Deadline: January 9, 2026
Applications are open for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2026. Organized by Anadolu for the 12th consecutive year, the contest aims to promote press photography globally. Each year, around 20,000 images are submitted to İstanbul Photo Awards, which is widely seen as one of the world’s top photography contests.
The contest features 10 categories, including Single News, Story News, Single Sports, Story Sports, Single Nature and Environment, Story Nature and Environment, Single Daily Life, Story Daily Life, Single Portrait, and Story Portrait.
- Single News: All news related, single image applications. Only 1 image can be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 4 different images.
- Story News: All news related image series applications. 10 images must be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories.
- Single Sports: All sports related, single image applications. Only 1 image can be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 4 different images.
- Story Sports: All sports related image series applications. 10 images must be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories.
- Single Nature & Environment: All nature and environment related, single image applications. Only 1 image can be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 4 different images.
- Story Nature & Environment: All nature and envionment related image series applications. 10 images must be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories.
- Single Portrait: All portrait related, single image applications. Only 1 image can be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 4 different images.
- Story Portrait: All portrait related image series applications. 10 images must be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories.
- Single Daily Life: All daily life related, single image applications. Only 1 image can be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 4 different images.
- Story Daily Life: All daily life related image series applications. 10 images must be submitted per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories.
Benefits
- The contest will distribute $58,000 in prize money in total, with the Photo of the Year awarded to the top image in the Single News category, which comes with a $6,000 prize.
- First-place winners in each category will receive $3,000, while second and third places will get $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
Eligibility
- The contest is open only for professional photographers.
- Professional photographers are those who earn, or have earned, the majority of their income from photography, and who sell or publish their work regularly, and work with professional photography or media organizations.
- The contest is open for photographers both freelancer and under the name of a company / agency. Freelancers can add company name for each submission at the INSERT IMAGE tab.
- Every submitted photo must be taken in 2025 (1 Jan. 2025- 31 Dec. 2025). Photographers may submit both published and unpublished photos.
Application
The deadline is January 9, 2026 at 23:59 UTC+3 (İstanbul Time). Photographers are responsible to pay attention to the timezone differences.
For more information, visit Istanbul Photo Awards.