What counts as manipulation

Go back

Photographs entered into all categories must comply with our rules on manipulation.

Only single frame photographs will be accepted. The following are not accepted:

Multiple exposures, polyptychs (diptychs, triptychs, and so forth).
Stitched panoramas, either produced in-camera or with image editing software.

The content of a photograph must not be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame. There are two exceptions:

(i) Cropping that removes extraneous details is permitted;
(ii) Removing sensor dust or scratches on scans of negatives is permitted.

Adjustments of color or conversion to grayscale that do not alter content are permitted, with two exceptions:

(i) Changes in color may not result in significant changes in hue, to such an extent
that the processed colors diverge from the original colors.
(ii) Changes in luminosity, density, contrast, color and/or saturation levels that significantly alter content by obscuring or eliminating information in the photograph are not permitted. The jury determines which changes are significant, following the video guidance below on what counts as manipulation.

See below for details on what is, or is not, acceptable.

What do we consider to be manipulation?

Many things can count as manipulation in photography, but for the World Press Photo Contest, the code of ethics and entry rules focus on two important issues.

1. The first thing that counts as manipulation is intending to mislead by staging events.

The code of ethics says photographers must not intend to mislead by recreating or staging events. In certain cases, deliberate reenactments can be acceptable if they serve a clear purpose for the story and/or issue being documented, and the photographer must be transparent about their motivation and process. Any direct influence over the scene, such as reenactments or posed portraits, must be included in the captions.

Staging means arranging something in order to mislead the audience.
Setting-up or recreating a scene means directing the individuals and/or groups being photographed to do things, or asking them to repeat things they were doing prior to the photographer’s arrival.

Staging and recreating events are different from deliberate reenactments and posing for portraits. Portraits are a special genre of photography. They are made through a relationship between the subject and the photographer in which the subject poses for the photographer. However, for the contest, portraits must not present subjects doing things they would not ordinarily do. Portraits must not mislead viewers by faking a scene, meaning they cannot present scenes that appear as something other than they are.

For any portrait, whether entered as a single or as part of a story, directions given to a subject must be disclosed in the caption. Portraits are subject to the same rules on manipulation stated in the entry rules. This means, for example, the face and body of the subject(s) cannot be altered through the addition or removal of physical marks.

2. The second thing that counts as manipulation is adding or removing content from the photograph, significant processing that can lead to changes in the nature of the photograph, and any use of generative AI.

It is important to note that processing by itself is not manipulation, therefore adjustments of color or conversion to grayscale that do not alter content are permitted.

This video shows visual examples of color adjustments that are and are not permitted. These examples are not photographs that were entered. They show what was done to photographs that led them to be excluded from the previous two contests. As such, unacceptable color adjustments include, but are not limited to, these examples. If you cannot view the video below, please view on YouTube.

There are two types of color adjustment that count as manipulation:

Changes in color may not result in significant changes in hue, to such an extent that the processed colors diverge from the original colors.
Changes in luminosity, density, contrast, color, digital grain, and/or saturation levels that significantly alter content by obscuring or eliminating elements in the photograph are not permitted. The jury determines which changes are significant, following the video guidance (below) on what counts as manipulation.

Altering the content of a photograph by “adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame” is manipulation and makes an entry ineligible for an award.

The examples given here come from alterations in previous contests. They do not specify every imaginable form of manipulation. Alterations that count as manipulation include, but are not limited to, the following.

It is not acceptable to remove things such as:

physical marks on body
small objects in the photograph
reflected light spots
shadows
extraneous items on photograph’s border that could not be removed by crop

This video shows visual examples of removal of content that is not permitted. These examples are not photographs that were entered. They show what was done to photographs that led them to be excluded from previous contests. As such, unacceptable removal of content includes, but is not limited to, these examples. If you cannot view the video below, please view on YouTube.

It is not acceptable to add things. This includes, but is not limited, to:

cloning in highlights, enhancing body, or costume size
painting in object details
photo montage
replicating material on the border of a photograph to make a neat crop possible.

This video shows visual examples of the addition of content that is not permitted. These examples are not photographs that were entered. They show what was done to photographs that led them to be excluded from previous contests. As such, unacceptable addition of content includes, but is not limited to, these examples. If you cannot view the video below, please view on YouTube.

3. Rules on the use of AI tools

All photographs entered into the Singles, Stories and Long-Term Projects categories must be made with a camera. No synthetic or artificially generated images are allowed, and no use of artificially generative fill is allowed. Any use of these tools will automatically disqualify the entry from the contest.

However, the use of smart tools, or AI-powered enhancement tools is possible within the contest rules, as long as these tools do not lead to significant changes to the image as a whole, introduce new information to the image, nor remove information from the image that was captured by the camera.

Some examples of tools where limited usage may be allowed are Denoise, automatic adjustments (e.g on levels, colors, contrast) and object selection for local adjustments. These are permitted up to a certain extent, which is to be determined by the contest organization and global jury. Tools that do immediately breach the contest rules are all AI-powered enlarging tools such as Adobe Super Resolution and Topaz Photo AI. These tools are based on generative AI models that introduce new information to enlarge and sharpen images.

4. The consequences of detecting manipulation in an entry.

Entrants whose work has been identified during the verification process as having content altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame, will be excluded and, if applicable, all other entries from that entrant will be excluded from the contest and the entrant will be informed after the winners have been announced.

Entrants whose work has been identified during the verification process as having content altered through changes in color (resulting in significant changes in hue, to such an extent that the processed colors diverge from the original colors), or changes in density, contrast, color and/or saturation levels that significantly alter content (by obscuring or eliminating information in the picture), will be contacted for an explanation in case the forensic experts have technical questions. Once contacted, entrants have 24 hours to respond. The entrant will be informed of the final decision after the winners have been announced. If the jury decides to exclude a photograph that is part of a story, the remaining photographs in the story that are free from manipulation can be transferred to the Singles category.