2025 World Press Photo Contest

The World Press Photo Contest is open to all professional photographers working in the field of photojournalism and/or documentary photography from all over the world.

Overview

The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year. Photographers can submit their work for free and they could win €1,000 as a contest winner and an additional €10,000 as a World Press Photo of the Year winner.

Practical Info

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. For the Singles category, single-frame photographs shot in 2024 are eligible. For the Stories category, a photographic series can contain between 4 and 10 single frame photographs. All photographs must have been shot in 2023 or 2024 and at least four photographs in a story must have been shot in 2024. The Long-Terms Projects category is eligible projects on a single theme containing between 24-30 single frame photographs and must contain photographs from at least three different years, and a minimum of six photographs must have been shot in 2024.

Each selected prize recipient will receives a €1,000 cash prize, 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, an invitation to the Winners' Program in Amsterdam, and 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.

Plus, 42 contest 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).

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 €10,000 cash prize, an additional physical award, and Fujifilm GFX cameras and lenses that will be awarded to the Photo of the Year winner and two runners up.

About World Press Photo Foundation

World Press Photo Foundation is a global platform connecting photojournalists, documentary photographers and our worldwide audiences through trustworthy storytelling. World Press Photo was founded in 1955 when a group of Dutch photographers organized a contest (World Press Photo) to expose their work to an international audience. Since then, their mission has expanded. Their contests have grown into one of the world's most prestigious competitions, rewarding the best in photojournalism and documentary photography. The World Press Photo Foundation is a creative, independent, nonprofit organization, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.