Most Prestigious Photography Competitions Every Photographer Should Enter – Part-I

There are many photography contests around the world, each designed to test and challenge photographers. As a professional photographer, I always advise having a clear plan rather than shooting aimlessly. Participating in these competitions can be a meaningful goal for artists, but achieving success requires both skill and experience. After understanding the nuances of each competition, we can choose the best and most suitable one for ourselves, increasing our chances of winning. Photographers must ensure that their work meets high-quality standards to compete effectively.

Additionally, it is essential to understand each competition thoroughly; evaluate whether your work aligns with the festival’s theme and approach. As a fine art and minimalism photographer, I tend to choose competitions that embrace a modern and fine art perspective, despite the editing techniques I apply to my work. Ultimately, determining if your style and subject matter are suitable for the event before entering is crucial.

So, gear up and step into the spotlight of top-tier photography competitions!

1. Sony World Photography Awards

Widely regarded as the most prestigious photography competition in the world, it is held annually and free of charge. It features four main sections, as mentioned below. However, participants are allowed to compete in only one of these categories.

Categories:

1. Professional Competition;
2. Open Competition;
3. Youth Competition, and
4. Student Competition.

Participation Fee: Free
Judging: Anonymous
Last Date for Submission:  January 10, 2025 (Professional category)

Legal Rights

You, as the author of the image, retain full ownership of the copyright in each Entry. You may use the same image for other photography competitions as well, as the organizer does not claim any exclusivity rights to your images. Any image submitted to the competition may, however, be used by organizer for promoting the competition and the photographers themselves for a maximum of three years. Please ensure if your photograph has any person distinctly identifiable, such person has given you the consent to be portrayed as shown.

Pro Tip from Ali: The Sony World Photography Awards is a highly competitive and professional contest, consistently recognizing the most deserving photographers from around the globe. To improve your chances, it’s recommended to submit unmanipulated images, as the competition tends to favor authenticity and natural creativity.

Professional Competition

This section is open to photographers over the age of 18 and offers categories such as Architecture & Design, Creative, Documentary Projects, Environment, Landscape, Nature & Wildlife, Portraiture, Still Life, Sport, and Perspectives. Photos submitted must have been taken in 2024 and not previously displayed in any magazines or online. Participants can submit between 5 to 10 photos per category in JPEG format, with file sizes ranging from 1 to 5 MB. The Perspectives category offers a more creative outlet, allowing participants to submit a photo collection that presents a unique and distinct viewpoint. The top prize for the Professional Competition is an impressive $25,000.

Open Competition

Designed for a broader audience, the Open Competition features categories such as Architecture, Creative, Lifestyle, Motion, Landscape, Natural World & Wildlife, Portraiture, Object (including advertising photography), Street Photography, and Travel. Each participant can submit up to 3 individual photos in JPEG format (1 to 5 MB each), accompanied by a statement. All photos must be registered in 2024. The first-place winner in this category will receive a prize of $5,000.

Competition Rules

The entries for an year (say 2025) must have been captured or (first) published within certain time frame, usually in the preceding one year (2024). Please check their website for exact dates. Un-published work entered into the competition may have been taken at any point in history but never been shown publicly. Once unpublished work has been entered, it cannot be entered again as published work in the future year of the Awards’ competition.

2. HIPA Photography Awards

The HIPA Photography Awards is one of the most prestigious and long-standing photography competitions, established in UAE. Held annually and free to enter, HIPA attracts both amateur and professional photographers from around the world. Each year, the competition introduces a new theme (e.g., Sustainability for 2024). The competition is renowned for its grand ceremony and large exhibition celebrating the winners.

Categories:

1. Theme of the Year (Sustainability for 2024)
2. General (Open for all genres of photography);
3. Portfolio (Story telling through a series of photographs);
4. Sport Photography
5. Short Videos (For Social Media)

Participation Fee: Free
Last Date for Submission:  Entry closed as of 30th June 2024

Pro Tip from Ali: This competition is as rigorous as the Sony Photography Awards. Finalists are required to submit their RAW files and fill out a detailed form. Careful attention to the theme and competition guidelines is crucial to succeeding in this prestigious contest.

In addition to these categories, HIPA offers three exclusive invitation-only awards. These awards for the 13th Season (2024) were:

1. HIPA Photographer of The Year  – Recognizing emerging individuals or organizations that have made exceptional contributions to the field.
2. Photography Appreciation Award – Honoring individuals or groups who have made long-term contributions to promoting the art of photography.
3. Photography Content Creator Award – This category is not limited to photographers but includes editors, publishers, bloggers, researchers, and others who create valuable content in the photography industry.

Rules of the Competition

Photographers can submit a single image for categories 1, 2, and 4, while a collection of 5 to 10 images is required for the Portfolio category. Each image must be submitted in JPEG or JPG format, with a minimum size of 5 MB, a resolution of 300 DPI, and at least 2000 pixels on the longest side. Along with each photo, photographers must provide a title and a short description. No tags, signatures, frames, logos, or any other added markings are allowed, and images must not have been previously used for commercial purposes or entered into any other photography contests.

Editing is permitted, but photos must retain their authenticity and originality. HIPA is strict about the content it accepts: images containing nudity, violence, or content that contradicts the religious, cultural, or moral principles of the UAE will be rejected. Additionally, AI-generated images are not allowed.

Award

HIPA offers substantial prizes, with the grand prize being USD $200,000 that can be chosen from any category available this season (2024), and not only from the main theme. In addition, there are several other cash awards for the winners in different categories.

Legal Rights

HIPA gets a non-exclusive license (i.e., you can use your image for other purposes and competitions) to use your image for indefinite term, in any part of the world, without any royalty payable to you, for any purpose, related to the Competition and its promotion. Further, HIPA can further sub-license the image to any third party. Further, in order to submit an image with an identifiable face, you must obtain a signed written consent/permission of the person(s) appearing in that image, authorizing you to use their picture for this purpose.

See winning images from past years here.

3. Siena International Photo Awards

The Siena International Photo Awards is one of Italy’s most prestigious annual photography competitions, attracting talent from around the globe. Participation in any of the three sections is free, and photographers are welcome to submit their work for consideration.

Categories:

1. Single Shots
2. Storytelling
3. Short Documentary Film

Participation Fee: Free (for one image)
Last Date for Submission:  Entry closed for the year 2024 but open for 2025

Pro Tip from Ali: After the winners are selected, all top prize recipients are invited to Italy for an all-expenses-paid two-night stay to attend the grand award ceremony, offering a prestigious opportunity to connect with fellow photographers from around the world.

Single Shots category has further sub-divisions, namely:

1. Journeys and Adventures;
2. Fascinating Faces and Characters;
3. The Beauty of Nature;
4. Animals in Their Environment;
5. Underwater Life;
6. Sports in Action;
7. Documentary and Photojournalism, and
8. Street Photography.

Storytelling category has three different sections:

1. General News
2. Daily Life and Contemporary Issues, and
3. Nature and Conservation Issues.

Other than Siena International Photo Awards, there are two more awards associated with it:

1. Drone Photo Awards – Dedicated entirely to aerial photography. Only images captured using drones or similar aerial devices are accepted in this category, offering a unique platform for photographers exploring new heights.
2. Creative Photo Awards – A section with no restrictions on editing or manipulation, welcoming fine art photographers and digital artists to express their creativity freely.

Rules of the Competition

Judging team can reject any submission that has been overly manipulated to the extent of compromising the integrity of the original image. Only photographs captured and edited by humans, without the use of AI algorithms or any other form of artificial intelligence, are eligible for entry. The image file should not have any borders, watermarks, logos or copyright symbol and must be submitted in sRGB or Adobe98 color space, 8-bit. Longest dimension must not exceed 1920 pixels, 72dpi. There is no time restriction on when the photograph was taken. You can submit both published and unpublished work.

Award

Photographer of the year is awarded € 1.500,00 worth of photography equipment. Each category winner is awarded Pangea Prize crystal statuette at an award ceremony in Siena. The winning images will be showcased in Siena at an exhibition.

Legal Rights

As a photographer, you retain full copyright in your work. Winners and Finalists are required to to grant limited and restricted usage rights for them to promote the photographers and the competition. Appropriate credit lines will be attributed for your work when exhibited or screened anywhere by Siena Awards. Each person depicted in your photograph must have granted you permission for their photograph to be so used.

Mr. Ali won second place (runner-up) in the Architecture category at the Siena Creative 2022 and was invited to attend the exhibition in Siena, Italy. His artwork, “Flying in the Dark,” was recognized by the jury board for this honor.

2024 Gallery of winning images is here
Drone Photo Award winners for 2024 can be seen here
Creative Photo Awards for 2024 is available here