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The Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 is an international photography competition specifically dedicated to celebrating the art of black and white photography. The competition aims to honor photographers who demonstrate exceptional skill in utilizing the timeless and evocative nature of black and white to create powerful visual narratives. It provides a distinguished platform for artists to gain significant exposure and recognition within the international photography community.
This year’s Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 competition welcomes submissions from photographers aged 18 and above, with separate judging for professional and non-professional entrants. The contest features a wide array of categories designed to encompass various genres within black and white photography. Participants have the opportunity to win over $4,000 in cash prizes. Key dates for submissions include tiered deadlines leading up to the final closing date on July 30, 2025, with structured entry fees based on the submission period and the entrant’s status.
Entering the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 competition offers a unique opportunity for photographers specializing in monochrome to have their work evaluated by a panel of highly respected industry professionals. Beyond the juried awards, nominated entries are automatically entered into the People’s Vote Awards, providing additional worldwide exposure as the public is invited to vote for their favorite images. This focus on both expert evaluation and broad public visibility, combined with substantial prizes and career-enhancing benefits, makes this contest one of the best photography competitions to enter for black and white photographers.
The Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 Prizes
The Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 contest provides a comprehensive suite of prizes and benefits designed to significantly impact a photographer’s career. The competition boasts over $4,000 in total cash prizes awarded across different levels of achievement.
The top honors come with substantial cash awards:
- The International Photographer of the Year (Professional) is awarded $3,000.
- The International Discovery of the Year (Non-Professional) receives $1,000.
In addition to these top cash prizes, winners and honorees across various categories and recognition levels receive numerous valuable benefits:
- Published Winner’s Interview
- Printed & Embossed Winner’s Achievement Certificate
- Credit For Free Entry to Another Exposure One Contest
- Receive Feature in Dedicated Email to Global Audience
- Premier Artist Placements Throughout Exposure One Website
- Prominent Feature in Winner’s Gallery
- Custom Press Release Tailored to Your Achievement
- Public Profile in Exposure One’s Artist Directory
- International Press Exposure to our Global Community
- Digital Winner’s Certificate & Badge
- Free Entry & Placement In the People’s Vote Award Gallery (for nominated entries)
- Showcase in Winner’s Gallery
- Chance to be Featured on Exposure One’s Social Media & Newsletter
- The Exposure One Trophy (reserved for contest and category winners)
These awards aim to provide winners with lasting recognition and tools to further their photographic careers.
Related Photo Contests
The Categories of the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025
While the contest has this singular focus on black and white, it offers a wide range of categories to encompass the breadth of subjects and styles explored by photographers working in this medium.
The contest accepts both single images and series composed of 2 to 5 images. The available categories for submission include:
- Abstract
- Aerial
- Architecture
- Conceptual
- Domestic Animals
- Event
- Fashion & Beauty
- Film/Analog
- Fine Art
- Landscapes
- Minimalism
- Nature
- Nude
- People
- Photojournalism
- Portrait
- Still Life
- Street
- Travel
- Wildlife
Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 Dates and Entry Fees
The Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 features three distinct entry periods, each with its own deadline and pricing structure:
| Entry Period | Dates |
| Early Bird Deadline | April 4, 2025 – June 5, 2025 |
| Regular Entry Deadline | June 5, 2025 – July 2, 2025 |
| Extended Entry Deadline | July 2, 2025 – July 30, 2025 |
The final deadline for all submissions is July 30, 2025. Winners are scheduled to be announced on September 17, 2025.
Entry fees are based on the entrant’s level (Professional, Non-Professional, or Student) and whether they are submitting a single image or a series. The fees also vary depending on the entry period:
| Entry Level | Single Image (Early Bird) | Single Image (Regular) | Single Image (Extended) | Series (Early Bird) | Series (Regular) | Series (Extended) |
| Professional | $28 | $31 | $35 | $40 | $45 | $50 |
| Non-Professional | $21 | $24 | $27 | $32 | $36 | $40 |
| Student | $16 | $18 | $20 | $24 | $27 | $30 |
How to Enter:
To enter the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 contest, photographers must submit their work through the official Exposure One Awards website. The process involves creating or logging into an artist account. Once logged in, you can upload your image(s) and provide a required title (maximum 40 characters per image) and an optional description (maximum 300 characters per image).
After completing the submission details, you proceed to the checkout process to pay the entry fee. Once the checkout process is finalized, your entry cannot be edited. You have the option to save an incomplete submission and return to finish it later before completing the payment.
About the Jury
The judging panel of the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 includes a diverse group of professionals such as world-renowned photographers, esteemed curators, directors of prominent galleries and museums, and other influential industry tastemakers. The judging process is conducted blindly, ensuring impartiality as entries are evaluated without the judges knowing the identity of the submitting photographer.
This process involves an initial round where entries are nominated for awards, followed by subsequent rounds where judges’ rankings are combined to determine the category winners and the overall International Photographer of the Year and International Discovery of the Year.
Notable members of the jury include Shana Lopes, Susan Ciccotti, Catherine Couturier, Sven Eisenhut, Lindsay Dye, Karin Mueller, Holden Luntz, Qi Yan, Courtney Collins, Lexi Brown, Karen Marks, and Paris Chong.
Why Enter Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025?
Entering the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 presents a compelling opportunity for photographers working in black and white to gain substantial recognition and advance their careers. A major incentive is the chance to win a portion of the over $4,000 in cash prizes, offering significant financial reward for winning entries. Beyond the monetary aspect, the contest provides extensive global exposure through features in the online Winner’s Gallery, a public profile in the Exposure One Artist Directory, and prominent placements on the Exposure One website.
Winning photographers also receive tangible assets for career promotion, such as custom press releases, published interviews, and digital badges and certificates. The award of the custom Exposure One Trophy signifies a high level of achievement within the specialized field of black and white photography. The diverse categories available mean that photographers can submit work across various subjects, from black and white photography contest staples like portraiture and landscapes to more niche areas, ensuring a suitable place for different photographic styles. It stands as one of many worthwhile other photography contest deadlines for artists to consider when planning their submission calendar.
Rules and Copyright
This section about the rules and image rights of the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 has been generated automatically. If you are interested in participating in this contest we suggest you review the complete rules provided by the contest.
Rules
The Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 is open to any individual content creator aged 18 or older. Entrants are categorized as either professional or non-professional; a professional has earned income from photography at any point, while a non-professional has not. Judging is conducted separately for these two groups. Once the checkout process for a submission is completed, the entry cannot be edited.
Entries can be images that have been previously awarded or submitted to other contests, or that have appeared on personal websites or in publications; there are no exclusivity requirements. Images are not required to have been created within a specific time period. A crucial rule for this contest is that it is exclusively for black and white photography; color images will not be considered. Sepia photos and images with a single color tone are acceptable. AI-generated images are not admissible in any Exposure One Awards contest, and the organization reserves the right to request proof that an image was not AI-generated and proof of ownership of original files. Submitted images must be in JPEG or PNG format with a minimum dimension of 1500 pixels on the longest edge and a file size under 10 MB. Watermarks or logos should not be included on the images. Both single image entries and series of 2-5 images are accepted. A title is required for each image (maximum 40 characters), while a description is optional (maximum 300 characters). No priority is given to either single image or series entries.
Copyright and Image Usage
Photographers who submit their work to the Exposure One Awards Photographer of the Year 2025 retain all rights to their images. Exposure One Awards does not claim copyright or moral rights over the submitted work and will not sell entries to third parties. By entering, participants grant Exposure One Awards limited rights and licenses solely for the purpose of administering and promoting the competition. This includes using submitted images in connection with the awards. When using submitted images, Exposure One Awards will credit the photographer as the owner of the image. For full details regarding image usage and terms, entrants should review the complete Terms of Use provided by Exposure One Awards.
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For more information and to enter the competition, visit: the oficial website.
