1. Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize
Run by the National Portrait Gallery, this prestigious competition for portrait photography has kicked off many a career. The prize is open to image-makers of all nationalities, aged 18 and above. The deadline is 8 July and entry is £25 per photograph. Overall prize: £12,000 and a touring exhibition.
2. London School of Photography Award
Perfect for anyone with an interest in people and places. The theme is “The Planet Earth” and you can enter your images to one of the following categories: “Elements of Nature”, “People & Culture”, “Geometry & Patterns” or “Animal Kingdom”. Photographers from all over the world are invited to submit their work before the deadline of 8 September 2013. Plus, entry is free! Overall prize: a full or part-time course at London School of Photography, worth £3,495.
3. Firecracker Grant
Firecracker is a website that supports female documentary photographers residing in Europe. The award has no theme, but you should enter a coherent body of work and an artist statement. There is no age restriction and the deadline is the 28 July. Entry is £10. Overall prize: a cash prize of at least £1000 and printing and mounting and framing worth £1000.
4. Darkroom Gallery: Color-blind Award
This contest is especially for photographers working in black and white, but your images can be on any theme. It’s open to photographers of all nationalities and the deadline is 24 July. Entry is $5. Overall prize: a gallery exhibition and your work included in the Darkroom Gallery catalogue!
5. Getty Images Portrait Prize
If portraiture is your thing, then this is the award for you! The prize, run by the famous stock photo agency, is open to photographers of all nationalities. The deadline is 5 August and entry is free! Overall prize: $10,000.
6. Urban Photographer Of The Year Award
Grab your camera and hit the streets. The theme for this year’s competition is “Cities At Work”. It’s free to enter and photographers from all nationalities are welcome to submit. The deadline is 31 August. Overall prize: A choice out of one of five Photo-safari holidays!
7. Shoot The Face Award
The next deadline for this monthly international award is the end of July. Entry is $19 for seven images. Overall prize: your will be work published in Blur Magazine and distributed to more than 190 countries and you’ll receive $300!
8. Photo Lucida Award
Would you like to have your work exhibited in the United States? This is a portfolio entry competition with no specific theme. Photographers from all nationalities are welcome to submit and the deadline is 16 July. Entry for international submissions is $90. Overall prize: three solo exhibitions at Blue Sky Gallery, The Centre For Fine Art Photography and The Griffin Museum Of Photography.
9. Ian Parry Award
To enter this award for UK photographers, who are either full-time photography students or aged under 24, you submit a portfolio and a brief synopsis of a project you’d do if you won the scholarship. The deadline is 1 August, but the competition is not yet open for entries so watch this space. Overall prize: £3,500 towards their chosen assignment, publication in the Sunday Times and an exhibition at MOTHER in London!
10. Safarious Award
A great award for budding travel photographers! Open to submissions from all countries, and closing on 31 January 2014, this competition is free to enter. Overall prize: A seven-night trip to Zambia!
11. Photo Archivo
This competition has a broad theme: “Storytelling”. Photographers from all nationalities are welcome to submit, there is no restriction for age and the deadline is 15 July. Entry is free! Overall prize: a published feature in Photo Archivo Zine.
12. Night Contact
A call-out for innovative photography to be shown at a new London-based photography and multimedia festival. UK-based photographers aged 16+ are invited to submit via IdeasTap and the deadline is 15 July. Entry is free! Overall prize: your work exhibited at Night Contact in September.
13. The Sony World Photography Awards
The Sony photography awards have come around again and they're great for student, amateur or professional photographers as there's a category that caters for everyone and it's free to enter. The deadline is not until January 2014, so you have bags of time to get your entry the best it can be. The prize isn’t yet confirmed, so keep your eyes peeled.
Got any other photography competitions to shout about? Let us know, below!
For more articles, jobs and opportunities, visit our Photography hub.
Image by janwillemsen, on a Creative Commons license.
