The annual World Press Photo Contest recognizes the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the past year. It is free to enter and open to professional photographers from around the world.
The winning works, selected by an independent international jury, will be included in our annual traveling exhibition and yearbook, and showcased to a global audience online as well. Winners also receive a cash prize of up to €10,000, an invitation to the Winners’ Program in Amsterdam, and more.
Entries open: Sunday 1 December 2024, 13.00 CET
Entries close: Friday 10 January 2025, 13.00 CET
If you know of someone whose work should be seen by the 2025 jury, please let us know by filling out
this referral form.
Introducing the global jury chair
"I am humbled to be named global chair of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest.
I would love to see work that will be strong enough to create a lasting impression on a 15 year old’s psyche and shape their understanding of world events in the same way that Alon Reininger’s portrait of Ken Meeks - a man who died of AIDS three days after the picture was taken - did for me in 1987. I’d love to see work that tells complex stories in single images, longer stories, or long term investigations and that fulfill the narrative potential of each of these formats."
-- Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography at M, Le Monde's weekend magazine, 2025 World Press Photo Contest global jury chair
The rest of the jury will be announced soon.
Updates to the categories, prizes, and regions
Three years ago, we restructured the World Press Photo Contest to reflect a more global perspective. Entries were grouped by region, and regional juries were introduced, ensuring that exceptional news and documentary photography from every corner of the world would be recognized and awarded. This regional structure that is at the core of our contest setup has worked well and will not change.
Yet, we knew that after the three years of using this contest setup there would be a need for evaluation and adjustment. Following thoughtful discussions with photographers, jury members, exhibition partners and others, we're pleased to announce updates to the categories, prizes and regions in the annual World Press Photo Contest.
Key changes:
- More winners - We will go from 30 winners to 42.
- Now there will be three Single and three Story (containing between 4 and 10 photographs) winners per region. There will also continue to be one Long-Term Project winner per region.
- Eliminating honorable mentions and the Open Format category (at least for now).
- Eliminating the global Story of the Year and Long-Term Project awards.
- Adjustment to the contest regions.
We will continue the tradition of awarding a World Press Photo of the Year (now with two runners-up). The additional monetary prize for World Press Photo of the Year will increase to 10,000 euros. The Photo of the Year winner, and both runners-up, will also receive FUJIFILM GFX cameras and lenses.
Read more about these changes and the rationale behind them.
Key dates
27 March 2025 - World Press Photo winners from all regions will be announced. Every winning photo taken in 2024 is eligible to win Photo of the Year.
17 April 2025 - World Press Photo of the Year (with two runners up) is announced online and at a live event in Amsterdam’s De Nieuwe Kerk. Our flagship exhibition opens there the following day for the public.
16 May 2025 - Award ceremony (invite only)
17 May 2025 - ‘Stories that Matter’ public day at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam with the winners
