Istanbul Photo Awards 2026

Deadline:

9 January 2026

Entry:

Free to Enter

Age Limit:

Not Stated

Experience:

Professional Only

Open to Entries:

Worldwide

Other Requirements:

Photos must be taken in 2025

Type:

Photo Contests & Awards | Publications & Features

Detail Prize License

Competition Details

The internationally renowned Istanbul Photo Awards 2026, supported by the Anadolu Agency (AA), has officially opened its call for entries, inviting professional photographers globally to submit their work.

Recognised as a leading competition for photojournalism and fine art photography, the annual contest seeks powerful visual stories and outstanding images captured worldwide. The Awards serve to honour and support photojournalists who capture defining moments of global events, politics, and culture.

The competition structure includes several categories and culminates in the coveted “Photo of the Year” award. Past winners have seen their work exhibited globally, with recent showcases of the 2025 winners taking place in major cities, including New York and Istanbul. The contest aims to promote photojournalism and provide a global platform for the world’s most impactful visual narratives.

The Istanbul Photo Awards 2026 competition is structured around five main themes, each divided into both Single and Story categories:

News (Single and Story)
Sports (Single and Story)
Nature & Environment (Single and Story)
Portrait (Single and Story)
Daily Life (Single and Story)

For the single-image applications, photographers may submit up to 4 different images. For the Story image series applications, photographers must submit 10 images per application and may submit up to 2 different stories.

The same photo cannot be submitted into two different categories.

Photos must be in high-resolution JPG, JPEG, or PNG format. There are no rules on their size, but we recommend keeping the file size of each photo to less than 5MB to avoid internet connection failures. Digital manipulation and Photoshop-type effects are prohibited. It is not allowed to add any personal ratings, initials, signatures, photographers’ names, or company information to the photo.

Every photo should have a description (caption) with at least 50 characters, including spaces. Every single photograph needs to have a title, limited to 75 characters, and a description between 150 and 400 characters. All photos in the story submission should have a description of up to 200 words, and photographers should provide general story information of up to 600 words. The country and the date of the photo will be added separately.

Caption (description) can not be left blank or consist of a single word. Captions must be written in English and include answers to basic journalism questions about the photo, such as who is in the photograph, what the theme or occasion is, why it is important, and the specific location where the photo was taken. Photographers will choose the date and country separately from the given list.

Winners Are:

Judged

Judging Process Published:

Partially

Judging Anonymous:

Not Stated

Winners Announced:

March-April 2026

Prize & Judging Details

Single News 1st prize winner will be nominated as “Photo of the Year”, the laureate receives 6.000 USD in total.

CATEGORIES FIRST SECOND THIRD

SINGLE NEWS	*6,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
STORY NEWS	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
SINGLE SPORTS	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
STORY SPORTS	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
SINGLE NATURE & ENVIRONMENT	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
STORY NATURE & ENVIRONMENT	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
SINGLE PORTRAIT	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
STORY PORTRAIT	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
SINGLE DAILY LIFE	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD
STORY DAILY LIFE	3,000 USD	1,500 USD	1,000 USD

Award-winning photographs will be published in a photobook, which will be distributed worldwide to photography professionals and displayed at exhibitions in significant galleries, including Istanbul, Shanghai, New York, Vienna, Tokyo, London, Brussels, and Moscow.

Judging Process

The International jury selectively handles every photograph during the gathering. Every photograph is evaluated on several aspects, including photojournalism ethics, technical features, perspective, how the photographer utilised the equipment, how the news was presented, and whether the content had significant importance for that year.

Retain Copyright:

Yes

Retain Moral Rights:

Credit Only

License Duration:

Perpetual

Photo Use Term:

The usage terms are confusing, ambiguous, and poorly drafted

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Usage Rights, Copyright & Moral Rights

Copyrights remain on the photographer

Usage License

3.2 AA shall have the right to use all submitted photographs for promotional efforts on photobook, AA’s websites, Photo Awards’ website, magazines, newspapers, TV, in any kind of exhibitions, mobile media and all relevant online & print PR campaigns worldwide. AA shall have the right to use the submitted photographs on AA’s workshops as training material and slideshows to communicate to the public and deliver printed photographs in exhibitions. Photographer shall accept and declare to give the right of usage of the submitted photographs and it accept not to put in a claim for using of the photographs within the scope of promoting and advertising for Contest.

3.3 The scope of use of the rights granted under this agreement is limited only to the promotion and advertisement of Contest.

Article 4. The Duration of the Agreement

This agreement shall be in force from the date of submitting of the photographs by Photographer and end (i) by the decision given by the Jury or (ii) by delivering the prices to the Photographer if Photographer wins the prize. Although the term of this agreement ends, Photographer shall accept and agree that AA shall have right to use the photographs, right of adaptation (process) , right of reproduction, right to communicate a work to public by devices enabling the transmission of signs and/or images including the digital transmission, related to the photographs and other rights designated in this agreement without any limitation regarding location, number and content, and within the scope of promoting and advertising for Contest. AA may use the photographs, in the AA’s websites, Photo Awards’ website, photobook and in any kind of exhibitions, AA’s premises, AA’s books, activities and deliver printed photographs in exhibitions and etc. only for promotion and advertising of Contest.

Article 7. The Rights of the Anadolu Ajansı

7.1 Photographer agrees to undertake the license non-exclusively to AA the right to use his/her photographs, within the scope of promoting and advertising for Contest.

7.2 Photographer agrees and undertakes that AA shall have the right to reproduce and publish the original or copies of the photographs in any form or by any method, with all kinds of print techniques or in different formats through electronic methods, in physical or electronic media. In this regard, AA may reproduce and publish the photographs as photobook and complete works in different sizes and colors. Photographer agrees that ten thousand copies of the photographs subject to printing will be printed. AA may reproduce and publish the photographs in physical media and transmit the photographs to its subscribers. Again AA, may reproduce and publish the photographs in physical media, it may also publish and reproduce the photographs temporarily or permanently pursuant to article 3 of this agreement in computer environment, DVD, VCD, CD, video (digital), means for sign and/or image transmission, including without limitation smart devices and other mobile environment where the mobile technology is used as well as known environments and other environments which are not known yet and which will provide service depending on technological developments and which are used for image transmission/transfer, replay in media already known and to be developed.

7.3 Photographer agrees that AA may distribute and publish the photographs by all physical and electronic publishing and other means such as e-book, z-book and digital book within the scope of article 3 of this agreement.

7.4 Photographer agrees that AA shall have the right to communicate the photographs to the public including right to broadcast and rebroadcast through wired and wireless devices. In this context photographer agrees to undertake the license to AA the rights to broadcast, mobile and interactive applications in all active and digital environments, the right to communicate the photographs to public by providing access to it including the right to communicate to the public and digital transmission; retransmission and search engine rights and authority and right to communicate to the public.

7.5 Within the scope of article 3, photographer, agrees that AA shall have the right and authority to exploit the photographs by adapting it to AA. In this context, photographer agrees that AA shall have the authority and right to exploit the photographs as turning it into photobook, complete works and compilation. Photographer accepts that AA has the right to exploit the photographs through almanac, collection or similar ways belongs to AA.

7.6 Photographer undertakes, declares and agrees that the rights designated in this agreement that he/she undertakes to license non-exclusively to AA, are deemed to be licensed when the photographs are delivered to AA without need to conclude any other act or transaction.

7.7 Photographer shall give İstanbul Photo Awards (Website) and AA right to use the submitted photographs with photographer’s credit. Within scope of contest publicity, AA shall sell or send out introduction materials, including photobook and printings, and Photographer shall agree, declare and undertake to not claim any royalty or intellectual property right against AA or third parties.

Category:

Black & White,Documentary,Event,Miscellaneous,People,Photojournalism,Sports Photography

Disclaimer: Although we make every effort to provide accurate information, we advise a thorough review of the competitions rules and details to ensure your understanding and acceptance before proceeding with your entry.