2025 World Press Photo Contest

The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year. Enter your work for free and you could win €1,000 as a contest winner and an additional €10,000 as a World Press Photo of the Year winner, have your work showcased to a global audience, 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!

https://www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025

What winners receive

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.

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).

Read more about the categories and regions.

World Press Photo of the Year winner

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

https://www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/prizes

About the World Press Photo Foundation

We are 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, our mission has expanded. Our contests have grown into one of the world's most prestigious competitions, rewarding the best in photojournalism and documentary photography. Through our successful worldwide exhibition program, we present to millions of people the stories that matter. 

The World Press Photo Foundation is a creative, independent, nonprofit organization, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We appreciate the support of our strategic partners; the Dutch Postcode Lottery, PwC and Fujifilm.

Before you enter

To get started, make sure you have read the:

• Entry rules: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/entry-rules
• Information about the categories: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/categories
• Code of ethics: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/code-of-ethics
• Guidance on how to write captions: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/what-is-required-in-captions
• Technical requirements: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/entry-rules/technical-requirements
• Verification process (including manipulation rules): worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/verification-process

The 2025 World Press Photo Contest is open for entries from 1 December 2024, 13.00 CET until 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET.

To enter the contest, follow these steps:

1. Create your personal Picter account.
2. Register for the 2025 World Press Photo Contest on Picter. This requires your personal data as well as your proof of professional status. If you’re a new entrant (have not entered the contest in the last three years), your registration will be reviewed to ensure it meets our entry rules. We reserve the right to ask for additional information to help clarify your professional status.
3. While your registration is under review, you can already upload your work, add captions, metadata, and other information.
4. Submit your entries before the deadline of 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET.

Find out more information: worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/how-to-enter

Judging Criteria

The judging process of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest takes place in several rounds over a six-week period, in January and February 2025. It involves regional juries and a global jury, ​​and takes place both online and offline.

In each of the six regions of our contest model (Africa; Asia Pacific and Oceania; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and West, Central and South Asia), a selection of entries per category will first be made by a regional jury. Once the regional juries have made their selection of entries, the global jury (composed of the six regional jury chairs and one additional member, the global jury chair) will decide on 42 winners and from those entries, they will choose the World Press Photo of the Year winner.

The global jury is assisted by a secretary. The secretary is responsible for all procedural matters and ensures the rules and procedures are fairly and properly applied. The secretary does not contribute to debate on the merits of any entry, and has no vote in the balloting.

The secretary is supported by a jury coordinator, who is a staff member of the World Press Photo Foundation. The coordinator is the principal conduit of information between the jury and the foundation on all procedural matters related to the judging. Throughout the judging process, the role of the World Press Photo Foundation staff is solely to manage the logistics of the judging process, including showing the entries, providing captions, and recording which entries are selected for the next round. No member of staff, including the jury coordinator, contributes to debate on the merits of any entry, and no member of staff has a vote in the balloting.

Jury members for the 2025 Contest will be announced soon: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/contest/2025/jury