The strongest contests to enter are the ones that are reputable, still open, and matched to the work you actually shoot. Updated 12 October 2026: of the 90 competitions in our index, four are still taking entries this year with a published deadline (Travel Photographer of the Year on 12 October, the Chromatic Photography Awards on 25 October, the Mobile Photography Awards on 18 December) or a rolling window (Landscape Photographer of the Year UK, the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest, ConservationMag, World Nature, Monochrome, Minimalist and Portrait of Humanity list no deadline on their pages at the time of writing). Most of the big names closed between May and September and announce results through November and December, and their 2027 calls open on the same calendar every year. This guide covers each genre in that order: what is still open, what closed and when to expect its results, and when the next round opens. Every entry links to a page with the fee, the RAW requirement and the source for each AI rule.
For a complete, always-current view, browse contest deadlines by month, filter to free contests, or see all indexed contests.
How to read this guide
Two details decide most entries. The first is the deadline, because a contest you missed is not a contest. The second is the AI policy, because nearly every serious competition in 2026 either bans AI-generated images outright or restricts them to a labeled category, and entering the wrong work wastes the fee. Where a contest verifies authenticity, expect to keep your RAW file, as covered in photo contests that require RAW files. Dates below are the 2026 edition's, read from each contest's published rules on the date shown on its page; confirm on the contest page before you submit, and treat "opens each autumn" as a pattern, not a promise.
Wildlife and nature
Still open. ConservationMag Photography Awards 2026 is free to enter, bans AI-generated images and asks finalists for the original file; no closing date is published at the time of writing. World Nature Photography Awards 2026 is also accepting entries, with AI-generated work banned and an entry fee.
Closed, results pending. The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 closed on 30 June; the winners are announced in December. It is free, built entirely on real moments, and the most-searched contest in this index: if you have one funny, authentic animal frame, the 2027 call is the one to prepare for. Nature Photographer of the Year 2026 closed on 8 June with results on 14 November. Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2026, free and with RAW files requested from finalists, closed on 7 May.
On the GDT calendar. The Gesellschaft für Naturfotografie runs two contests a year and checks shortlisted images against the RAW or original JPEG by hand: GDT Nature Photographer of the Year (members, free, closes 1 February, results in May) and the GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (open to all, closes 1 March, results at the Lünen nature photography festival in late October). The 2026 editions are judged; both open again for the 2027 cycle in winter.
The winter closers. Wildlife Photographer of the Year closed its 62nd competition on 4 December 2025 and Bird Photographer of the Year 2026 on 14 December 2025; both open for entries each autumn and close in early December, so the 2027 windows are the next deadlines in this genre. Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 closed on 4 January and requires the RAW from every shortlisted entrant. The full wildlife category lists all of them with their current status.
Landscape
Still open. Landscape Photographer of the Year UK 2026 (Take A View) is accepting entries at the time of writing; the contest page carries the deadline and the rules.
Closed, results pending. Epson International Pano Awards 2026, the leading competition for panoramic and wide-format landscape work with a clear ban on AI-generated imagery, closed on 13 July and announces its results in October. Wiki Loves Earth 2026, free and feeding openly licensed images of natural heritage to Wikimedia, closed on 31 July. The Natural Landscape Photography Awards 2026 closed on 31 May; it bans AI-generated images, requires the RAW file from every shortlisted entrant and compares each one against the submitted image, which makes it the clearest example of enforcement in this genre.
Judged. ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026 announced its results on 15 September.
Travel, street, and documentary
Closing now. Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2026 closes on 12 October. It has one of the cleaner enforcement designs on the calendar: a no-AI declaration at entry, originals required from finalists, and a published list of permitted tools.
Closed, results pending. URBAN Photo Awards 2026, for street and urban work with AI-generated images banned, closed on 28 June and announces on 25 October. The Drone Photo Awards 2026 closed on 15 June with results on 10 October.
Photojournalism runs on a winter calendar. The World Press Photo Contest 2026 took entries from 1 October 2025 to 17 January 2026; it is free, bans AI-generated images, and requires the RAW file, and its call opens each autumn. Pictures of the Year International closed on 6 January, the NPPA Best of Photojournalism on 18 January, the Pulitzer Prize photography categories on 26 January, and the Magnum Photography Awards 2026 and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award in February. For long-form documentary projects, the documentary category collects the contests that reward a sustained body of work over a single frame.
Portrait and open category
Still open. The Chromatic Photography Awards 2026 close on 25 October with results on 20 December; the rules do not address AI-generated images, so read them before entering generated or heavily composited work. The Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest 2026 is free and open, with the AI rule depending on the category. Portrait of Humanity Vol. 7 is open and permits AI-generated images, which puts camera-made portraits in a different competition from the one its name suggests. The Monochrome Photography Awards 2026 and the Minimalist Photography Awards 2026 are open with no published deadline; the Minimalist awards keep AI-generated work to its own category.
Closed, results pending. PhotoVogue Global Open Call 2026, free, fashion and portrait led and with AI-generated work ineligible, closed on 11 September. The Black and White Spider Awards 2026 closed on 24 April and announce on 7 November.
Closed this summer. The International Photography Awards (IPA) 2026 closed on 30 June, PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2026 on 22 July and the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2026 on 1 August. All three span many subcategories and permit AI-generated images only in a designated category, so read the category rules before you choose where to place a 2027 entry. The Hamdan International Photography Award 2026, free and with RAW files requested from finalists, closed on 31 May.
Mobile
Mobile Photography Awards 2026 close on 18 December, the longest runway on this list. It is the established home for phone photography and keeps AI-generated work to its own labeled category, so camera-made entries compete on their own terms. The iPhone Photography Awards 2026 closed on 31 March and are judged.
What opens next: the annual calendar
Most established contests run on a fixed calendar, so the 2026 dates in this index are the best guide to the 2027 ones. Read as a year, by the month the entry window closes:
| Closes | Contest | Free | AI rule | Originals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early December | Wildlife Photographer of the Year | no | banned | requested from finalists |
| Mid December | Bird Photographer of the Year | no | banned | requested from finalists |
| 18 December | Mobile Photography Awards | no | own category | not required |
| Early January | Underwater Photographer of the Year | no | banned, enforced | RAW for the shortlist |
| Mid January | World Press Photo | yes | banned | RAW required |
| Late January | Pulitzer Prize, photography | no | banned, attestation | required |
| 1 February | GDT Nature Photographer of the Year | yes (members) | banned | RAW for the shortlist |
| February | Magnum Photography Awards, Leica Oskar Barnack Award, Hasselblad Masters | LOBA and Hasselblad yes | banned | varies |
| 1 March | GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year | no | banned | RAW for the shortlist |
| March | Audubon Photography Awards, iPhone Photography Awards | no | banned | varies |
| April to May | Nikon Small World, Africa Geographic, Natural Landscape Photography Awards, Hamdan International Photography Award | Nikon, Africa Geographic and HIPA yes | banned | RAW for finalists or the shortlist |
| June | Comedy Wildlife, International Photography Awards, URBAN Photo Awards, Drone Photo Awards | Comedy Wildlife yes | banned or own category | varies |
| July to August | Epson Pano Awards, Wiki Loves Earth, PX3 Paris, Tokyo International Foto Awards | Wiki Loves Earth yes | banned or own category | varies |
| September to October | PhotoVogue, Wiki Loves Monuments, Travel Photographer of the Year, Chromatic Photography Awards | PhotoVogue and WLM yes | mostly banned | TPOTY and WLM ask finalists |
The deadlines by month page is generated from the same data and updates as each contest publishes its next call.
Before you enter
Three steps protect your entry. Read the AI rule on the contest page and match your work to it, because a misplaced entry is a wasted fee. Keep the RAW file for anything you submit, since finalist verification can arrive weeks after the deadline, and the contests above that ask for originals do so after the shortlist, not at entry. If a contest verifies authenticity, consider generating a provenance report in advance with Lumethic photo verification, so you can answer a request for originals immediately rather than scrambling. For the wider picture of how competitions police AI, see the 2026 contest AI policy database.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which photo contests are still open to enter in late 2026? As of 12 October 2026: Travel Photographer of the Year (closes 12 October), the Chromatic Photography Awards (25 October) and the Mobile Photography Awards (18 December), plus the contests with no published deadline at the time of writing: Landscape Photographer of the Year UK, the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest, ConservationMag, World Nature, Monochrome, Minimalist and Portrait of Humanity. For the live list, see contest deadlines by month.
When do the big contests open for 2027? On the same calendar as 2026: Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Bird Photographer of the Year close in December, World Press Photo and the Pulitzer in January, the GDT contests on 1 February and 1 March, and the summer group (Comedy Wildlife, IPA, Epson Pano, Wiki Loves Earth) between June and August. The table above lists them by closing month.
Do these contests allow AI-generated images? Most do not. Nearly every reputable contest in 2026 either bans AI-generated images outright or confines them to a clearly labeled category; the exceptions in this guide are Portrait of Humanity (allowed) and the Chromatic awards (not addressed). Always check the specific contest page, because the rule and its enforcement vary.
Are there free photo contests worth entering? Yes. Comedy Wildlife, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Monuments, PhotoVogue, World Press Photo, the Smithsonian contest and ConservationMag are free to enter and carry real reputation. See the full list of free photo contests.
What do I need to prepare before entering? Confirm the deadline and AI rule on the contest page, keep the RAW file for every image you submit, and stay within the permitted editing. If the contest verifies authenticity, a provenance report prepared in advance lets you respond to a request for originals without delay.
