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CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 turns its attention to the places where urban life happens between home and work: cafés, libraries, parks, squares, bars and other shared spaces where people meet outside formal routines. The third edition of this international urban photography award is built around “Third Places”, asking photographers to examine how these spaces function in cities increasingly shaped by digital relationships, algorithms and social polarization. Entries close on September 30, 2026.
For the first time, CitiesToBe is judging complete photographic projects, not individual images. Each submission must contain 10 to 20 lens-based photographs made after January 1, 2024. Documentary, conceptual and critical approaches are welcome, and participation is free for artists and collectives aged 18 or over worldwide. For photographers browsing Deartline’s photo contest directory, the shift toward sustained visual narratives is one of the defining features of this edition.
One project will receive €1,500 and five finalists will receive €500 each, for a total of €4,000. Each awarded project will also be published as a photo essay on CitiesToBe, while one photograph from each series will be printed at the organizer’s expense and added to Anteverti’s private urban photography collection. As a free photo contest, there is no application fee.
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Prizes
The award combines €4,000 in monetary prizes with acquisition of printing rights and editorial publication.
- Winning Project: €1,500, publication as a photo essay on CitiesToBe and promotion through CitiesToBe and Anteverti’s digital channels. Anteverti will also select one photograph from the series, cover its production costs and add the resulting print to its private urban photography collection.
- Five Finalist Projects: €500 each, with the same photo-essay publication and digital dissemination. One photograph from each finalist series will also be printed for the Anteverti collection at the organizer’s expense.
Awarded projects may receive further visibility through editorial content and communication activities.
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Categories or Themes
There are no separate categories. Every project must engage with the CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 theme, “Third Places: The Contemporary City Beyond Home, Productivity, and Algorithms”.
The idea covers shared urban spaces outside home and work where informal encounters, conversation, participation and community can develop. Projects can approach these places directly or interpret their changing role more critically. The brief is particularly compatible with documentary photography projects and conceptual approaches to contemporary urban life.
Dates and Entry Fees
The CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 runs from June through September, with the winner and finalists announced in November.
| Submissions open | June 22, 2026 |
| Submission deadline | September 30, 2026 |
| Winner and finalists announced | November 2026 |
Entry fee: Free.
Only one project may be submitted by each artist or collective. The absence of an entry fee also places the award among Deartline’s free photography competitions.
How to Enter
Applications are submitted through Picter. Each entry must contain a coherent series of 10 to 20 JPG images, together with the project title, statement, locations and years of production. Applicants also provide a short biography, country, contact information and portfolio or website link.
All photographs must be lens-based and made after January 1, 2024. Shortlisted photographers may be asked to provide high-resolution files.
About the Jury
The five-person jury combines photography and curatorial expertise with perspectives on urban development and storytelling. It includes photographer and visual artist Roger Grasas; independent curator and lecturer Arianna Rinaldo; CitiesToBe co-founder and Anteverti CEO Cristina Garrido; CitiesToBe co-founder and Anteverti President Pilar Conesa; and CitiesToBe Editor-in-Chief Sergio García i Rodríguez.
Projects are assessed for artistic quality, conceptual strength, coherence of the series, relevance to the “Third Places” framework and engagement with urban complexity.
Why Enter CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026?
The strongest change in the CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 edition is its move from isolated photographs to sustained visual narratives. A 10-to-20-image requirement allows the jury to evaluate how a photographer develops an urban question across a sequence, rather than rewarding a single striking frame. That makes the award especially relevant to photographers already building project-based work around cities and public life.
The acquisitive element is also unusually specific. Anteverti does not acquire copyright in an entire project; instead, one photograph from each of the six awarded series is selected for printing, with production paid by the organizer. Those prints enter a growing private collection of urban photography, while the complete projects continue separately as published photo essays.
The CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 call is also part of the programme of Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, placing its examination of collective urban space within a wider year-long conversation around architecture, planning and cities. Among Deartline’s top photo contests for photographers working on contemporary urban issues, this combination of project-based judging, editorial publication and collection acquisition is its clearest distinguishing feature.
Rules and Copyright
We reviewed the official rules of the CitiesToBe Photo Award 2026 to summarize the key participation requirements, copyright terms and image usage conditions. Before entering, we recommend checking the complete rules published by the organizer.
Rules
The award is open worldwide to artists and collectives aged 18 or over. One project may be submitted per participant, consisting of 10 to 20 coherent lens-based photographs connected to the “Third Places” theme. All images must have been made after January 1, 2024. Standard photographic editing is permitted, but AI-generated and synthetic images are not accepted.
Copyright and Image Usage
Authors retain full copyright and must hold the necessary rights to submit and exhibit their work. Entry grants CitiesToBe and Anteverti permission to use submitted images to promote, communicate, exhibit and publish work within the framework of the award, with proper author credit.
The organization states that images will not be transferred to third parties for commercial purposes. The winner and five finalists additionally grant Anteverti the right to print one photograph selected from each awarded series; all printing costs are covered by Anteverti.
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For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
