May Photo Contests

(Cover photo: “Ladies In Waiting” by Susie Stern.)

At the beginning of each month Bird In Flight publishes interesting photo contests for professional and amateur photographers.

Deadline: May 8, 2015.
Award: Publication in British Journal of Photography, photo equipment form Olympus, organization of the exhibition.
Entry fee: £5 for a solo image, £25 for a series (up to 20 photographs).

Student photo contest organized by British Journal of Photography and Olympus. Works are accepted in four categories – solo image and photo series – separately for Bachelor and Masters students. Those who have graduated from university up to five years previously can also participate under the category for Masters students.

Deadline: May 13, 2015.
Award: Five grants, $10,000 each.
No entry fee.

Contest for professional photojournalists, organized by Getty Images. To participate one needs to send bio, project description and 20-25 photographs of previous pieces of work. Grantees will be chosen by five judges, among whom are: Jon Jones, Director of Photography at The Sunday Times Magazine, Matthias Krug, International Director of Photography at Der Spiegel and Romain Lacroix, Director of Photography at Paris Match.

Deadline: May 18, 2015.
Award: €6,000 for Master Award, €3,000 for Spot Light Award, €1,000 and Nikon D610 (body) for Short Story Award.
Entry fee: €10 per reportage.

Open contest of documentary photography accepts submissions in three categories: Master Award (for anyone, 20-40 photographs to be submitted), Spot Light Award (for those who have not received the following awards: World Press Photo, W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography, Pulitzer Prize, POYi Picture of the Year and World.Report Award, 20-40 photographs to be submitted), and Short Story Award (for anyone, 5-10 photographs to be submitted.) Particular attention will be dedicated to projects covering social and cultural aspects of life.

Deadline: May 22, 2015.
Award: €8,000 to continue an ongoing project, presentation of the project at the Perpignan Festival 2016.
No entry fee.

Contest for professional female documentary photographers, organized by Canon and Elle magazine. To participate one needs to upload on server ftp.images-evidence.com the following documents: signed application form, passport or id scan, letter of motivation with the description of the project, budget and 20-30 photos from the project that is to be continued.

Deadline: May 31, 2015.
Award: $30,000 for the winner to continue a project, $5,000 to be distributed between selected finalists.
Entry fee: $50.

Grant program in honor of American photo essayist William Eugene Smith was established in 1978, right after his death. Working in New York, he became well-known for his documentary photography for Newsweek, coverage of WWII for Life and Ziff-Davis Publishing and photographs produced while being the member of Magnum Photo. Eugene Smith Grant is considered as one of the most prestigious awards for photographers. To participate one needs to sent bio and CV (up to two pages), project description and up to 40 photographs of previous works.

Deadline: May 31, 2015.
Award: Winner – £1,000, consultation with an expert and set of printed photos; for short-listed photographers — £100 vouchers for photo production.
Entry fee: £20.

Student photo contest organized by British photo laboratory Photographique. Winners will be chosen by six judges, including: Projects editor at British Journal of Photography Gemma Padley, Associate curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery (London) Helen Trompeteler, and Assistant Photographic Editor at British GQ Ryan Grimley. To participate one needs to submit up to five images that are interconnected and description of the project.

Deadline: June 1, 2015.
Award: First prize — £1,000, participation in exhibitions in Japan and Great Britain, invitation for IAFOR conference; second and third prizes — all the same, excluding monetary prize.
No entry fee.

Contest for photographers up to 31 years old and students studying photography. This years’ topic is “Power.” Participants have to submit 10-20 photographs (either as solo images, or as series), works description (up to 500 words) and description of the new project that is to be executed in case of winning.

Deadline: June 30, 2015.
Award: For three winners – expeditions to Costa Rica, Panama Canal and Yellowstone National Park, publication in National Geographic Traveller and yearly subscription; for seven finalists – travel photography video courses, $250 certificates for B&H Photo, publication in the magazine and yearly subscription.
Entry fee: $15 per entree.

Travel photography contest from the National Geographic Traveller publication is open for participants from all around the world, except Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. Entries can be submitted in each of four categories: Travel Portrait, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place and Spontaneous Moments.