(this post is updated regularly)
Contests…
Some are great. Some feel like they only exist to rob photographers of their meager income. Before you enter, carefully consider if it’s worth your money. Stick with contests that have, in the past, recognized photographers whose work you admire. If you want to be getting commercial and editorial work, avoid contests aimed at amateurs.
Remember, the primary (commercial) benefit of entering a contest is getting your work in front of industry big wigs who otherwise might not have seen it. You don’t even have to win to enjoy that benefit, although, winning is always preferred.
Here’s a general timetable of contest deadlines throughout the year. Things change so make sure you go straight to the source for definitive info on deadlines, entry fees and eligibility.
Please comment below to add info for ones that I’ve forgotten to include.
January
American Illustration-American Photography
Alexia Foundation
Art Directors Club Photo Contest
CENTER awards (The Choice Awards, Project Competition, & Project Launch)
Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Documentary Prize (suspended at the moment)
Days Japan
FotoEvidence Book Award
Hillman Prize for Photojournalism
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
NPPA Best of Photojournalism
Pictures of the Year International (POYi)
PDN Photo Annual
Px3 Photography Competition
PGB Photo Award
Sony World Photography Awards
Leica Oskar Barnack Award
Photoreporter Festival Grant
The Syngenta Photography Award
World Press Photo Contest
February
FotoEvidence Book Award
Aperture Portfolio Prize
Pulitzer Prizes
March
Foam Magazine Talent Call
Hey Hot Shot (suspended at the moment)
National Geographic Magazine Grant for Photography (suspended at moment)
Photocrati Fund
New York Photo Awards
Communication Arts Magazine
April
ASMP/NY Annual Photo Contest
Humble Arts Foundation Grant (suspended at moment)
International Photographer of the Year / / Lucie Awards
Inge Morath Prize
Santa Fe Prize for Photography (by nomination)
PHE OjodePez Award for Human Values
The Renaissance Photography Prize
May
Burn Magazine Emerging Photographer Grant
Gene Smith Grant
TheDocumentaryProjectFund
Howard Chapnick Grant
POYi Emerging Vision Grant
Getty Images Grants
F Award
Canon Female Photojournalist Award
OSI Moving Walls
June
CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography
Critical Mass by Photolucida
Visa pour l’image – Visa d’Or award
Pierre and Alexandra Boulat Association Grant
CARE International Award for Humanitarian Reportage
The Bayeux-Calvados Award for war correspondents
CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography
July
Ian Parry scholarship
Spider Awards B&W Photo
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize
FRANCE24-RFI Web Documentary Award
International Color Awards
New Orleans Photo Alliance, Clarence John Laughlin Award
August
Alexia Foundation: The Women’s Initiative Grant
Magnum Expression Award
One Life International Photography Competition
September
BJP International Photography Award
FotoVisura Grant
October
American Photo Images of the Year (not sure if it’s happening again this year)
Terry O’Neill Award
Unicef Photo of the Year International Award (by nomination)
November
Aftermath Project
American Photography
Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Contest
Magenta Flash Forward
Onward
December
Hasselblad Masters Awards
The Julia Margaret Cameron Award for female photographers
Other online resources:
http://photographygrants.blogspot.com/
http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/photography-grant-sources
http://photojournalismlinks.com/awardsgrantsandcompetitions/
© 2013 Jasmine DeFoore LLC
01. Jasmine
July 23, 2010APhotoEditor recently weighed in on contests: http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2010/07/21/my-guide-to-photography-contests/ check it out
02. Jasmine
August 12, 2010more contest debate going on at aphotofolio: http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2010/08/11/photography-contests-the-fix-is-in/#comments
03. Jacob
November 12, 2010We just announced that Ricoh’s photo gallery, Ring Cube in Tokyo will extend a sponsored invitation not only to bring the ONWARD ’11 exhibition to Japan, but for the two winners and juror, Larry Fink to travel to Tokyo for the opening as well! Take a look at the details here: http://onward.projectbasho.org/onward-goes-to-japan/
04. emma
February 21, 2012Hi,
We are holding the London Photo Festival in May – it’s an opporunity for amateur and semi-professional photographers to exhibit free from evaluation. Check out our website for more details.
05. Michael Weschler
December 11, 2012ASMP/NY has our annual photo contest in May & we start accepting submissions in January.
http://www.asmp.org/image12/
06. Donna Rosser
January 3, 2013Call for entry for Nature Undisturbed is on now — deadline Jan 8, 2013. Juror is Amy Miller, Executive Director Atlanta Celebrates Photography. http://www.natureundisturbed.com/
07. Nick
January 3, 2013Accenti competition in Oct. Takes five dollars of of
you and fails to even give a confirmation reply. Big con. Waste of time.
08. Peter
January 14, 2013Shot Up North (SUN) awards. UK commercial, advertising and editorial photography. Details here:
http://shotupnorth.co.uk/
09. Theo Stroomer
January 21, 2013The dvafoto calendar is another good one. You can sync it up with iCal or Google Calendar too.
http://www.dvafoto.com/calendar/
10. Jasmine
January 29, 2013love that calendar too! thanks for reminding me about it.