March Photo Contests

The Fence 2016

Deadline: March 7, 2016.
Entry fee: $40 for the photo series.
Award: $5,000 and Leica T camera package for the winner, participation in five exhibitions for the finalists.

The Fence is a series of outdoor exhibitions that will be carried out in five American cities: New York (Brooklyn), Boston, Atlanta, Houston, and Santa Fe. To participate one has to submit a photo project (six images) into one of the following categories: “Home”, “Streets”, “People”,”Creatures”,”Nature” and “Play.” PDN magazine and United Photo Industries are among The Fence’s curators.

Communication Arts Photography Competition

Deadline: March 11 (early submission) and March 25, 2016.
Entry fee: $20 per single image, $40 per series, $45 per video and $90 per video series for students, $40 and $80 respectively for other participants.
Award: 2016 Award of Excellence.

The competition is organized by the Communication Arts magazine – a professional publication for specialists in the fields of media and communications. The winner will be chosen by five judges, including Periscope’s Creative Director Mark Haumersen and ESPN The Magazine’s Director of Photography Karen Frank. Participants who submit their photos after March 11th will have to pay the additional fee of $10 per one submission. Only photos made from March 2015 to March 2016 are eligible to participate.

Kolga Tbilisi Photo

Deadline: March 20, 2016.
Entry fee: $30.
Award: $1,500 for each of the winners in four main categories, iPhone for the winner in the mobile photography contest.

Submissions are being accepted in four main categories: Documentary Series, Reportage, Conceptual Photo Project, and One Shot. A separate category is created for mobile photography, and the winner will receive an iPhone. One photographer under 25 chosen by the jury will also receive the Kolga Newcomer Photo Award introduced this year and €500.

IPA Family of Man

Deadline: March 31, 2016.
Entry fee: $20 for one image, $15 for each additional category.
Award: publication in a book, participation in the exhibition.

The contest, organized by the IPA committee, is dedicated to the legacy of American photographer and curator Edward Steichen. In 1939, he had asked 30 photographers including Cartier-Bresson, Eugene Smith, and Dorothea Lange, to photograph the common links of humanity worldwide. The photographs were showcased at MoMA and published in a book that turned out to be one of the best-selling photo books of all time. The Family of Man contest accepts submissions (single photos only) in the following categories: “Birth”, “Childhood”, “Youth”, “Love”, “Marriage”, and “Old Age.”

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography and Film

Deadline: March 31, 2016.
No entry fee.
Award: $5,000 for the winner, participation in the exhibition in Arles for 12 shortlisted participants.

The foundation established by American documentary photographer Manuel Rivera-Ortiz awards one $5,000 grant for a documentary photo or video project. Proposed projects have to be non-fictional and must be based on pressing social issues as oppression, war, poverty, health, famine, religious, or political persecution and similar topics. Those who want to participate have to send the a 15 image portfolio, CV, project proposal and estimated budget, as well as a head shot. Group submissions are also permitted, but in this case, the grant will be divided into equal parts.

Red Bull Illume

Deadline: March 31, 2016.
No entry fee.
Award: vouchers for Yodobashi and Sony equipment worth €40,000 and €60,000, special accessories for shooting in extreme conditions.

Fourth contest of sports and action photography organised by Red Bull. Photographs dedicated to various sports apart of team sports and motorsports are accepted, participants must be over 18.

iPhone Photography Awards

Deadline: March 31, 2016.
Entry fee: $1.50 for one image to $57.50 for 25.
Award: gold bars for the category winners, additional prizes for authors of the three best images.

Ninth yearly iphoneography contest. Only images taken with iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch are eligible; the processing is only allowed if made using iOS devices. There are 19 categories, including “Architecture”, “News/Events”, “Sunset”,”Food”, and “Flowers.”

Big Picture Competition

Deadline: March 31, 2016.
Entry fee: $25 for ten images (can be submitted in any category), $15 for one photo essay (three to five images).
Award: $5,000 for the Grand Prize winner; $1,000 for each of the winners of six categories, participation in the exhibition.

The wildlife photography contest will be judged by the photographer Suzi Eszterhas, Senior Editor of National Geographic Kathy Moran, and Editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine Sophie Stafford.

BMW Résidence

Deadline: April 15, 2016.
No entry fee.
Award: €6,000 and three months residency at the Nicéphore Niépce Museum.

A residence program organized by BMW and the French museum Nicéphore Niépce. To participate one has to send an application (in English or French), printed portfolio, short biography, and a project proposal via physical mail to the following address: Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Résidence BMW /Emmanuelle Vieillard, 28, quai des Messageries,71 100 Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The winner will be announced by the end of May, the residency starts on the 5th of September and lasts till the 2nd of December, 2016.

Crusade Engagement Grant

Deadline: April 19, 2015.
Entry fee: $25.
Award: $10,000.

The grant is made to fund projects that aim at attracting new audiences to photography, connecting artists with their audiences, and eliminating the barriers for those who want to do or study photography. To participate in the contest one needs to send the project proposal using the submission form on the website.