International Photography Awards
- Organizer
- Farmani Group
About the award
Founded in 2003 by Farmani Group, the International Photography Awards (IPA) are an annual competition for professional, non-professional and student photographers worldwide. Entry fees support the programs of the Lucie Foundation, including the Lucie Awards.
Entries compete in 11 main categories, including Advertising, Analog/Film, Architecture, Editorial, Event, Fine Art, Nature, People, Sports, Book and a Special category, each with its own subcategories. There are separate professional and non-professional tracks. The professional category winners are finalists for International Photographer of the Year. The non-professional and student winners are finalists for Discovery of the Year. Both titles are announced at the IPA Awards Gala.
How entries are judged
Over several weeks, entries are reviewed by an international jury of photography experts, including curators, editors, gallerists and photographers. Photographers’ names are hidden from the jury to keep the voting impartial. Each entry is scored from 10 to 100, and the winners are chosen by their combined scores across the whole jury.
The jury looks at originality, creativity, excellence of execution, overall impact and relevance to the category. Series of 2 to 10 images are judged as one body of work rather than image by image.
I left out two details from the IDA text because IPA doesn’t publish an equivalent: a minimum experience requirement for jurors, and a People’s Choice track. Add them if they apply internally.
Categories
Awards and prizes
- International Photographer of the Year – IPA Trophy and $10,000 (professional categories)
- Discovery of the Year – IPA Trophy and $5,000 (non-professional categories)
- Professional category winners – $1,000 each, IPA Trophy, two gala tickets and a $500 travel allowance
- Non-professional category winners – $500 each, IPA Trophy, two gala tickets and a $500 travel allowance
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in all subcategories – Winner certificate and seal, publication in the IPA Annual Book and one gala ticket
A guest curator selects 20 to 25 winning images for the IPA Best of Show exhibition, which tours House of Lucie galleries and photo festivals the following year. Winners are also promoted to more than 130,000 IPA members.
Jury
Key dates
- Early Bird deadline (10% off)TBC
- Regular deadlineTBC
- Final deadlineTBC
- Winners announcedAbout 6 weeks after the final deadline
Who can enter and what to submit
- Open to professional, non-professional and student photographers worldwide. Professionals are those who earn most of their income from photography, sell or publish their work regularly, or belong to a professional photography organization. Students of any subject qualify for student fees.
- Submit single images or series of 2 to 10 images that share one theme and title. Photographs must be no more than 5 years old, and previously awarded work is accepted. Files must be sRGB JPGs, 1,000 to 4,000 px on the longest side, max 4 MB. Book entries need 5 to 10 images, ideally starting with the cover, and a PDF of the book is optional. There is no limit on the number of entries.
Entry fees
| Entrant | Single image | Series (2–9 images) |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $40 | $65 |
| Non-professional | $30 | $55 |
| Student | $20 | $35 |
All fees are in USD. Entering the same work in additional categories costs 20% less per extra category. Fees are non-refundable and support the programs of the Lucie Foundation.