About

‘The Eyes of History®’ contests are held annually to select the best in visual journalism across still, video, and multimedia disciplines. The Eyes of History® student contest division is exclusively for still photojournalism and video students, showcasing the work of the next generation of WHNPA members. Students do not need to be members of the WHNPA to participate in the contest, but they must be enrolled at a U.S. university or college to be eligible.

What winners receive

The 2024 student 'Eyes of History®' contest winners include:

• Gift from Nikon, the exclusive camera sponsor of the WHNPA. 

• Invitation to the 2025 'Eyes of History®' Awards Gala, to be held in Washington, D.C. on September 6, 2025. This is an excellent opportunity to meet top industry professionals, photographers, and editors. The winner is also expected to produce a video about their winning work to be shown at the gala.

• Your portfolio is displayed in the WHNPA traveling exhibition, a spread in the 2025 'Eyes of History®' book, and a feature on the WHNPA website. 

• Your winning portfolio highlighted in the WHNPA traveling exhibit.

About WHNPA

The White House News Photographers Association (WHNPA) is dedicated to promoting, protecting and advancing the interests and intellectual property rights of its members, which still consists of still and video photographers assigned to cover the White House and other news events in Washington and beyond.

We strongly believe in the public’s natural and legal right to freedom in searching for the truth and the right to be accurately and completely informed about the world in which we live.

How to enter

While WHNPA membership is not required to enter the student contest, it is highly encouraged. If you choose to apply for membership after entering the contest, WHNPA will apply your entry fee towards 2024 2025 membership dues. Simply note on your application form that you entered the student contest.

Help us reach you on social media by adding your social media details at "on the web".

Video Contest Rules

• There is a limit of two entries per category per student.

• Any video or elements not created by the entrant (such as file video and graphics) must be clearly labeled in the description if it won't be clearly obvious to the judges.

• Team projects should be clearly labeled for judges in the description with the entry.

• Judges can move or eliminate entries that don't fit the categories or meet the qualifications.

• Please take a reasonable effort to remove references to the school/program for which the work was created.

• Judges may also consider work from the other categories for the Student Video Photographer of the Year award.

• Work should be created or published from January 1, 2024 -- December 31, 2024

• Please upload your entry through the Picter site. 

• We accept mp4 file formats. The minimum dimension for horizontal video is 1080p and for vertical video, the shortest dimension should be 1080.

Still Contests Rules

• Each student will submit a portfolio with a minimum of 10 images and a maximum of 30 images.

• Committee suggestion: A well-rounded portfolio should include a selection of strong single images and at least one photo story of a compelling news topic.

• The work can be from any year as long as the entrant was enrolled as a student.

• Absolutely NO images may be entered from a previous winning WHNPA student portfolio.

• Student still photographer winners may re-enter with new work.

• Students may enter no more than 5 title slides to separate sections of his or her portfolio.

• Title slides may only contain the story or section's name and no personal information at all.

• All photo stories should include a title slide. Please include a story description of no more than 50 words in the caption IPTC/File Info metadata field only. Do not put it on the title slide.

Still Photography Portfolio IPTC/File Info & Naming Requirements

• IPTC: Please provide the following IPTC/File Info category information with every image

• Captions must be written with who/what/where/why/when information.

• DO NOT include your name in the caption or you will be disqualified.

• Photographer: Put your first and last name and school name. (ex: John Public/Syracuse University)

• Contact: Please put your telephone number, home address and email address in this section. This is how we know how to alert the winners.

• Saving Your Files: Images must be saved as RGB jpegs sized to 3000 pixels on the longest side @ 300 dpi.

Judging criteria

Judges look for well-rounded still portfolio with a selection of strong single images and at least one photo story of a compelling news topic. In the video category, judges look for smart and tightly edited packages and portfolios.

Sponsoring Partner