Istanbul Photo Awards 2026 - News Photography Contest
Istanbul Photo Awards 2026 - News Photography Contest is now open for entries!
Istanbul Photo Awards 2026, an international news photography competition for professionals organised by Anadolu Agency is now open for entries accepting entries from all professional photographers worldwide.
Short description
Istanbul Photo Awards, organised by Anadolu Agency , recently has been started to accept applications for 2026. The competition is recognized as one of the world’s top photography contests.
Organized for the 12th consecutive year, the contest aims to promote press photography globally.
Professional photographers, regardless of their press affiliation, are eligible to enter the contest provided their newsworthy photos were taken between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
Entries are being accepted in 10 categories:
➜ Single News
➜ Story News
➜ Single Sports
➜ Story Sports
➜ Single Nature & Environment
➜ Story Nature & Environment
➜ Single Portrait
➜ Story Portrait
➜ Single Daily Life
➜ Story Daily Life
Both published and unpublished work may be submitted in all categories, with the responsibility of providing accurate personal and image details.
There is no requirement for applicants to be affiliated with a press organization to apply for the contest, which is open only to the participation of professional photographers.
A distinguished, star-studded panel of jurors from the photography world will select the winners in March 2025, evaluating each entry for technical skill, perspective, motion and emotional impact.
Submission requirements:
➜ Photos needs to be in high-resolution JPG, JPEG or PNG format. There are no rules on their size but we do not recommend more than 5MB size for one photo regarding to avoid internet connection failures.
➜ Story applications cannot be consist of more or less than 10 images. Photographers must submit 10 images per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories to each category.
Who may enter?
Only professional photographers can enter the contest, regardless of their press affiliation.
Prize:
The Photo of the Year Award will be given to the photo that stands in first place in the Single News category, and the photojournalist will receive a $6,000 prize.
The first-place winners in each category will be awarded $3,000, the second-place winners $1,500, and the third-place winners $1,000.
Entry fees:
There is no entry fee to participate!
