A Guide to May 2025 Photo Awards & Open Calls

Verzasca Foto Festival Award, Book Awards, Lodz Photo-Match, LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award, PhMuseum Education Program Scholarship, and Eyes Wide Open 1st Photo Book Grants are among the opportunities we selected this month.

PhMuseum Education Program Scholarship 2025/26

Deadline 8 May / No entry fee

PhMuseum's educational program is dedicated to providing a comprehensive learning experience for all participants, emphasizing quality teaching while alternating practice with theory. Each masterclass is tailored to meet the needs of contemporary photographers, artists, curators, and storytellers looking to cater to specific areas of the visual language, from research and critical thinking to photobook making and exhibition design. Participants can get the chance to develop their projects, curatorial skills and photobook dummies working with Laura El-Tantawy and Elisa Medde (CRITICAE Masterclass On Documentary Photography), Erik Kessels (CURAE Masterclass On Curatorial Practice), Nicolas Polli (Ciao Press, FOLIO Masterclass On Photobook Making), Adam Broomberg (IDEA Masteclass On Conceptual Thinking), and Salvatore Vitale (MEDIAE Masterclass on Transmedia Storytelling).

PhMuseum is offering 5 fully-funded scholarships, one for each masterclass. Applicants need to send a motivational paragraph that addresses why they need it and how they can benefit from attending the program.

You have until 8 May to access the scholarships. More information on PhMuseum's website.

Verzasca Foto Festival Awards 2025

Deadline 2 May / Entry fee €25

Verzasca Foto invites photographers to participate in the exhibition program for the 12th edition of the festival. The prize winner will receive CHF2,000, a solo exhibition, and accommodation in Ticino, Switzerland, during the Verzasca Foto Festival, which takes place from September 3 to 7, 2025. The second and third place recipients will each be awarded a solo exhibition, as well as accommodation during the festival. Additionally, seven finalists will be invited to present their work at the Night of Photography event and will also receive accommodation to attend.

The jury is composed of Simone Azzoni (Lecturer in Contemporary Art and Art Critic for Artribune and Juliet Art Magazine), Emmanuelle Halkin (Independent Curator and Editor), Diana Poole (Art Advisor and Co-Founder of Der Greif Studio), Amelie Schüle (Director of Photoforum Pasquart), Marta Szymanska (Curator and Creator of Lodz Fotofestiwal), and Alfio Tommasini (Photographer, Curator and Director of Verzasca Foto).

Discover more on their website.

Arles Book Awards 2025

Deadline 12 May / No entry fee

Open to all professional photographers and artists using photography, the Book Awards of Les Rencontres d'Arles reward three categories of works: the Author's Book Award, the Historical Book Award and the Photo-Text Book Award, supported and encouraged by the Fondation Jan Michalski pour l’écriture et la littérature, which celebrates the relationship between texts and images. Each award is endowed with €6,000 and rewards a photographic work published between 13 May 2024 and 12 May 2025. The final jury will meet on the eve of the festival's opening week and will officially announce the winners during the evening at the Théâtre Antique on 8 July 2025. Plus, the shortlisted and winning books will be exhibited throughout the festival.

Applications are open until 12 May. Discover more on their website.

ŁÓDŹ PHOTO-MATCH 2025: Portfolio Review

Deadline 12 May / No entry fee

Lodz Fotofestiwal invites 20 photographers to meet 20 curators from all over Europe in an unusual formula of portfolio review, which emphasizes networking, equality and the widest possible presentation of works and photographic institutions. The event is held in two days, 13-14 June 2025. The first day, dedicated to presentations and matching, allows both photographers and experts to introduce themselves, their work, and their practice through brief live presentations. The second day focuses on meetings, where all participants attend private, scheduled meetings based on the selections made on the preceding day.

Reviewers include experts such as Anka Gregorczyk, Artur Chrzanowski, Bruno Ceschel, Femke Rotteveel, Francesca Hummler, Géraldine Lay, Gintaras Česonis, Jenny Nordquist, João Linneu, June Drevet, Katy Barron, Karolina Mazurkiewicz and Magdalena Kicińska, Mateusz Dworczyk, Mohamed Somji, Monica Allende, Paolo Woods, Patrycja Tuchanowska-Ruszkiewicz, and Paweł Bąkowski.

Find out more on Lodz Fotofestiwal's website.

LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award 2025

Deadline 12 May / No entry fee

Les Rencontres d’Arles and the LUMA Foundation are inviting professional photographers and artists who utilize photography to submit proposals for unpublished book models. The shortlisted projects and the winning dummy book will be showcased from July 7 to October 5, 2025, as part of Les Rencontres d’Arles' official program. The award includes a €25,000 production grant, with €3,000 allocated as royalties for the author. Les Rencontres d'Arles, in collaboration with the selected publisher, will oversee the project's editorial and financial development. The prize recipient will be announced during the festival's opening week, on July 11 at the Théâtre Antique.

More information on their website.

Eyes Wide Open 1st Photo Book Grants

Deadline 18 May / No entry fee

Conceived and organized by Eyes Wide Open, with support from the French Ministry of Culture and SAIF, the Eyes Wide Open 1st Photo Book Bursary program is designed for photographers seeking to publish their first book with an independent French publisher. The bursary offers three distinct grants, each addressing a specific need: the SAIF grant for a French photographer or a photographer residing in France, a grant for a woman photographer of any nationality, and a grant for a photographer from a Southern territory (Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East). The authors of the three book projects will each receive €5,000 for book production to be completed within 18 months and a minimum print run of 500 copies.

You can apply until 18 May with no entry fee. Find out more on their website.

Photo Museum Ireland Open Call 2025

Deadline 5 May / Entry fee €27

Photographers are invited to submit works that explore the theme Reflecting The Real. Five selected artists will have the opportunity to exhibit their work at Photo Museum Ireland, the national center for contemporary photography. In addition, each selected artist will receive a €1,000 cash prize, and they will retain their exhibited prints at the close of the show. Plus, a broader selection of work from 15 shortlisted artists will be featured in a projection installation within the exhibition space and in a dedicated online gallery.

The jury is composed of Anne Nwaklor, Fiona Shields, Gwen Lee, Michael Famighetti, Michael Weir, Pauline Vermare, Darren Campion, and Trish Lambe.

Discover more on their website.

Fotofestival Lenzburg 2026 Open Call

Deadline 20 May / Entry fee €15-23

Fotofestival Lenzburg's 7th edition, held in Lenzburg and Aarau, Switzerland (May-June 2026), invites artists to submit photographic projects and images exploring Forever Happy. Three projects will be exhibited, with one receiving the CHF1,500 Jury Award (sponsored by the Artphilein De Pietri Foundation), a showcase at Artphilein Focus in Paradiso/Lugano, and publication in the Artphilein Cahier series. Selected artists will also receive accommodation in Lenzburg for the opening weekend in May 2026. From the Single Images open call, the jury will choose 40 outstanding photographs for an open-air exhibition in Lenzburg's historic city center shop windows. Each numbered image will be part of the Public's Award, allowing the public to vote via QR code for their favorite, with the prize recipient receiving CHF1,000.

The selection committee includes Amelie Schüle, Anna Konstantinova, Arianna Rinaldo, Caterina De Pietri, Margherita Guerra, and Tim Clark.

Find out more on their website.

Encontros da Imagem Portfolio Review 2025

Deadline 19 May / Entry fee €30

Encontros da Imagem offers photographers an opportunity to meet with recognized commissioners, gallerists, curators, and publishers, to present their portfolio, promote their work, and receive valuable feedback and advice. The in-person portfolio review will take place on September 18-19, 2025, in Braga, Portugal. One artist selected from the Portfolio Review 2025 will receive a €3,000 cash prize, a solo exhibition at the 2026 edition of the Encontros da Imagem - International Photography and Visual Arts Festival, and publication in KATALOG magazine. Additionally, three Honorable Mentions will be chosen to be part of a video projection presented during the 2026 edition of the festival.

The deadline for this open call is 19 May. Learn more on their website.

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Other Deadlines

Fotografia Calabria Festival Award 2025 / Deadline 2 May / Entry fee €35

Photographers are invited to interpret the topic of the 4th edition Shared Roots: Places, by proposing projects that reflect on one or more of the following aspects: Everyday Places, Popular Places, and Imaginary Places. The selected photographer will receive a €3,000 cash prize, production and setting up of the exhibition, and publication in the 2025 Fotografia Calabria Festival’s catalog. The jury is composed of Elisa Medde, Elena Boille, Gabriella Macchiarulo, Marco Pisciottani, Francesca Marani, Ilaria Sponda, and Anna Catalano.

Photo Oxford 2025 Open Call / Deadline 18 May / Entry fee €27

Photo Oxford is looking for photography that captures the spirit of the moment in whatever guise that may be, delving into this year’s theme Revealing Truth. Ten selected artists will have their work exhibited at Modern Art Oxford, will also receive a 30-minute Zoom meeting with a juror of their choice and a 10-day jury-curated takeover of the Photo Oxford Instagram account. The jury comprises experts such as Hannah Watson, Sunil Gupta, Joel Meyerowitz, Pelumi Odubanjo, Alex Schneideman, Taous Dahmani, James Dwyer, and Antonia Blocker.

OFF Bratislava 2025 Open Call / Deadline 31 May / Entry fee €29

Since its inception in 2010, OFF Bratislava has delved into a range of social issues throughout its 14-year history. The upcoming sixteenth edition of the festival will embark on a journey into the unknown, centered around the theme Trip Without A Ticket. The works of selected artists will be showcased during the festival, which will take place in Bratislava, Slovakia, in November 2025.

LanghePhotoPrize 2025 / Deadline 4 May / Entry fee €25

The Langhe Photo Prize invites photographers of all nationalities, both professionals and amateurs, to participate in the Open Call 2025 by submitting a photographic project with open theme. Selected projects will be exhibited through solo and group shows during the Langhe Photo Festival 2025 in Neive, Italy. Additionally, artists recognized for the value of their artistic research will receive support tools for their work, such as EIZO monitors, to encourage the development of their future projects.

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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.