Photography Contest
Silk Cities
Deadline |
04/30/26Theme |
Story of how you or your community rebuild life and recovery from major adversity or changesTerritory |
WorldwideEligibility |
Open to allEntry Fees |
FREEPrizes |
ExhibitionHost |
Silk CitiesShare your story of how you or your community rebuild life and recover from major adversity or change.
This call seeks to capture how communities and individuals rebuild, recover, and revitalize their environments and their spirits after life-changing events such as disasters and wars, displacement, immigration, or radical political transformations.
Reconstruction can take many forms. It may involve rebuilding life after a major personal setback, restoring physical buildings and urban spaces, forming new social networks in a new country, seeking mental healing, or redefining one’s identity. Through this initiative, Silk Cities invites visual stories that explore recovery and resilience in their broadest sense—whether physical, mental, social, economic, or organizational.
Silk Cities welcomes photographers to submit images that reflect how individuals and communities renew themselves and their surroundings, demonstrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
This is the second Silk Cities photo event and will take place as a photo festival. The event will bring together global stories of survival and resilience, visually exploring how individuals and communities rebuild their lives and recover, both at personal and collective levels.
Submitting photos to the Festival is free and open to the public, whether amateur or professional photographers. A jury committee will review the submissions and select works to be displayed in the Silk Cities Festival Digital Gallery, open to the public.
In addition, the selection board will choose winners from a shortlist. Selected photographers will receive extensive global exposure through various platforms and publications while always retaining full copyright of their images.
Awards
First Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement of the winners across Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Complimentary registration to the 5th Silk Cities International Conference (worth over £300)
• Certificate
Second Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Discounted registration to participate in the 5th Silk Cities Conference and its social events (worth £200)
• Certificate
Third Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Discounted registration to participate in the 5th Silk Cities Conference and its social events (worth £100)
• Certificate
Shortlisted Entries
Global exposure:
• Inclusion in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Inclusion in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
Other Selected Photos
Global exposure:
• Inclusion in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Display in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference (subject to conditions)
This call seeks to capture how communities and individuals rebuild, recover, and revitalize their environments and their spirits after life-changing events such as disasters and wars, displacement, immigration, or radical political transformations.
Reconstruction can take many forms. It may involve rebuilding life after a major personal setback, restoring physical buildings and urban spaces, forming new social networks in a new country, seeking mental healing, or redefining one’s identity. Through this initiative, Silk Cities invites visual stories that explore recovery and resilience in their broadest sense—whether physical, mental, social, economic, or organizational.
Silk Cities welcomes photographers to submit images that reflect how individuals and communities renew themselves and their surroundings, demonstrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
This is the second Silk Cities photo event and will take place as a photo festival. The event will bring together global stories of survival and resilience, visually exploring how individuals and communities rebuild their lives and recover, both at personal and collective levels.
Submitting photos to the Festival is free and open to the public, whether amateur or professional photographers. A jury committee will review the submissions and select works to be displayed in the Silk Cities Festival Digital Gallery, open to the public.
In addition, the selection board will choose winners from a shortlist. Selected photographers will receive extensive global exposure through various platforms and publications while always retaining full copyright of their images.
Awards
First Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement of the winners across Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Complimentary registration to the 5th Silk Cities International Conference (worth over £300)
• Certificate
Second Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Discounted registration to participate in the 5th Silk Cities Conference and its social events (worth £200)
• Certificate
Third Place
Global exposure and unique experiences:
• Featured in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Featured in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display of the work in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
• Discounted registration to participate in the 5th Silk Cities Conference and its social events (worth £100)
• Certificate
Shortlisted Entries
Global exposure:
• Inclusion in the Festival Digital Gallery (open access)
• Inclusion in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Announcement on Silk Cities digital media and the Festival eBook (Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn)
• Display in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference
Other Selected Photos
Global exposure:
• Inclusion in the Festival eBook (open access & downloadable)
• Display in a side exhibition at the 5th Silk Cities International Conference (subject to conditions)
Featured Photo Contest
AAP Magazine #56 / SHADOWS
$1,000 cash prizes | Winning image(s) published in AAP Magazine #56 | Website feature and International Press
© Francesco Pace Rizzi
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 03/16/26
The prize is endowed with €5,000 to use as the winner sees fit.
ENDS 03/17/26
Be Featured in our April 2026 Online Juried Solo Exhibition!
ENDS 03/19/26
Our 56th printed issue of AAP Magazine will feature the best projects showcasing the theme "Shadows".
ENDS 03/21/26
The FORMAT Portfolio Review is returning in 2026. It will take place online on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March.
ENDS 03/29/26
Be seen, be supported, and be part of Head On Photo Festival 2026.
ENDS 03/31/26
If you're a passionate amateur or professional photographer, we invite you to share your photographic project with us.
ENDS 03/31/26
Entries are open worldwide to photographers using an iPhone or iPad. Photos should not be published previously anywhere. The posts on personal accounts (Facebook, Instagram etc.) are eligible.
ENDS 03/31/26
Selected photobooks will be featured in Der Greif’s Articles section, including a dedicated editorial feature highlighting the project, its context, and the maker(s).
ENDS 04/01/26
Creative Photo Awards is a project of Siena Awards, dedicated to rewarding originality, experimentation, and imagination by encouraging the creative use of the medium of photography in all its forms, including abstract and conceptual ideas.
ENDS 04/02/26
$10,000 project development grant for up to eight participants. Funds may be used in whatever way fellows see fit in order to expand and complete projects
ENDS 04/12/26
The winner will receive a grant of $14,000 for a solo exhibition
ENDS 04/16/26
Emerging Photographers (under 30 year old ) 2 X $ 5000 grants.
ENDS 04/16/26
The main grant is open to professional photographers worldwide, one $30,000. grant
ENDS 04/30/26
The IPA recognizes photography’s leading talents who are creating, shaping and defining the world of photography today.
ENDS 05/07/26
The 2026 Virginia Prize, worth €10,000, will be awarded to its winner in November 2026.
ENDS 05/13/26
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 05/17/26
MonoVisions Photography Awards are an international open call for photographers using black and white medium to express their visual language.
ENDS 05/31/26
This season will feature five main categories, with ‘Family’ serving as the primary theme.
ENDS 06/03/26
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 06/15/26
Submit your best photographs now and get your chance to be one of the winners awarded in Siena!
ENDS 07/22/26
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.