Photo contests
A directory of open photography contests from around the web. Looking for fotoclub.md's own community contest?
pixel rivalry
Free international digital photo contest hosted by the Royal College Photographic Society in Sri Lanka, with international and student sections.
Digital entries are accepted in six sections: International Open Color, International Open Mono, International Mobile Photography, and Open Color, Open Mono and Mobile Photography for Sri Lanka students, with up to 4 works per section. Entry is free. The jury includes Maria Marangou, Neda Arsenievska and Nguyen An Di.
Deadline: October 18, 2026 (Closed)
Country: Sri Lanka
Entry fee: Fee not listed
Theme: open color, open mono, mobile photography, students
Prize: IAAP gold, silver and bronze e-certificates and honourable mention e-certificates in sections A to C; CLUB gold, silver, bronze and honourable mention awards in sections D to F.
Monochrome Awards by NYC4PA
International juried competition for photographs built from gradations of light and dark, including black-and-white, sepia, and single-colour images, with $4,000 in cash awards.
Open worldwide to photographs shaped through gradations of light and dark, whether black and white, sepia, or composed in shades of a single colour. Entries may come from film, digital, smartphone, image transfer, encaustic, or other photographic processes, as long as the final work is monochrome and presented as two-dimensional art. There are no subject categories, and the blind jury means files must not carry signatures or watermarks. The fee is $40 for the first three images and $10 for each additional image, with no submission limit.
Deadline: October 18, 2026 (Closed)
Country: International
Entry fee: 40 USD
Theme: black and white, monochrome, sepia, experimental
Prize: $4,000 total: 1 Grand Prize $1,100 (also shown on the NYC4PA home page), 3 First Prizes $400 each, 3 Second Prizes $325 each, 3 Third Prizes $250 each; plus 20 Juror Selections and 20 Honorable Mentions, online gallery and Prize Winners catalog inclusion, and certificates.
Adasa Photo Salon
An IAAP-recognised international photo salon whose accepted entries count toward IAAP honors.
IAAPAdasa Photo Salon is an IAAP-recognised (International Association of Art Photographers) photo salon open for entries until 18 October 2026. Every image accepted into the salon contributes toward participants' IAAP distinction honors. Specific entry categories, eligibility rules, fees, and prizes are not detailed in the page's published summary content.
WAPI2026 – 1er Circuit International WAPI
An international photography circuit combining four affiliated salons held in Belgium.
WAPI2026 is a first-edition international photo circuit bundling four salons — the 16th ISO International Salon (Enghien), the 1st "Les 5 clochers" International Salon (Tournai), the 7th International Photography Salon (SIP, Comines) and the 26th Reflet Mondial de la Photographie (Mouscron). Entrants compete in four sections: open color, open monochrome, creativity, and nature, judged by international panels of photographers including several EFIAP-titled judges. A single 40€ entry fee covers submission to all four salons plus a downloadable catalogue.
4th KANTARA PHOTO AWARDS 2026
An international digital photography competition organized by the Nicosia Photographic Society across five sections including open color, monochrome, nature, travel, and people.
PSAGPUIIGOrganized by the Nicosia Photographic Society (NPS) in Cyprus, the 4th Kantara Photo Awards 2026 is open to photographers worldwide across five sections: Open Colour, Open Monochrome, Nature General, Photo Travel World in Focus, and People. The competition awards 104 high-quality distinctions including PSA Gold Medals, GPU medals and ribbons, Chairperson's Choice certificates, Judges' Choice e-HMs, and NPS e-HMs, judged by an international panel.
Deadline: October 17, 2026 (Closed)
Country: Cyprus
Entry fee: 15 EUR
Theme: open color, monochrome, nature, travel, people
Prize: 104 high-quality awards including PSA Gold Medals, GPU Gold Medals, PSA/GPU Honorable Mention ribbons, Chairperson's Choice E-Certificates, Judges' Choice e-HMs, NPS e-HMs, and Best Author/Club awards
Color Awards
This competition celebrates every approach to color photography, from subtle and restrained palettes to bold, vibrant, and highly expressive visual language. What matters is how color contributes to the meaning, atmosphere, and emotional impact of the image.
This competition celebrates every approach to color photography, from subtle and restrained palettes to bold, vibrant, and highly expressive visual language. What matters is how color contributes to the meaning, atmosphere, and emotional impact of the image.
HIPA: Water, Our Shared Stories
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award
Water is experienced differently across people, communities and environments. Photography has the power to make these experiences visible - documenting challenges, celebrating solutions and connecting global conversations to real human stories. In collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) invites photographers from around the world to contribute to this wider conversation by showing how water shapes our world and the people who depend on it. Water shapes our lives, communities, economies, and ecosystems. This global photography competition invites photographers to submit a story of 5–10 photographs that explores the relationship between: Water & People Water & Communities Water & Planet Water & Innovation Water & Challenges
W. Eugene Smith Student Grant 2026
A $5,000 grant supporting student photographers producing exemplary photojournalism or documentary photo essays on issues of human significance.
Open to students aged 18 or older, this grant seeks compelling photojournalism and documentary photography (possibly incorporating multimedia) addressing topics such as social change, humanitarian concern, armed conflict, or other issues of cultural, environmental, or political significance. Two student recipients will share the $5,000 grant to complete a photographic essay, with $4,500 paid upon award and $500 paid after submission of final images and a project report within 18 months.
Travel Photographer of the Year
Our 24th year of celebrating images from around the world and the best in travel photography
Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) is run by photographers for photographers. TPOTY is truly global – wherever you live in the world and whether you are amateur or professional, beginner or expert, young or old, Travel Photographer of the Year is for you! TPOTY has been showcasing the best in travel photography for 24 years and has received entries from 160 countries. The winners are both amateur and pro photographers of 60 different nationalities.
2nd Echoes of Light International Photography Salon 2026
An international FIAP/PSA-patronage-style photography salon hosted by Oltenia Art Romania with five competitive sections.
PSAGPUIAAPFCBMFPCIIGOAROpen to photographers worldwide, the salon accepts entries across five sections — Open Color, People (Color only), Open Monochrome, Nature General (color or monochrome), and Photo Travel/World in Focus (color or monochrome) — with up to 4 images per section. Submissions must be JPEG files, max 1920x1080 px and 2 MB. The salon awards physical medals and honorable mentions from PSA, OAR, FCBM, IAAP, GPU and the salon itself, plus Best Author, Best Romanian Author, Best Club and Best Group titles.
Deadline: October 11, 2026 (Closed)
Country: Romania
Entry fee: Fee not listed
Theme: open, people/portrait, monochrome, nature, travel
Prize: Physical medals and honorable mentions (PSA Gold Medal, OAR/FCBM/Echoes of Light Gold/Silver/Bronze Medals and Honorable Mentions, IAAP and GPU awards, Best Author, Best Romanian Author, Best Club, Best Group)