2025 WORLD PRESS PHOTO Contest opens For Entries on 1 Dec 2024
2024 Photo Contest, World Press Photo Story of the Year
Valim-babena——Photographer，Lee-Ann Olwage for GEO
The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year. Entering is free and prizes include up to €10,000, inclusion in our annual traveling exhibition, and more.
Entries for the 2025 World Press Photo Contest will open on 1 December 2024 and close on 10 January 2025. We are excited to welcome a multiplicity of stories and a diverse range of photographers from all over the world to enter the contest!
1. What's new in the 2025 Contest
We're pleased to announce updates to the categories, prizes and regions for the annual World Press Photo Contest following thoughtful discussions with photographers, jury members, exhibition partners and others. The biggest change being more winning projects and photographers in the 2025 Contest!
2. Why should you enter?
Entering the World Press Photo Contest is free and open to all professional photographers working in the field of photojournalism and/or documentary photography.
As a winner, your work will be:
· Included in our annual traveling exhibition seen by over 4 million visitors, shown around the world in over 80 cities
· Published on our website and social platforms with over 2 million followers
· Included in our annual yearbook, available in six languages with a worldwide distribution of more than 30,000 copies
You will also receive:
· €1,000 for each of the winners and an additional €10,000 for the World Press Photo of the Year winner
· FUJIFILM GFX cameras and lenses will be awarded to the World Press Photo of the Year winner and two runners up
· An invitation to the Winners’ Program in Amsterdam for all winners
· A physical award for all winners
3. 2025 Contest timeline
Entries open: 1 December 2024, 13.00 CET (Amsterdam time)
Entries close: 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET (Amsterdam time)
Contest winners announcement: 27 March 2025
Photo of the Year (with two runners up) announcement: 17 April 2025
Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 opens in Amsterdam: 18 April 2025
4. How to enter the 2025 Contest
Before entering the contest, entrants are asked to read the entry rules, information about the categories, code of ethics, guidance on how to write captions, technical requirements, and verification process (including manipulation rules) then follow these steps:
(1). Create your personal Picter account.
If you have entered the World Press Photo Contest on Picter in the last three years, you can log in using the same login details you previously used.
(2). Register for the 2025 World Press Photo Contest on Picter.
This requires your personal data as well as documents to prove your professional status. You can register until 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET. If you’re a new entrant (you have not entered the contest in the last three years), your registration will be reviewed to ensure it meets our entry requirements. We reserve the right to ask for additional information to help clarify your professional status.
Did you know?
There are several ways to prove your professional status. You can, for example, submit a press card, membership document, a recommendation letter from a recognized photographic association, or at least one proof of publication from 2023 or 2024 with your name visible as credit. Take a look at our entry rules to see which documents we accept as proof.
(3). While your registration is under review, you can already upload your work, and add captions, metadata, and other information.
All photographs entered to the contest must comply with our rules on manipulation and must not be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame. All entries must have accurate captions and descriptions, written in English. Captions must contain all the information described in the guidance on how to write captions.
Did you know?
Captions can be translated into English using tools such as Google Translate. If the captions have been translated, please also provide the original caption.
(4). Submit your entries before the deadline of 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET.
Until the deadline, you can always log back into your account and edit your submission. After editing, make sure to resubmit your entry so it will be seen by the jury.
5. How to prepare for the 2025 Contest
Entries to the 2025 World Press Photo Contest are open from 1 December 2024,13.00 CET until 10 January 2025,13.00 CET (Amsterdam time). To prepare to enter the contest:
(1). Make sure you have the correct document(s) to confirm your status as a professional photographer.
This does not have to be a press card, there are several other ways to provide this information. For example, a membership document or recommendation letter from a recognized photographic association or at least one proof of publication from 2023 or 2024, with your name visible as credit. Take a look at our entry rules to see which documents we accept as proof.
Did you know?
If you are part of a team or collective, you can also submit your work to the contest. As long as every team member provides proof of professional status, we’d be very glad to review your registration.
(2). Decide on which of your best work you’d like to enter into the contest.
You can enter your work to three categories: Singles, Stories, and Long-Term Projects. Take some time to familiarize yourself with these categories.
Did you know?
A photograph can only be entered once to the contest, either as a Single, as part of a Story or as part of a Long-Term Project.
(3). Read through the entry rules, even if you have entered the contest in the past.
We make adjustments every year so make sure you understand the do’s and don'ts for the 2025 Contest. Read the entry rules.
Did you know?
Your work does not have to be published to be eligible for our contest. Photographs can be submitted whether or not they have been published.
(4). Start writing captions for your photograph(s).
Writing captions for each individual photograph that you enter to the contest can be time consuming. We recommend starting this process early. You can already take a look at our guidelines for writing captions.
Did you know?
All entries must have accurate captions and descriptions, written in English. If the captions have been translated, please also provide the original caption.
(5). Take some time to go through our code of ethics.
Read the code of ethics.
Did you know?
As a photographer, you must not intend to mislead by recreating or staging events. If you have any direct influence over the scene, such as reenactments or posed portraits, please let us know in the captions. You must also ensure that consent of those you have photographed has been appropriately handled. More info on both of these points can be found in the code of ethics.
(6). Familiarize yourself with our regional model.
The 2025 World Press Photo Contest works with six global regions: Africa; West, Central, and South Asia; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and Asia Pacific and Oceania. Entries will be judged according to the region in which they were shot. Learn more about which countries fall under each region and more about the judging process.
Did you know?
Selecting the region requires no work from you. All you have to do is enter your work into one of the three categories (Singles, Stories, or Long-Term Projects) and your work will be sorted into the relevant region ahead of the judging process.
6. 2025 Contest categories
The 2025 World Press Photo Contest works with 6 worldwide regions – Africa; West, Central, and South Asia; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and Asia Pacific and Oceania. Entries will be judged in the region in which they have been taken, for example a single photograph taken in Canada would be entered into North and Central America in the Singles category. Find out more about the regions here.
There are three format-based categories: Singles, Stories and Long-Term Projects. These categories welcome entries that witness or document news moments, events and/or aftermaths, as well as social, political and environmental issues or solutions.
These format-based categories encompass all thematic categories from previous contests – such as general news, spot news, contemporary issues, environment, nature, sports, portraits – therefore entries on a wide range of themes may be submitted to the appropriate format-based category.
Singles
· Single frame photographs.
· All singles must have been shot in 2024.
· All singles will be eligible for the World Press Photo of the Year.
Stories
· Stories can contain between 4 and 10 single frame photographs.
· All photographs entered into the stories category must have been shot in 2023 or 2024. At least four photographs in a story must have been shot in 2024.
· All photographs shot in 2024 that are included in the story will be eligible for the World Press Photo of the Year.
Long-Term Projects
· Projects on a single theme containing between 24-30 single frame photographs.
· An entry must contain photographs from at least three different years, and a minimum of six photographs must have been shot in 2024.
· All photographs shot in 2024 that are included in the project will be eligible for the World Press Photo of the Year.
7. 2025 Contest awards and prizes
For the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, the winners will be chosen by regional and global juries. Regional juries, made up of five professionals from and/or working in that region, first prepare a selection of entries per region. From this selection, a global jury, made up of the six regional jury chairs and the global jury chair, then awards the winners. Find out more about the judging process.
A total of 42 winners will be awarded; three Singles, three Stories and one Long-Term Project per region (Africa; Asia Pacific and Oceania; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and West, Central and South Asia). The World Press Photo of the Year is then chosen from all the winning entries.
With the 2025 World Press Photo Contest there has been an increase in award winners. You can read more about the changes to the contest in this article.
Contest winners
Every contest winner receives:
· A monetary prize of €1,000
· Inclusion in the annual World Press Photo year-long worldwide exhibition
· Inclusion in the annual collectible yearbook, available in multiple languages with a worldwide distribution of more than 30,000 copies
· Publication in the online collection and a personal profile on World Press Photo's website
· Promotion on World Press Photo's platforms
· Invitation to the Winners’ Program in Amsterdam
· A physical award
In addition, winners are often featured in major publications and invited to speak at public events, exhibition openings, and lectures throughout the year.
World Press Photo of the Year
Out of the 42 winning entries, the global jury will choose the World Press Photo of the Year with two runners up. In addition to receiving their winning prize, the World Press Photo of the Year winner will also receive:
· An additional monetary prize of €10,000
· FUJIFILM GFX cameras and lenses that will be awarded to the Photo of the Year winner and two runners up
· An additional physical award
More information and registration
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025
2024 Photo Contest, World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award
The Two Walls——Photographer，Alejandro Cegarra