Visions: Creativity as Rebellion
PhotoVogue's global open call inviting photographers and video makers to use image-making as a form of creative rebellion.
This year's PhotoVogue Global Open Call embraces creativity as rebellion, inviting photographers and video makers to use image-making to challenge indifference, disrupt conventions, and expand visual storytelling. The call welcomes photography, video, and multimedia projects across all genres, including fashion, documentary, portraiture, fine art, and experimental practices, looking for work that expresses a clear point of view through storytelling or aesthetic impact.
Deadline: September 11, 2026 (Closed)
Country: International
Entry fee: Free
Theme: fashion, documentary, portraiture, fine art, experimental
Prize: $12,000 in total grants awarded to three artists Presentation at the next PhotoVogue Festival Potential publication across Vogue's global editions Participation in PhotoVogue Virtual Portfolio Reviews
O'RA D FAME Circuit
An international digital photo circuit accepting entries in monochrome, color, nature and travel photography sections.
FIAPGPUPSAFPIThe O'RA D FAME Circuit is a recurring international digital photography competition organised through oradfame.com, structured into multiple themed sections. One recent edition of the circuit ran with sections including Monochrome (PIDM), Monochrome Theme- People (PIDM), Color (PIDC), Color-Theme- People (PIDC), Nature (ND) and Photo Travel (World in Focus), carrying recognition from bodies such as PSA 2026-1138, WPAI 028-030/2026 & ODF 004-006/2026. It is licensed by the Global Photographic Union (GPU), which lists an upcoming edition of the circuit with an entry closing date in September 2026.
The Language of Flowers: Photo Contest 2026
A photo contest celebrating the poetic and symbolic beauty of flowers.
Photographers are invited to explore the poetic world of flowers through images that celebrate their color, form, texture, and expressive presence, from a single delicate bloom to lush garden scenes or wildflowers in natural light. The contest emphasizes mood, symbolism, and visual storytelling rather than just botanical documentation, welcoming soft and romantic, bold and vibrant, minimal and elegant, or richly detailed interpretations.
Global Photography Awards 2026
An international photography competition open to professionals, amateurs, and students, offering up to $10,000 in cash prizes across a wide range of categories.
Open to photographers worldwide aged 18+ (professional, amateur, and student), the Global Photography Awards 2026 accepts single images and series (2-8 images) created between 2021 and 2026. Categories span International, Fashion, Minimalist, Editorial/Photojournalism, People, Black & White, Nature/Landscape/Aerial, Commercial, Fine Art/Portrait, Architecture, Film, Advertising, plus special categories like Mobile and AI-Generated photography. Entries are judged anonymously by an international jury panel based on creativity, content, innovation, quality, and overall impression. Top honors include Professional and Amateur/Student Photographer of the Year titles, each awarded a Maia Statuette and cash prize.
Deadline: September 10, 2026 (Closed)
Country: International
Entry fee: 30 USD
Theme: Aerial, Analog, Architecture, Black and White, Commercial, Editorial, Events, Fashion, Fine Art, Landscape, Minimalist, Nature, People, Photojournalism, Smartphone
Prize: $10,000 Cash Prizes + Others (including $5,000 for Professional Photographer of the Year, $3,000 for Amateur/Student Photographer of the Year, Maia Statuettes, and $100 category prizes)
Midautumn International Photography Circuit 2026
An international photography circuit (Midautumn International Photography Circuit 2026) with WPU/CIPA patronage, open worldwide across five sections.
WPUCIPAJCPCJSPAHJPPThe Midautumn International Photography Circuit 2026 is an international salon open to photographers from all around the world, conducted in accordance with patronages, rules and requirements approved by WPU and CIPA. It runs under the joint patronage of the World Photography Union (WPU), CIPA, JCPC, JSPA and HJPP, and is open to photographers worldwide, with five sections: Art Color, Art Mono, Record Human, Record Nature and Unlimited. Awards include a WPU Gold Medal plus Salon E-Certificates for Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honorable Mention (175+ awards in total).
Deadline: September 10, 2026 (Closed)
Country: China
Entry fee: 12 USD
Theme: color, monochrome, documentary/human, nature, open
Prize: WPU Gold Medal and Salon E-Certificates (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honorable Mention) — 175+ awards total; entry fee USD $12 for 1 section (80 CNY), +$5 per additional section.
Still Life Art Competition by Megalopolitan Art Gallery
An international open-theme still life art competition offering an online exhibition and awards for works built around everyday objects and natural elements.
Open internationally to artists aged 18 and over, this call invites still life works centered on subjects such as flowers, fruit, plants, stones, shells, books, ceramics, bottles, jewelry, clocks and household objects, excluding human skulls and deceased animals. There are no separate categories; the entire competition revolves around the still life theme. Selected artists receive digital certificates and are featured in a permanently archived online exhibition, but the organizer does not explicitly list photography among the accepted media.
AAP Exhibition MAASAI MARA 2026
An international salon-style photo exhibition themed around Kenya's Maasai Mara, sanctioned by FIAP.
FIAPOpen international photography exhibition organized by AAP, held in Kenya and patronized by FIAP (2026/487). Entrants register online, upload their images and pay a registration fee to be judged by an international jury; accepted and awarded photographs receive PDF certificates and are included in the results catalog/galleries.
Quiet Landscape: Beauty, Stillness, and Connection
A juried international call for landscape photography exploring stillness, atmosphere, and quiet connection to place, organized by PhotoPlace Gallery.
Open to photographers aged 18 and over worldwide, this juried call by PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont invites images of natural, rural, urban, and cultivated landscapes that emphasize atmosphere, silence, light, and subtle human traces rather than spectacle. There are no separate categories; all work responds to a single broad landscape theme, with traditional, documentary, conceptual, and fine art approaches accepted, though fully AI-generated images are ineligible. Juror Kat Kiernan will select up to 35 photographs for physical exhibition and about 40 more for an online gallery, with all selected work published in the exhibition catalogue and archived permanently online.
Deadline: September 7, 2026 (Closed)
Country: United States
Entry fee: 39 USD
Theme: landscape, fine art, documentary, conceptual
Prize: Exhibition at PhotoPlace Gallery (up to 35 works) and Online Gallery selection (~40 works), inclusion in the exhibition catalogue, permanent website archiving, social media promotion, plus a Juror's Award, Director's Award, and Honorable Mentions.
Landscape Photography Competition by The Motif Collective
An international monthly photo contest by The Motif Collective seeking distinctive landscape images with cash awards, software prizes and online promotion.
Open to photographers aged 18 or older worldwide, this competition invites one to six landscape images covering mountains, deserts, forests, coastlines, farmland and other natural settings, judged anonymously on creativity, composition, light, color and interpretation. There are no sub-categories; the entire call centers on the landscape genre. Winners receive cash prizes tied to entry-fee revenue, editing software, inclusion in The Motif Collective Artists Showcase and social media promotion.
Deadline: September 7, 2026 (Closed)
Country: International
Entry fee: 12 USD
Theme: landscape
Prize: Cash prizes for top 3 images (1st: 25%, 2nd: 15%, 3rd: 10% of collected entry fees, up to a combined $10,000) plus ON1 Photo RAW software, Retouch4me plugins, showcase feature and social media promotion.
Capture Craft Circuit 2026
An international digital photo circuit salon carrying PSA patronage.
PSACapture Craft Circuit 2026 is an international photography salon circuit recognized with a PSA patronage number. <cite index="39-3">The closing date is 7 September 2026, with all judging completed by 5 October 2026 and the award/catalog posted by 6 December 2026.</cite> <cite index="39-1,39-3">International entrants pay €25 for any two sections plus €5 for each additional section, with group discounts available for larger entries.</cite>