February may be short on days but it’s big on large grand prizes for photo contests. We’ve scoured the world for photo contests you can enter and found five with payouts between $5,000 and $20,000. Most of this month’s contests are based outside the United States but all take American participants. In the case of international contests, we list the prize in U.S. dollars, according to the current exchange rate. But if you’re interested in the biggest prize, you better get moving: The deadline is now.
Read on and may the best photographers win!
Alexia Professional Grant 2018
Prize: $20,000 grant
Deadline: Feb. 1
Submission Fee: $50 grant application
Who Can Enter? Photographers and visual journalists from any country.
A few words from the sponsor: The Alexia Foundation offers a professional Alexia Grant to enable professional photographers and visual journalists to produce substantial bodies of work that share the Foundation’s goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding. Work that helps bring about change is more valued.
World Photography Organisation Zeiss Photography Award 2018
Prize: Zeiss lenses worth $14,500 (approx)
Deadline: Feb. 6
Submission Fee: Free
Who Can Enter? Anyone 18 or older
A few words from the sponsor: The ZEISS Photography Award is now in its third year — and is calling on ambitious photographers from across the globe to present their work around the theme “Seeing Beyond — Untold Stories” to the international jury of experts. The focus of the photo series should be on stories that have not yet been told (or have not yet been told to the end). The theme “Untold Stories” can and should be understood in the broadest sense – the works can examine the familiar from a new perspective or cover topics that have not received much attention up until now. The goal is for photographers to push the creative boundaries and surpass themselves photographically. Photographers are asked to submit a series of 5 to 10 images, including a description of the images, online.
VIPA International Photography Awards
Prize: Approx. $6,100 (Grand Prize)
Deadline: Feb. 15
Submission Fee: Approx. $11.70
Who Can Enter? Anyone 18 or older
A few words from the sponsor: Photography professionals and even hobbyists should take part in this exclusive contest as it’s a great opportunity for international recognition and a high exposure rate to the right market as well. The contest has very transparent voting rules and will have a professional jury panel to judge every entry per photo category. The 2nd VIPA is one of the biggest photography contests out there and aside from international recognition opportunities; it also has stimulating cash prizes to excite you. The contest will be divided into six main categories which are also sub-divided into 4 sub-categories per main categories: People (Children, Portraits, Family, Lifestyle), Advertising (Fashion and Beauty, Food, Product, Vehicle), Nature (Landscape, Macro, Underwater, Wildlife), Architecture (Bridges, Buildings, Cityscapes, Interior), Reportage (Culture, Event, News, Politics), and a Special category (Night, Sports, Travel, Wedding). Each winner of the sub-categories will win a top prize of 500 Euros. The photographer who has the highest total score as a sum from all his/her entries in all 6 categories, he/she has a chance to become the new Photographer of the Year, win 5000 Euros and the Golden VOUBS statuette.
Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest
Prize: $12,000 US
Deadline: Feb. 28
Submission Fee: Free
Who Can Enter? Anyone ages 18-33
A few words from the sponsor: The Andrei Stenin International Press Photo contest was established on December 22, 2014. The contest is run by Rossiya Segodnya under the auspices of the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO. It is an annual contest for young photojournalists aged between 18 and 33 years old. It is Russia’s only platform for discovering new photojournalists and for allowing them to make a name for themselves on the world photojournalism stage.
Olympus Global Open Photo Contest
Prize: $9,000 plus Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II kit
Deadline: Feb. 28
Submission Fee: Free
Who Can Enter? Anyone, any age
A few words from the sponsor: We accept entries taken with any a camera of any brand. Any camera from a DSLR to a smartphone camera may be used. The Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2017-18 has six categories: Getting Outside (a photo that conveys the joy, freedom, or excitement of discovery you feel when you are outside), Art (a creative photo that showcases your unique artistic visions), Power of Life (a powerful photo that conveys how beautiful, vibrant, healthy, and full of energy life can be), Light (light can take on many characters. It can be vivid, faint, warm, spontaneous… Enter a photo showing one of the many faces of light), Stories (enter a photo that tells a whole story all in a single image), Connections to Cherish (a heart-warming photo that expresses the love and peace of mind that family and friends provide you with). Each entrant may submit up to 5 photo entries for each category.
