Photography Contest
The Dummy Award 2025
Deadline |
CLOSEDTheme |
Photo bookTerritory |
WorldwideEligibility |
Open to allEntry Fees |
36 EurosPrizes |
BookHost |
PhotoBookMuseumSince 2010, the Kassel Fotobook Festival has been inviting photographers to take part in its Kassel Dummy Award.
The participating photographers have been able to establish contacts with galleries, publishers and festivals and presented their books to an international audience. Hundreds of books from the shortlist have been exhibited at countless international photography events, festivals and exhibition spaces.
Over this period of time thousands of photobook prototypes have been submitted from all over the world.
Since 2023 the PhotoBookMuseum in Cologne is in charge of the Dummy Award.
We are sure that this will increase the importance for a new generation of photographers and put it on an even broader footing. Together with MAS Matbaa in Istanbul, our printing and publishing partner, this is destined to maintain the high quality and reputation of the Dummy Award in the future.
The rules are easy: Each year, we invite all photographers worldwide to take part. From all entries, around 50 books are selected for a shortlist to be exhibited at international photography events. Together with the votes of the shortlist jury, each exhibiting venue has a vote, either determined by public vote or by curator’s choice. With these votes, 5 winning books will be selected from the shortlist. The book that wins the PBM/MAS Prize will be produced and published by the leading Turkish photobook printing and binding house MAS Matbaa, in cooperation with the PhotoBookMuseum. The costs will be fully covered. The other four winning books will receive a production grant for printing their books at MAS Matbaa.
The participating photographers have been able to establish contacts with galleries, publishers and festivals and presented their books to an international audience. Hundreds of books from the shortlist have been exhibited at countless international photography events, festivals and exhibition spaces.
Over this period of time thousands of photobook prototypes have been submitted from all over the world.
Since 2023 the PhotoBookMuseum in Cologne is in charge of the Dummy Award.
We are sure that this will increase the importance for a new generation of photographers and put it on an even broader footing. Together with MAS Matbaa in Istanbul, our printing and publishing partner, this is destined to maintain the high quality and reputation of the Dummy Award in the future.
The rules are easy: Each year, we invite all photographers worldwide to take part. From all entries, around 50 books are selected for a shortlist to be exhibited at international photography events. Together with the votes of the shortlist jury, each exhibiting venue has a vote, either determined by public vote or by curator’s choice. With these votes, 5 winning books will be selected from the shortlist. The book that wins the PBM/MAS Prize will be produced and published by the leading Turkish photobook printing and binding house MAS Matbaa, in cooperation with the PhotoBookMuseum. The costs will be fully covered. The other four winning books will receive a production grant for printing their books at MAS Matbaa.
Featured Photo Contest
AAP Magazine #48/Portrait
$1,000 cash prizes | Winning image(s) published in AAP Magazine #48 | Extensive press coverage and global recognition
© Aline Smithson
Best Photography Contests in 2025
Each year, there are hundreds of photography competitions all over the world, so we've decided to select for you the best of the best! Our selection of the best photo contests in 2025 is thoroughly curated to help you, whether you are a professional photographer or an amateur, to help find your next creative breakthrough. These all-star competitions offer the greatest opportunities for international exposure and/or incredible financial benefits. Some of them are closing soon, so get your photo submissions in!
ENDS 05/12/25
This prize, with a production budget of €25,000, is open to any new photographer or artist using photography, submitting a previously unpublished dummy book.
ENDS 05/13/25
Our 48th printed issue of AAP Magazine will feature the best projects showcasing the theme "Portrait".
ENDS 05/16/25
Submit your best work to our photo competition for a chance to win up to $11,500 in cash prizes, be selected by our curators for the PX3 exhibition in Paris and inclusion in the Annual PX3 book.
ENDS 05/18/25
MonoVisions Photography Awards are an international open call for photographers using black and white medium to express their visual language.
ENDS 05/18/25
The Global Peace Photo Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives.
ENDS 05/30/25
If you're a passionate amateur or professional photographer, we invite you to share your photographic project with us.
ENDS 05/31/25
POWER will be the main theme of the season. The Grand Prize of USD $200,000 will be awarded to one winner from any category this season, not limited to the main theme.
ENDS 05/31/25
The international photography contest URBAN Photo Awards is here: registrations will open on March 28th and this 16th edition will be the largest and most important ever.
ENDS 06/01/25
This year’s PhotoVogue Global Open Call celebrates the limitless ways women see and are seen—embracing photography and film as powerful tools to reclaim, redefine, and expand visual storytelling
ENDS 06/01/25
The Paula Riff Award was created by the Center of Photographic Art and Lenscratch in 2021 as a way to celebrate and continue the legacy of artist Paula Riff.
ENDS 06/02/25
BUDAPEST INTERNATIONAL FOTO AWARDS is an international platform for photographers from all levels and genres to share their best images with the creative community in Hungary and Eastern Europe.
ENDS 06/02/25
The Lenscratch Student Prize has opened up a whole new line of connections, opportunities and exposure.
ENDS 06/05/25
Jon Lee Anderson, president of the jury of the 32nd edition
ENDS 06/10/25
Four winners will be chosen and will see their work exhibited at the Paris Photo fair
ENDS 06/20/25
Be Featured in our June 2025 Online Juried Solo Exhibition!
ENDS 06/30/25
Wherever you are in the world, we invite you to send us your most beautiful Colors or Black & White street photos.
ENDS 08/01/25
TIFA connects photographers from around the world with the creative community in Tokyo, Japan, providing them with an excellent platform to present their work to a new market.
ENDS 08/05/25
The 2025 Global Contest promotes climate justice. We believe climate change is a human rights issue, so we are looking for images that show people impacted by the escalating climate crisis.
ENDS 09/01/25
The Ian Parry Scholarship is divided into two categories: The Sunday Times Award for Achievement and The Canon Award for Potential.