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Are you ready to make your mark on the global photography stage? The Head On Photo Awards 2025 is now open for entries, offering a staggering AUD $75,000 prize pool – including AUD $18,000 in cash – and exhibition opportunities on both print and digital platforms. Entries close on 27 July 2025, so don’t miss your chance to have your work showcased alongside emerging and established talent from around the world. Discover more of the best photo challenges this month on Deartline.
Featuring three distinct competitions—Portrait, Landscape and the brand-new Exposure category—this international awards program will name one overall winner and two runners-up in each division. Winners receive cash prizes, high-end camera kits and inclusion in a hard-cover catalogue; runner-ups also receive cash awards. A select group of 100 finalists will see their images exhibited at festival venues during Head On Photo Festival 2025, with an additional 200 semi-finalists featured in a digital slideshow. Entry fees start at AUD $30 per image, with discounted rates for Festival Friends (AUD 25) and photographers under 25 (AUD 15).
For photographers seeking global exposure, recognition by a renowned jury and inclusion in print and online publications, Head On Photo Awards 2025 represents a fact-driven opportunity to elevate your portfolio. Finalists benefit from free exhibition mounting, a dedicated webpage, and distribution in an international touring catalogue—making this one of the year’s most significant platforms for serious image-makers.
The Head On Photo Awards 2025 Prizes
The Head On Photo Awards 2025 features a total prize pool of AUD $75,000, including AUD $18,000 in cash.
Prizes are awarded per category as follows:
- Overall Winner (each category):
– AUD $5,000 cash
– Pro camera kit (OM-1 Mark II + lens) - Australian & International Runners-Up (each category):
– Two runner-ups per category, each awarded AUD $500 cash
Related Photo Contests
The Categories of the Head On Photo Awards 2025
Portrait: This category seeks images that capture the essence of an individual or group. Whether you excel in portrait photography competitions or push the boundaries with self-portraits and collages, judges look for high technical quality and emotional engagement.
Landscape: Embracing broad interpretations of environment—natural vistas, urban scenes or industrial backdrops—these images may include people only as incidental elements, inviting creative explorations of place and scale. If you’re looking for landscape photography contests, this is the category for you.
Exposure: A genre-fluid category welcoming any subject, style or medium beyond portrait and landscape. From fine art and fashion to wildlife, street and architectural work, Exposure rewards bold, boundary-pushing photography.
Head On Photo Awards 2025 Dates and Entry Fees
The Head On Photo Awards 2025 key dates and fees are:
- Entry Deadline: 27 July 2025.
- Winner Announcement: Launch of Head On Photo Festival on 7 November 2025 in Sydney.
- Festival Exhibitions: 8 – 30 November 2025.
Entry Fees:
• General: AUD $30 per photo
• Festival Friends: AUD $25 per photo
• Under 25: AUD $15 per photo
How to Enter:
Register for a free Head On Photo Awards account with your email. You’ll receive a confirmation code to log in, then complete the online entry form, upload one image per entry, and pay the applicable fee via Stripe using a credit card.
About the Jury
The Head On Photo Awards are judged anonymously by an international panel of industry experts:
- Gulnara Lyabib Samoilova (USA), Founder of Women Street Photographers
- Richard Glover (Australia), Architectural Photographer
- Sunyoung Kim (South Korea), Curator, Museum Hanmi
- Moshe Rosenzveig OAM (Australia), Founder & Creative Director, Head On Photo Festival
- Michelle Aboud (Australia), Fashion Photographer
- Tim Levy (Australia), Editor, Capture magazine
- Wayne Quilliam (Australia), Photographer & Curator
Why Enter Head On Photo Awards 2025?
Entering the Head On Photo Awards 2025 offers objective rewards: a share in a substantial AUD $75,000 prize pool, top-tier camera gear, and publication in a professionally produced hard-cover catalogue. Finalists gain free exhibition mounting, a dedicated webpage, and inclusion in a touring digital slideshow—ensuring your work reaches tens of thousands of visitors.
As one of the most prominent photography contests online, Head On Photo Awards provide real global exposure and the chance to connect with curators, editors and peers at Head On Photo Festival 2025.
Rules and Copyright
This section about the rules and image rights of the Head On Photo Awards 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
All work is judged anonymously; judges’ decisions are final. Finalists must submit high-resolution JPEG files by the September 2025 deadline, following naming and format specifications. Entrants under 25 must verify age for discounted fees. Finalists and semi-finalists may not publicly share selected images before the exhibitions open.
Copyright and Image Usage
Finalists grant Head On a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence to reproduce and publish selected images in print, digital and electronic media for exhibition, promotion and upcycling. Head On credits all images to photographers and maintains image integrity. Finalists can opt out of specific reproductions by notifying Head On by the due date. Prints of winning images become part of the Head On Collection in perpetuity; other prints are retained for up to five years.
For more information and to participate in the contest, visit: the official website.
