Photography Contest
Belfast Photo Festival: Open Submission 2025
Deadline |
CLOSEDTheme |
OpenTerritory |
WorldwideEligibility |
Open to allEntry Fees |
29 EurosPrizes |
ExhibitionHost |
Belfast Photo FestivalBelfast Photo Festival hosts an annual, world-leading, popular cultural event at locations citywide. We catalyse local debate, creative development and financial opportunities with a combination of commissions, exhibitions and global arts leadership. "One of the best photography festivals in the world" (Capture Magazine).
We invite photographers of all nations and backgrounds to apply to the Open Submission, to have their work viewed by an international panel of highly influential photography industry experts, with career enhancing opportunities on offer.
Opportunities include exhibition at the largest annual festival of photography in the UK and Ireland, before going on a European tour with significant media exposure and a range of awards including a £2,000 (Approx $2,700 / €2,300) cash prize.
Individuals and/or collectives are welcome to apply to the Photographs Category by entering between 1 and 15 photographs from a particular group series, completed project or body of work in development. To enter the Photo-Book category, add at least one image of your photo book project. This can be the cover, a product shot of the book dummy or some images of the book.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
ALL SUBMITTING PHOTOGRAPHERS RECEIVE:
Submission review by a diverse jury of industry professionals
Opportunities for project exposure across festival materials, social media channels, website and press campaign
2025 Portfolio Review discount
20 TO 40 FINALIST PHOTOGRAPHERS RECEIVE:
Large format print exhibition (Produced by Belfast Photo Festival) in June 2025 at city centre locations receiving over 100,000+ visitors
Publication in the printed festival programme, website and marketing materials
Partner exhibition and exposure at the 2026 Photo Schwiez Festival in Switzerland
Festival representation and promotion in our award winning media and PR campaign. In 2024 we had a combined reach of 115 million including multiple features in the Guardian, Creative Review, Irish Times and more.
Participation in our Instagram residency scheme
Dedicated feature on the festival website with full online gallery
Inclusion in the festival issue of Abridged Magazine
Applicants will have their work viewed by an international panel of highly influential experts in the field of photography, plus have the opportunity to win awards and a significant cash prize.
ADDITIONAL AWARDS AND CASH PRIZES:
Spotlight Award - £2,000 (Approx $2,700 / €2,400) Cash Prize
Spotlight Interview - with representatives from world leading photographic institutions (e.g. TATE, MoMA, TIME, Pompidou, Aperture)
1 Year Royal Photographic Society Membership
Abridged Editorial Award - with full project feature
Aesthetica Editorial Award - with editorial presentation in the digital issue of Aesthetica international art and culture magazine.
We invite photographers of all nations and backgrounds to apply to the Open Submission, to have their work viewed by an international panel of highly influential photography industry experts, with career enhancing opportunities on offer.
Opportunities include exhibition at the largest annual festival of photography in the UK and Ireland, before going on a European tour with significant media exposure and a range of awards including a £2,000 (Approx $2,700 / €2,300) cash prize.
Individuals and/or collectives are welcome to apply to the Photographs Category by entering between 1 and 15 photographs from a particular group series, completed project or body of work in development. To enter the Photo-Book category, add at least one image of your photo book project. This can be the cover, a product shot of the book dummy or some images of the book.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
ALL SUBMITTING PHOTOGRAPHERS RECEIVE:
Submission review by a diverse jury of industry professionals
Opportunities for project exposure across festival materials, social media channels, website and press campaign
2025 Portfolio Review discount
20 TO 40 FINALIST PHOTOGRAPHERS RECEIVE:
Large format print exhibition (Produced by Belfast Photo Festival) in June 2025 at city centre locations receiving over 100,000+ visitors
Publication in the printed festival programme, website and marketing materials
Partner exhibition and exposure at the 2026 Photo Schwiez Festival in Switzerland
Festival representation and promotion in our award winning media and PR campaign. In 2024 we had a combined reach of 115 million including multiple features in the Guardian, Creative Review, Irish Times and more.
Participation in our Instagram residency scheme
Dedicated feature on the festival website with full online gallery
Inclusion in the festival issue of Abridged Magazine
Applicants will have their work viewed by an international panel of highly influential experts in the field of photography, plus have the opportunity to win awards and a significant cash prize.
ADDITIONAL AWARDS AND CASH PRIZES:
Spotlight Award - £2,000 (Approx $2,700 / €2,400) Cash Prize
Spotlight Interview - with representatives from world leading photographic institutions (e.g. TATE, MoMA, TIME, Pompidou, Aperture)
1 Year Royal Photographic Society Membership
Abridged Editorial Award - with full project feature
Aesthetica Editorial Award - with editorial presentation in the digital issue of Aesthetica international art and culture magazine.
Featured Photo Contest
AAP Magazine #48/Portrait
$1,000 cash prizes | Winning image(s) published in AAP Magazine #48 | Extensive press coverage and global recognition
© Aline Smithson
Best Photography Contests in 2023
Each year, there are hundreds of photography competitions all over the world, so we've decided to select for you the best of the best! Our selection of the best photo contests in 2023 is thoroughly curated to help you, whether you are a professional photographer or an amateur, to help find your next creative breakthrough. These all-star competitions offer the greatest opportunities for international exposure and/or incredible financial benefits. Some of them are closing soon, so get your photo submissions in!
ENDS 05/12/25
This prize, with a production budget of €25,000, is open to any new photographer or artist using photography, submitting a previously unpublished dummy book.
ENDS 05/13/25
Our 48th printed issue of AAP Magazine will feature the best projects showcasing the theme "Portrait".
ENDS 05/16/25
Submit your best work to our photo competition for a chance to win up to $11,500 in cash prizes, be selected by our curators for the PX3 exhibition in Paris and inclusion in the Annual PX3 book.
ENDS 05/18/25
MonoVisions Photography Awards are an international open call for photographers using black and white medium to express their visual language.
ENDS 05/18/25
The Global Peace Photo Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives.
ENDS 05/30/25
If you're a passionate amateur or professional photographer, we invite you to share your photographic project with us.
ENDS 05/31/25
POWER will be the main theme of the season. The Grand Prize of USD $200,000 will be awarded to one winner from any category this season, not limited to the main theme.
ENDS 05/31/25
The international photography contest URBAN Photo Awards is here: registrations will open on March 28th and this 16th edition will be the largest and most important ever.
ENDS 06/01/25
This year’s PhotoVogue Global Open Call celebrates the limitless ways women see and are seen—embracing photography and film as powerful tools to reclaim, redefine, and expand visual storytelling
ENDS 06/01/25
The Paula Riff Award was created by the Center of Photographic Art and Lenscratch in 2021 as a way to celebrate and continue the legacy of artist Paula Riff.
ENDS 06/02/25
BUDAPEST INTERNATIONAL FOTO AWARDS is an international platform for photographers from all levels and genres to share their best images with the creative community in Hungary and Eastern Europe.
ENDS 06/02/25
The Lenscratch Student Prize has opened up a whole new line of connections, opportunities and exposure.
ENDS 06/05/25
Jon Lee Anderson, president of the jury of the 32nd edition
ENDS 06/10/25
Four winners will be chosen and will see their work exhibited at the Paris Photo fair
ENDS 06/20/25
Be Featured in our June 2025 Online Juried Solo Exhibition!
ENDS 06/30/25
Wherever you are in the world, we invite you to send us your most beautiful Colors or Black & White street photos.
ENDS 08/01/25
TIFA connects photographers from around the world with the creative community in Tokyo, Japan, providing them with an excellent platform to present their work to a new market.
ENDS 08/05/25
The 2025 Global Contest promotes climate justice. We believe climate change is a human rights issue, so we are looking for images that show people impacted by the escalating climate crisis.
ENDS 09/01/25
The Ian Parry Scholarship is divided into two categories: The Sunday Times Award for Achievement and The Canon Award for Potential.