About

The SIYU AWARD, formerly vfg Young Talent Award for Photography, is a competition honoring ten outstanding photography projects, which will be exhibited in Switzerland. The winner receives a CHF 3,000 cash prize, sponsored by SIYU and its partners.

The award is organized by SIYU AWARD association, a non-profit-organisation supported by SIYU Professional Photography Switzerland. We stand for creative, professional photography. Our primary goal is to stimulate discussions about the photographic image and to promote professional photography across all fields.

Eligible for the SIYU AWARD are participants with Swiss citizenship or residency in Switzerland at the time of submission. The jury looks forward to seeing well-edited, authentic work from all fields of photography.

Eligibility

All photographers with Swiss citizenship and all photographers of other nationalities living in Switzerland at the time of submission are eligible to enter the competition. The age is limited to 38 years. You are allowed to enter until the day before your 39th birthday.

Project requirements

Only original work created by the participant may be submitted. There is no theme, the subject can be chosen freely. An entry consists of a series of at least 3 to a maximum of 8 individual images, a brief project statement and a presentation plan showing your intent how to present your work on the wall. The entry must remain anonymous to the jury. Applicants first and last name may not appear anywhere in the file name, image, text or presentation plan.

If AI is used, this must be mentioned in the project description. Please also read the regulations on the siyu-award.ch homepage carefully.

Image requirements

JPEGs, with a minimum of 3000px on the long side, sRGB. See specific details for file naming in the upload section.

Registration fee

The registration fee is CHF 45 per project submitted.

Prizes

The winner receives a cash prize of CHF 3000.

Jury and jurying

An experienced jury of three experts in the field of photography selects ten works from all entries and determines the winner. The jury’s decision is final. All pictures must be exhibited as submitted to the jury.

Correspondence and communication

Participants will be informed about the progress of the award via the homepage. The ten finalists will be notified by telephone immediately after the final jurying. The names of the ten finalists are being published at a small presentation at Photo Basel 2025, all works are exhibited and the winner announced to press and public during the award ceremony at the exhibition opening.

Disclaimer

The insurance of the works shown in the exhibition is the responsibility of the participants. The SIYU AWARD declines all responsibility (e.g. in the event of damage or theft). Participants undertake to ensure that all submitted works are free from third-party rights (e.g. third-party copyrights, design rights, personal rights) or that these have been properly cleared. Participants shall indemnify the organizer SIYU AWARD against any infringement of third-party rights.