A Guide to April 2025 Photo Awards & Opportunities

Luis Ferreira Alves Photography Award, Serendipity Arles Grant, Prix Viviane Esders, SIYU Award, Encontros da Imagem Award, Cortona On The Move / BarTur Grant, and SWIT Platform Residency are among the opportunities we selected this month.

Luis Ferreira Alves Photography Award 2025 Open Call

Deadline 25 April / No entry fee

Held biennially, the award is open to all individuals worldwide, including university students, researchers, and professionals in architecture, photography, and related fields. Applicants are encouraged to explore the conceptual and sensory dimensions of architecture.

The jury composed of Eduardo Souto de Moura (Architect), Hélène Binet (Photographer), and Paulo Catrica (Photographer) will select 10 shortlisted projects. Among them, three works will be awarded cash prizes: €10,000 for the first prize, €4,500 for the second prize, and a €1500 voucher for photo equipment for the third prize. Other than having their work featured in an exhibition and published in a catalogue, prize recipients also receive copies of the book Luis Ferreira Alves in the Works of Eduardo Souto de Moura. Selected works will be preserved in the Luis Ferreira Alves Photography Award collection, adding to a growing archive that celebrates architectural photography.

You can apply until 25 April, with no entry fee. Discover more on their website.

Serendipity Arles Grant 2025

Deadline 18 April / No entry fee

Now at its third edition, the Serendipity Arles Grant 2025-26, is inviting project proposals from South Asian practitioners from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, who have been practicing for 5 to 10 years, and are 30 years old and above. Open to projects in progress, the call stems from photography, video, new media, and other lens-based explorations.

Five shortlisted artists will receive INR 70,000 each for an ongoing work which will be showcased as a work-in-progress exhibit in December in Goa, India, at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025. Plus, one winning grantee will receive air tickets to Arles and back–up to €1,200, a visa facilitation fee, and a total of €15,000 out of which €7,500 to be given to the artist to develop the grant project, and €7,500 extended to support the production, travel, logistics and accommodation costs for it to be showcased as a final presentation at Les Rencontres d’Arles in July 2026.

Learn more on their website.

Cortona On The Move / BarTur Grant 2025

Deadline 17 April / Entry fee €20

Supported by the Visual Storytellers Fund, the Cortona On The Move | BarTur Grant aims to support photographers worldwide with in-progress and unpublished documentary projects that illuminate urgent social, environmental, economic, and cultural issues of our time. One professional photographer will be awarded a $30,000 grand prize, and two emerging photographers under 30 will receive a $5,000 grant each. Participation in this category is free of charge. The selected photographers will have nine months to complete their project which will be then exhibited in Cortona On The Move 2026. The Grant will cover the travel and accommodation for the winners to attend the opening ceremony.

Discover more on their website.

Project Groundswell 2025

Deadline 30 April / No entry fee

Project Groundswell invites Europe-based photographers and lens-based artists to submit work that engages with any of the wide range of climate actions that are currently underway anywhere in the world. Four photographers will receive a €5,000 artist fee, publication of the work, an exhibition in the core programs of Fotohof, Photo Museum Ireland, Cortona On The Move Festival and Imago Lisboa Festival in 2026, support of up to €800 for travel and accommodation to attend two exhibitions. Plus, at the close of Project Groundswell, one set of exhibition prints will be given to the artist, and the other set will be held in the Fotohof Archive for posterity. In addition, twelve finalists each receive a fee of €1,000, mentoring and support for the development of their work into a short audio-visual piece, and inclusion in the premiere projection event at Imago Lisboa and at events in Fotohof, Photo Museum Ireland and Cortona on the Move.

Find out more on their website.

Prix Viviane Esders 2025

Deadline 13 April / No entry fee

Each year, the Prix Viviane Esders honors the career of a European professional and independent photographer aged 60 and over, who has been active for several decades, not represented by an agency or a collective in 2025, and demonstrates a personal style and a distinctive artistic approach. One laureate will be granted €50,000 including €10,000 towards the production of a book to be published no later than 31 December with a publisher of the photographer's choice. Additionally, two selected finalists will receive a €5,000 prize.

Applications are open until 13 April, with no entry fee. Find out more on their website.

SIYU Award 2025

Deadline 30 April / Entry fee €48

Swiss and Switzerland-based artists under 38 are invited to submit their work, regardless of theme or subject. Ten finalists will be exhibited at a major Swiss venue, and their names will be announced at a presentation during Photo Basel 2025. The winner will be revealed to the press and public at the exhibition opening's award ceremony and will receive a CHF 3,000 cash prize. The jury consists of Lisa Schneider (Managing Director, 13PHOTO), Virginie Rebetez (Artist/Photographer), and Dominic Nahr (Photographer, NZZ - Neue Zürcher Zeitung).

Discover more on their website.

Gibellina Photoroad Call For An Open Air Installation 2025

Deadline 10 April / Entry fee €15

Delving into the festival’s theme Timeless, a project will be selected for an open-air and site-specific installation, which will be exhibited at the 5th edition of the festival, under Pietro Consagra's Unfinished Theatre in Gibellina, Italy, and will remain on display until June 2026. The selected work will also be published in the catalog, and a photograph of the project will be included in the Orestiadi Foundation's Permanent Collection. Additionally, guided tours and a talk with the prize recipient will be held during the festival's opening.

The jury is composed of Arianna Catania (Founder and Director Festival Gibellina Photoroad), Enzo Fiammetta (Director Museum Fondazione Orestiadi), Andrea Cusumano (Artistic Director Gibellina “Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2026”), Walter Guadagnini (Artistic Director CAMERA and Fotografia Europea), Gabriella Guerci (Director MUFOCO), Jessica Jarl (Global Director of Exhibitions, Fotografiska), Louise Fedotov-Clements (Director of Photoworks), and Marie Guillemin (Co-Curator Festival Circulations).

Discover more on their website.

Encontros da Imagem Award 2025

Deadline 28 April / Entry fee €30

Encontros da Imagem invites photographers to submit their works to be exhibited during the 35th edition of the festival held in Braga, Portugal, from September to November 2025. The organisation intends to present different proposals for contemporary photography, highlighting the diversity and richness of the different approaches, from documentary projects to those that want to explore the limits of photographic construction.

The jury composed of Barbara Čeferin (Galerija Fotografija), Carla Bacelar Ferreira (Encontros da Imagem), and David Pujado (Curator and Founder of Belgrade Photo Month) will select 5 projects for a solo show, and from these, one will be chosen for a cash prize of €1,000. Furthermore, the selected projects will be included in the festival catalog, and the artists will receive a copy, as well as two nights' accommodation in Braga during the festival's opening weekend. Additionally, 15 projects will be chosen for a video projection to be shown during the same period.

The deadline is set for 28 April. Read more on their website.

SWIT Platform Residency 2025

Deadline 10 April / No entry fee

SWIT Platform welcomes artists, writers, curators, and critics working in photography and based in Italy, regardless of nationality, developing process-based and research-based projects, for a self-directed residency in Göteborg, Sweden. They offer roundtrip flight, accommodation with a working desk, access to Göteborgs Bildverkstad, a collective workshop for image production, curatorial support by Stefano Conti, the possibility of carrying out gallery visits, attending openings, and connecting with locals. Local transportation, shipping of artworks, subsistence, and insurance are not included. Selected artists can choose one period between 2 – 16 July, 2025 and 1 – 15 October, 2025, with no expectation to produce a final work or to prepare a presentation by the end of the residency.

Applications are open until 10 April, with no entry fee. Learn more on the SWIT Platform's website.

Premio Mila 2025

Deadline 10 April / No entry fee

Italian or Italy-based artists are welcome to submit their work to the prize, now in its third edition and aimed to promote contemporary photography through the production and acquisition of works by artists under 40 years of age. Five shortlisted artists will be included in a group exhibition in Milan and one of them will be selected to be awarded the acquisition prize worth €3,000. Nominations are evaluated by Fondo Malerba curator Andrea Elia Zanini and a jury composed of Caterina Angelucci, Matteo Balduzzi, Marta Cereda, Bernardo Follini, and Francesca Lazzarini.

Other Deadlines

2025 Light Work Grants in Photography / Deadline 1 April / Entry fee €10

Artists are invited to display their work in a special exhibition in the Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery at Light Work, and to be published in Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual. Eligible photographers must reside in one of the following Central New York counties: Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Tioga or Tompkins. Three selected artists will receive a $3,000 grant each.

Metamorphosis Residency Open Call / Deadline 29 April / No entry fee

The IIC Prague - Italian Cultural Institute in Prague, in collaboration with MUFOCO - Museum of Contemporary Photography, is inviting Italian photographers and visual artists to apply for a residency at their guesthouse in Prague, Czech Republic, during Autumn 2025. The selected artist will receive €5,000, which covers the artist fee, travel expenses to and from the residency (and for research, if applicable), production costs for the commissioned work, and expenses related to any other activities involving the artist (or collective) during the residency. A public presentation of the research conducted will be held at the end of the residency.

Preus Museum Open Call 2025 / Deadline 30 April / Entry fee €10

The selection committee consisting of Tina Holth-Jacobsson, Ove Kvavik, Andrea Gjestvang, Pål Otnes, Pål Henrik Ekern, and Anna Tellgren will select one work exploring the theme Closer to be awarded a NOK 20,000 (€1,760) cash prize, a place in the collection of Preus Museum, and an exhibition at the Oslo Negativ Photo Festival 2025, with production costs and travel expenses covered.

Kamira Photo Award 2025 / Deadline 10 April / Entry fee €35

The first winner will receive a €1,500 grant, and the second and third laureates will receive a €1,000 and €500 grant in recognition of their work. In addition to this financial reward, the winners and 15 shortlisted photographers will have the opportunity to exhibit their works at TALMART gallery in Paris, France, during the Paris Photo photography event in the fall of 2025.

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Visit our awards page or download our iOS awards app to get a complete view of the best photography opportunities that are currently open for entry.