October Photo Contests

At the beginning of each month Bird in Flight updates you about photo contests for both professional photographers and photography lovers.

PDN World In Focus

Deadline: October 6, 2015.
Award: $2,000 and $1,000 for grand prize winners among professional and amateur photographers respectively, 10-day trip to Romania for the Deanne Fitzmaurice’s master class.
Entry fee: $45 per entry for professionals, $30 — for amateurs.

Yearly photography contest organized by the PDN publication. There are four categories in which photographs can be submitted: “Travel Portraits”, “Outdoor Scenes”, “Sense of Place”, and “Spontaneous Moments” for single images. Photo series that contain two to six images will be evaluated separately. The winner will be chosen by the following judges: Photo Editor of *Travel + Leisure* David Alexander Arnold, Director of Photography of *Departures Magazine* Lea Golis, Photo Editor of Instagram Lindsay Blatt and The Travel Channel’s Photo Editor Andrew Ward.

Photo15 Contest

Deadline: October 17, 2015.
Award: participation in the New York City Affordable Art Fair, organization of a personal exhibition at FRONT art space, publication in the contest’s catalogue.
Entry fee: $35 for three photos, $8 — per each additional submission; $15 and $5 respectively for students.

This year’s contest is dedicated to the way the Internet and technologies have changed photography and what it means to take a photo nowadays. The contest will be judged by Yale MFA Professor and artist Johannes DeYoung, based on originality, technical skills and engagement in the topic.

7th Carmignac Photojournalism Award

Deadline: October 11, 2015.
Award: €50,000.
No entry fee.

Yearly grant for photojournalists from the Fondation Carmignac. This year’s topic is Libya. Participants must send his or her portfolio and a photo story from the nominated region. The winner receives €50,000 for the implementation of the original photo contest, publication of the monograph and the organization of an international traveling exhibition.

Visual Storytelling Awards

Deadline: October 22, 2015.
Award: $2,000 for each of the winners in photo series categories, $1,000 — for each of the winners in mini-series categories, $500 for each of the five best images’ authors.
Entry fee: $60 for photo projects (6-10 images), $40 — for series from two to five images, $20 per each additional photo.

Yearly photography contest from the *LensCulture* online publication. Photographs are accepted in five categories: “Documentary Photography”, “Photojournalism”, “Personal Stories”, “Fictional Narratives” and “Open Category.” This time among the judges are: Managing Director of World Press Photo Lars Boering, The New York Times’ Picture Editor Daphné Anglès, and publisher Michael Mack. Apart from monetary prizes winners and finalists will receive a portfolio review from industry experts and get their works published in the contest catalogue.

Silver Eye Fellowship

Deadline: October 26, 2015.
Award: personal exhibition, $3,000 and $1,000 for two winners.
Entry fee: free for the Silver Eye community members, $50–55 for others.

Contest from Silver Eye photography center. To participate, one needs to send a CV or biography, work samples and artistic statement. The co-founder of Humble Arts Foundation Jon Feinstein will choose the winner.

PicHit & Microsoft Photography Competition

Deadline: October 31, 2015.
Award: Microsoft equipment – tablets, smartphones, earphones, premium subscription for PicHit.
No entry fee.

Open photography contest organized by Microsoft and PicHit service with the topic “Colorful.” The photographs that contain red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and their combinations can be submitted. Apart from other prizes, winners will have the possibility to take over PicHit’s Instagram account for a weekend.

Le Prix Picto

Deadline: November 4, 2015.
Award: €2,000 for the first prize winner, €1 500 – for the second prize and €1,000 – for the third.
No entry fee.

Fashion photography contest for individuals under 35. To participate, one needs to send his or her printed portfolio (minimum 10 images), application form and a CD with bio and digital version of portfolio over physical mail to PICTO BASTILLE, 53 bis rue de la Roquette, 75011 PARIS, indicating the name of Sylvie Besnard.

International Photography Awards 2016

Deadline: November 8, 2015.
Award: two week exhibition in London based gallery TJ Boulting, printing of the photographs, publication in British Journal of Photography.
Entry fee: £6.50 for single images, £22.75 for the series; after August 31 the fee will increase by 35%.

Photo contest from British Journal of Photography publication. Photographs are being accepted in two categories: single image and photo series. There are no limitations regarding the genre or the technique used. Among judges – The Guardian’s Photography Critic Sean O’Hagan, founder of Self Publish Be Happy Bruno Ceschel and Cultural & Education Manager at Magnum Photo, Emily Graham.

Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2015

Deadline: November 20, 2015.
Award: Olympus camera and $8,300 for the grand prize winner, Olympus equipment for other winners.
No entry fee.

Open photography contest organized by Olympus. Works are being accepted in five categories: “Birth”, “Places to Preserve”, “Smiles and Laughter”, “Macro” and “Art.” One can submit up to five images to each category.

Smithsonian Photo Contest

Deadline: November 30, 2015.
Award: grand prize — $2,500, $500 for each category winner, readers’ choice and best mobile photographer.
No entry fee.

Photography contest organized by the Smithsonian.com. Works are being accepted in nine categories, 15 photographs per each.

(Cover Photo: Robert McPherson.)