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join us in celebrating 10 years of exposure!

The LensCulture Exposure Awards 2018 aim to discover and showcase the world’s best contemporary photographers! As we approach the Awards’ 10th anniversary, this year’s competition will celebrate a decade of helping photographers of all levels gain global recognition. The Awards will culminate with a series of international gallery and festival events, worldwide media coverage, and career-changing exposure for the jury’s six winners, eight jurors’ picks and 25 finalists.

Each of the winners, jurors’ picks and finalists will gain access to the broadest exposure we've ever offered through a LensCulture award. Together with our audience of 2.8 million, we will celebrate 10 years of exposure as one of the largest contemporary photography communities in the world!

For the first time in our Exposure Awards, we are waiving fees for anyone who enters a single image. We truly want to discover the most talented image-makers—we believe that EVERY photographer deserves the opportunity for exposure and recognition without restriction. So, send in your best work today!

Closed for new entries.

Exposure Awards 2018 International Jury

Stacey Baker

Photo Editor
The New York Times Magazine
New York, United States
www.nytimes.com

more about Stacey »

Stacey Baker is a photo editor at The New York Times Magazine. She assigns and produces photography for the weekly publication on topics as varied as sports, politics, religion and pop culture. She works with an array of photographers from all over the world, including photojournalists and portrait, fine-art and conceptual photographers. These include Alec Soth, Damon Winter, Ruddy Roye, Stephanie Sinclair, Nadav Kander and Katy Grannan. She is a former director of photography at More Magazine.

Mazie Harris

Assistant Curator of the Department of Photographs
Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States
www.getty.edu

more about Mazie »

Mazie Harris, Ph.D., is an assistant curator in the Department of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where she conducts research and manages the acquisition, loan, and display of photographs at the Museum from the past and present. Her scholarship has been supported by the Terra Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Library of Congress. She has worked with photography collections at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College, the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Harvard Art Museums.

Michael Mack

Publisher
MACK Books
London, United Kingdom
www.mackbooks.co.uk

more about Michael »

Michael Mack is a publisher of art, photography and critical text books. He has written, designed, edited and produced nearly 500 titles, including some of the defining art books of the past 20 years. As the former managing director of Steidl, he founded the SteidlMACK imprint before establishing his eponymous independent publishing house in 2010. Mack works closely with established and emerging artists, writers and curators, as well as world-leading cultural organizations, who are invested in the book as an art form.

In 2011, Mack was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the University of Plymouth for his contribution to art publishing. In 2012, he co-founded the First Book Award with the Wilson Centre for Photography and Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, as a platform to support young and emerging photographers. In 2017 he was awarded the Photographic Publishing Award from the Royal Photographic Society.

Elisa Medde

Managing Editor
FOAM Magazine
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
www.foam.org

more about Elisa »

Elisa Medde has been the Managing Editor of Foam Magazine since 2012. Foam is published three times per year, with two thematic issued and one (called the “Talent Issue”) dedicated exclusively to photographers under 35 years old. As a member of the editorial team, Medde researches, selects and commissions the content for all issues of the magazine. Before heading to Foam, she served various roles for a number of cultural institutions, publishing houses and non-profits; she also worked as a researcher and as an independent curator. Her personal focus is oriented towards the relationship between image and power, particularly in the context of contemporary photography, and on the dynamics related to visual literacy.

Fiona Shields

Head of Photography
The Guardian
London, United Kingdom
www.theguardian.com

more about Fiona »

Shields has over twenty years’ picture-editing experience across a range of newspaper titles and has served as picture editor of The Guardian for the last nine. She recently took up the role of Head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group. Throughout her career, she has been involved in the coverage of some of the most historic news stories of our time: 9/11, conflicts around the world, the Arab Spring and much more. Besides her work at the newspaper, she’s delivered talks at photo festivals and to students of photojournalism. She has judged the Sony World Photography Awards, the UK Picture Editors Guild Awards, and the Renaissance Photography Prize among others. Most recently she served as a nominator for the Prix Pictet and joined the jury of the highly regarded Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Aida Muluneh

Founder/Managing Director
Addis Foto Fest
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
www.addisfotofest.com

more about Aida »

Muluneh began her career working as a photojournalist at the Washington Post; her work can be found in several international publications. As an exhibiting artist, her photos have been shown in over a dozen countries around the world and her work can be found in the permanent collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, the Hood Museum and the Museum of Biblical Art. As one of the leading experts on photography from Africa, she has been a jury member on several photography competitions, most notably the Sony World Photography Awards 2017 and the World Press Photo Contest 2017. Muluneh is the founder and director of the Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa, which has been hosted in the city of Addis Ababa since 2010. She continues to educate, curate and develop cultural projects with local and international institutions through her company DESTA (Developing and Educating Society Through Art) and For Africa Creative Consulting PLC (DFA).

Anna Walker Skillman

Owner/Director
Jackson Fine Art
Atlanta, United States
www.jacksonfineart.com

more about Anna »

Anna Walker Skillman has been a loyal and active participant in the arts community for the last 26 years. She began her career working at the Haines Gallery, a leading contemporary art gallery in San Francisco. In March of 2003, she purchased Jackson Fine Art. Ms. Walker Skillman is honored to continue a reputation of excellence in exhibiting photography by both emerging and established artists. With a focus on a blend of 20th century and contemporary work, she continues her commitment to Atlanta as an active and loyal participant of the arts community.

Jim Casper

Editor-in-Chief
LensCulture
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
www.lensculture.com

more about Jim »

Jim Casper is the editor-in-chief of LensCulture, one of the leading online destinations to discover contemporary photography from around the world. As an active member in the contemporary photography world, Casper organizes annual international photography events, travels around the world to meet with photographers and review their portfolios, curates art exhibitions, writes about photography and culture, lectures, conducts workshops, serves as an international juror and nominator for key awards, and is an advisor to arts and education organizations. He serves on the board of directors at SPE, the Society for Photographic Education, the world’s largest association of photography educators.

After being selected in the LensCulture Exposure Awards last year, my work was printed by the British Journal of Photography, Fisheye Magazine and Der Greif. I also won the National Award (Mexico) in the Sony World Photography Awards and my work was on view in Arles and at Photo Basel. It has been an amazing year so far!

— Tania Franco Klein
Exposure Awards 2017, Finalist

Competition Gallery

Featured entries are selected by our editors. Note that not every submission can be shown here. The earlier you share your work, the higher your chances of being featured!

You can click on the photos to learn more about the photographer. If you like someone’s work, share their submission on Facebook or favorite their image! Every week we’ll announce the top 10 favorite photos based on the community’s votes. You’ll also help increase the exposure for every participating photographer.

Awards &

Benefits

Benefits for all who enter

	6 Winners & 8 Jurors’ picks	25 Finalists	Editors‘ Picks**	Every Entrant
$22,000 in Grant Awards
London Gallery Exhibition
Visibility with LensCulture Insiders
Exposure Awards 2018 Online Exhibition
A Series of International Photo Festival Projections
Published in The Best of LensCulture, Volume 2
International Press Exposure
Opportunity for LensCulture Instagram Takeover
Feature Article on LensCulture
LensCulture Network Membership
Massive Exposure to our Global Audience of 2.8 Million
Submission Review by Photo Industry Professional*
Engage in the Global Photography Community
Opportunities for Immediate Exposure
LensCulture Portfolio Account***

*Submission Review: Available for all Series entries and 5+ Single entries
**Editors’ Picks: During the competition, LensCulture’s editors will curate hundreds of entries for immediate exposure to our global audience through the competition gallery and our Facebook page.
***LensCulture Portfolio Account: Available for all Series entries and 5+ Single entries

= Jury Selected ∕ = LensCulture

Benefits for all who enter

Series Award Winners

1st Place: $5000
2nd Place: $2500
3rd Place: $1500

Single Image Award Winners

1st Place: $2500
2nd Place: $1500
3rd Place: $1000

Jurors’ Picks

Each juror will select an individual Juror’s Pick to receive special distinction and $1,000 USD.

Finalists

25 Finalists will be selected.

Gallery Exhibition in london

An exhibition featuring all winners, jurors’ picks and finalists will be held in the heart of London in 2018. London is one of the centers of the global photography market and is home to some of the most prestigious photography collections, galleries, and institutions in the world. Our exhibition will launch with a gala opening reception and international press preview—we hope to meet many of you there!

A Series of Projections At International Photo Festivals

Angkor Photo Festival, Siem Reap Cambodia

Athens Photo Festival, Athens, Greece

Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival, Atlanta, GA, United States

Backlight Photo Festival, Tampere, Finland

Balkan Photo Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belfast Photo Festival, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belgrade Photo Month, Belgrade, Serbia

Biennial of the Possible Image, Liège, Belgium

BredaPhoto International Photo Festival, Breda, Netherlands

Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, United Kingdom

Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton, United Kingdom

Budapest Photo Festival, Budapest, Hungary

Circulation(s), Paris, France

Copenhagen Photo Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark

Cortona on the Move, Cortona, Italy

DarmStadt Days of Photography, Darmstadt, Germany

Emerging Talents Festival, Rome, Italy

Encontros da Imagem Photography Festival, Braga, Portugal

FestFoto, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Festival de Fotografia de Tiradentes, Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Festival della Fotografia Etica, Lodi, Italy

Festival Images Vevey, Vevey, Switzerland

Festival Internacional Fotografia Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile

Filter Photo Festival, Chicago, IL, United States

Focus on the Story International Photo Festival, Washington, D.C., USA

FOCUS Photography Festival, Mumbai, India

FORMAT, Derby, United Kingdom

FOTO SOLO, New York, NY, United States

FOTOFESTIWAL - International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland

FotoLeggendo, Rome, Italy

Fotopub Portfolio Review, Novo Mesto, Slovenia

Gazebook: Sicily Photobook Festival, Punta Secca, Italy/Sicily

GETXOPHOTO International Photography Festival, Getxo, Spain

Head On Photo Festival, Bondi Beach - Sydney, Australia

Indian Photo Fest, Hyderabad, India

Indian Photo Fest, Madhapur, India

Internationaal Fotofestival Overpelt, Overpelt, Belgium

Kaunas Photo Festival, Kaunas, Lithuania

Krakow Photomonth Festival, Krakow, Poland

Lagos Photo Festival, Lagos, Nigeria

Landskrona Foto Festival, Landskrona, Sweden

Liège Photobook Festival, Liège, Belgium

Los Angeles Festival of Photography, LA, CA, United States

Medium Festival of Photography, San Diego, CA, United States

Month of Photography Denver, Denver, CO, United States

Mostra São Paulo de Fotografia, São Paulo, Brazil

Obscura Festival, Penang, Malaysia

Odessa Photo Days Festival, Odessa, Ukraine

OFF_festival Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

Organ Vida - International Photography Festival, Zagreb, Croatia

PHOTO IS:RAEL, Tel Aviv, Israel

Photo Kyiv, the International Art Fair, Kyiv, Ukraine

Photo Romania Festival, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Photography Festival Bialystok INTERPHOTO, Bialystok, Poland

Photolux Festival. International Biennial of Photography, Lucca, Italy

Photomed, Sanary-sur-mer, France

PHOTOMONTH East London, London, United Kingdom

PhotOn Festival, Valencia, Spain

PhotoVisa, Krasnodar, Russia

PondyPHOTO 2016, Pondicherry, India

Porto Photo Festival, Porto, Portugal

Rotterdam Photo, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

San Jose Foto Festival, San Jose, Uruguay

SCAN Tarragona, International Photography Festival, Tarragona, Spain

Street Photo San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Tbilisi Photo Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia

Tokyo International Photography Festival, Tokyo, Japan

Valongo, Valongo, Santos, Brazil

Vienna PhotoBook Festival, Vienna, Austria

Voies Off, Arles, France

Warsaw Photo Days, Warsaw, Poland

Left: A screening of photographs from “The Best of LensCulture, Volume 1” at Voies Off Festival in Arles, July 2017. Right: Our growing list of festival partners.

Throughout 2018, the jury’s selected works will be screened at photo festivals and events worldwide. Over the past year, winners and finalists from LensCulture Awards had their work screened at festivals in Britain, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Japan, Australia, Spain, France, Georgia, the US, and more. LensCulture continues to partner with international photo festivals to showcase more of our competitions’ winners & finalists. Our growing list of festivals includes: Voies Off Arles, FORMAT International Photography Festival, Athens Photo Festival, Organ Vida, Brighton PhotoBiennial, Cortona On the Move, FotoLeggendo Festival, Denver Month of Photography, Medium Photo Festival, Tokyo International Photography Festival, Head On Photo Festival, Tbilisi Photo Festival, GETXOPHOTO Festival—and many more!

Order your copy of The Best of LensCulture, Vol 1

Published in
the Best of LensCulture, Volume 2

Following the success of our first annual volume, we will once again be partnering with Schilt Publishing to produce a beautifully printed book of our award-winning photographers. This unique collection of photographic work will be available for purchase and distributed to industry members worldwide. Schilt Publishing is also the official publisher for the World Press Photo Foundation and FotoFest.

“Award-winning photographs that defy belief”

— The Telegraph

Visibility With Industry Insiders & Galleries

We are connected to over 3,000 photography industry insiders around the world including top photo editors, book publishers, gallery owners, festival directors, agents, curators, online media publishers, and many more. LensCulture has become a key resource for these professionals to discover new work from photographers all over the world. This kind of industry-wide exposure is critical for both emerging and established photographers—all it takes is one set of eyes to change the course of your career.

Aaron Schuman, Artist, Writer, Editor and Curator, UK

Ada Takahashi, Director, Robert Koch Gallery, USA

Afton Almaraz, Senior Picture Editor, Getty Images, USA

Aida Muluneh, Founder and General Manager, Desta for Africa Creative Consulting PLC, Ethiopia

Alan Taylor, Senior Editor, The Atlantic, USA

Alessandra Capodacqua, Instructor, Photographer and Independent Curator, NYU, Italy

Alessia Glaviano, Senior Photo Editor, Vogue Italia and L'Uomo Vogue, Italy

Alex Webb, Photographer, Magnum

Alexa Becker, Acquisitions Editor, Kehrer Verlag Publishers, Germany

Alona Pardo, Curator, Barbican Art Gallery, UK

Amy Feitelberg, Photo Art Director, Square, USA

Amy Pereira, Photography Director, Curator and Consultant, USA

Amy Wolff, Photo Director, Hearst Digital Media, USA

Andy Greenacre, Director of Photography, Telegraph Magazine, UK

Ángel Luis González Fernández, Founder and CEO, PhotoIreland Foundation, Ireland

Anna Dickson, Visual Lead, Image Search, Google, USA

Anna Goldwater Alexander, Director of Photography, WIRED, USA

Anna Gripp, Editor-in-Chief, Photonews, Germany

Anna Walker Skillman, Owner/Director, Jackson Fine Arts, USA

Anne Bourgeois-Vignon, Executive Creative Director, Culture Trip, UK

Anne Farrar, Director of Photography, National Geographic Traveler, USA

Anne McNeill, Director, Impressions Gallery, UK

Anne Morin, Director, diChroma Photography, Spain

Anne Wilkes-Tucker, Curator, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA

Antony Dickson, Features Photo Editor, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong

Arianna Rinaldo, Artistic Director, Cortona On The Move, Spain

Ariel Shanberg, Executive Director, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, USA

Azu Nwagbogu, Chief Curator at Zeitz MOCAA, Nigeria

Barbara Čeferin, Owner, Galerija Fotografija, Slovenia

Barbara Tannenbaum, Curator of Photography, The Cleveland Museum of Art, USA

Bernadette Tuazon, Director of Photography, CNN Digital, USA

Bevin Bering Dubrowski, Curator, Photography Specialist, BBD Photography, USA

Bisi Silva, Founder and Director, Centre for Contemporary Art, Nigeria

Bonnie Rubenstein, Artistic Director, CONTACT Photography Festival, Canada

Brett Roegiers, Photo Editor, CNN.com, USA

Brian Paul Clamp, Owner/Director, ClampArt Gallery, USA

Brian Storm, Founder & Executive Producer, MediaStorm, USA

Bronwen Latimer, Senior Photo Editor, The Washington Post, USA

Bruno Ceschel, Director, Self Publish, Be Happy, UK

Carlos Carvalho, Director, FestFoto de Porto Allegre, Brazil

Caroline Hunter, Picture Editor, Guardian Weekend Magazine, UK

Caroline Wall, Director, Robert Mann Gallery, USA

Catherine Edelman, Owner, Catherine Edelman Gallery, USA

Celia Davies, Curator, Arts Council England, UK

Celina Lunsford, Artistic Director & Chief Curator, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Germany

Charles Guice, Founder/Director, Charles Guice Contemporary, USA

Charlotte Cotton, Curator & Writer, USA

Charlotte van Lingen, Head of Presentation, Museum Het Valkhof, Netherlands

Chelsea Matiash, Senior Editor, Digiital Storytelling, The New York Times, USA

Chris Littlewood, Independent Curator, Christopher Littlewood, UK

Chris Pichler, Founder & Publisher, Nazraeli Press, USA

Christophe Laloi, Artistic Director, Voies Off Arles, France

Christopher McCall, Director, Pier 24 Photography, USA

Christopher Rauschenberg, Founding Member, Blue Sky Photographers' Collective and Gallery, USA

Christy Havranek, Photo Director, Huffington Post, USA

Clare Grafik, Head of Exhibitions, The Photographer's Gallery, UK

Claude Bussac, Director, PHotoEspaña International Festival, Spain

Corey Keller, Curator, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA

Corinne Tapia, Director, Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, USA

Cristina De Middel, Artist, Juana de Aizpuru, UK

Daphné Anglès, Journalist, The New York Times Paris, France

Daphne Palmer, Director, Fraenkel Gallery

Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs, Christie's, USA

Darren Ching, Owner, Klompching Gallery, USA

David Alan Harvey, Photographer, Magnum Photos, USA

David Campbell, Director, Programs, World Press Photo, Netherlands

David Chickey, Publisher, Radius Books, USA

David Drake, Director, Ffotogallery, UK

David Hurn, Photographer, Magnum Photos, UK

Deborah Klochko, Director, Museum of Photographic Arts, USA

Debra Klomp, Ching Owner/Director, Klompching Gallery, USA

Denise Wolff, Senior Editor, Aperture, USA

Dewi Lewis, Owner, Dewi Lewis Publishing, UK

Dimitri Beck, Director of Photography, Polka Magazine, France

Dina Mitrani, Gallery Owner, Dina Mitrani Gallery, USA

Donna Cohen, Photo Director, Bloomberg LP, USA

Dr. Shahidul Alam, Director, Chobi Mela Festival of Photography, Bangladesh

Ed Carey, Director, Gallery 291, USA

Eder Chiodetto, Independent Photography Curator, Brazil

Elena Boille, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Photo Editor, Internazionale, Italy

Elena Firsova, Managing Editor, Foto&Video Magazine Moscow Russian Federation

Elie Domit, Director, East Wing Gallery, Qatar

Elinor Carucci, Photographer, USA

Elisa Medde, Editor, FOAM Magazine, Netherlands

Elissa Curtis, Deputy Photo Director, The Wall Street Journal, USA

Elizabeth Avedon, Independent Curator, Photo Editor, USA

Els Barents, Photo Historian, Writer & Researcher, Els Barents, Netherlands

Emilia van Lynden, Art Consultant, Emilia Van Lynden Art Consultancy, Netherlands

Emma Bowkett, Director of Photography, FT Weekend Magazine, UK

Enrico Bossan, Project Head, Galerrie delle prigioni, Italy

Enrico Stefanelli, Founder, President and Artistic Director, Photolux Festival, Italy

Erik Vroons, Chief Editor, GUP Magazine, Netherlands

Evan Pricco, Editor-in-Chief and Web Editor, Juxtapoz Magazine, USA

Evgeny Berezner, Deputy General Director, ROSIZO State Museum & Exhibition Center, Russia

Felicia Anastasia, Founder & Creative Director, Anastasia Photo Gallery, USA

Fiona Rogers, Chief Operating Officer, Magnum Photos, UK

Fiona Shields, Head of Photography, The Guardian, UK

Francesca Morisini, Photo Editor at Condé Nast Italia

Francis Hodgson, Professor of Photography, University of Brighton, UK

Francoise Callier, Program Coordinator, Angkor Photo Festival, France

Fred Ritchin, Dean of the School, International Center of Photography, USA

Frits Gierstberg, Curator, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Netherlands

Gaia Tripoli, Photo Editor, The New York Times, UK

Gail Marowitz, Creative Director, The Visual Strategist, USA

Genevieve Fussell, Senior Photo Editor, The New Yorker, USA

Gilles Steinmann, Photo Editor, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland

Giulia Ticozzi, Photo Editor, La Repubblica, Italy

Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs, National Media Museum, UK

Gunther Dietrich, Director, Photo Edition Gallery, Germany

Hamidah Glasgow, Executive Director/Curator, The Center for Fine Art Photography, USA

Hannah Watson, Director, TJ Boulting Gallery and Trolley Books, UK

Hideko Kataoka, Director of Photography, Newsweek, Japan

Ian Shive, CEO & Founder, Tandem Stills + Motion, USA

Iata Cannabrava, Photographer & Festival Organizer, Estudio Madalena, Brazil

Ihiro Hayami, Director, Tokyo Institute of Photography, Japan

Ishida Tetsuro, Curator, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan

Jacob Aue Sobol, Photographer, Magnum Photos, Denmark

James Estrin, Photographer/Lens Blog Editor, The New York Times, USA

Jean-Jacques Viau, Digital Marketing Manager, Leica Camera, Germany

Jeff Gates, Lead Producer, Smithsonian American Art Museum, USA

Jeff Moorfoot, Editor, BETA Developments in Photography, Australia

Jennifer Blessing, Senior Curator of Photography, Guggenheim, USA

Jennifer Murray, Executive Director, Filter Photo, USA

Jennifer Pastore, Executive Photography Director, WSJ Magazine, USA

Jenny Smets, Photo Editor, Vrij Nederland, Netherlands

Jessica Lim, Director, Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops, Cambodia

Jessie Wender, Photo Editor, The New York Times, USA

Joanna Milter, Director of Photography, THE NEW YORKER

Joanne Junga Yang, Director, Y&G Art, South Korea

Johan Sjöström, Curator of Exhibitions, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden

John Duncan, Editor, Source Photographic Review, UK

Jolene Hanson, Director, The G2 Gallery, USA

Jon Jones, Head of Photography, Tortoise Media, UK

Jorge de la Torriente, Owner / Photographer, De La Gallery, USA

Juli Lowe, Director, Catherine Edelman Gallery, USA

Julien Jourdes, Co-Founder and COO, Blink.la, USA

Kacy Burdette, Photo Editor, Adweek, USA

Karen Davis, Director/Co-owner, Davis Orton Gallery,USA

Karen McQuaid, Curator, The Photographers’ Gallery, UK

Karol Hordziej, Artistic Director, Krakow Photomonth, Poland

Kathy Moran, Senior Editor, National Geographic Magazine, USA

Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography, The New York Times Magazine, USA

Kaycee Olsen, Art Consultant & Fine Art Appraiser, Kevin Barry Fine Art, USA

Kenneth Dickerman, Photo Editor, The Washington Post, USA

Kottie Gaydos, Curator & Editor in Chief, Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, USA

Kristen Gresh, Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, USA

Lars Boering, Managing Director, World Press Photo, Netherlands

Laura Moya, Director, Photolucida, USA

Laura Pressley, Executive Director, CENTER, USA

Lauren Ford, Commissioning Director and Producer, Dazed Magazine, UK

Lekgetho Makola, Director, Market Photo Workshop, South Africa

Lesley Martin, Creative Director, Aperture Foundation, USA

Linda Benedict-Jones, Executive Director, Silver Eye Center for Photography, USA

Lisa J. Sutcliffe, Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum, USA

Louise Clements, Artistic Director, Derby QUAD Limited and FORMAT International Photography Festival, UK

Luc Rabaey, Owner, 44 Gallery, Belgium

Lucy Bell, Director, Lucy Bell Fine Art, UK

Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography, M Magazine, Le Monde, France

Maarten Schilt, Publisher & Gallerist, Schilt Publishing & Gallery, Netherlands

Magdalena Herrera, Director of Photography, GEO France, France

Manila Camarini, Photo Editor, D La Repubblica, Italy

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, President & Founder, Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for Documentary Photography & Film, USA

Marc Prüst, Artistic Director, Photography Consultant and Curator, Netherlands

Marcel Feil, Artistic Deputy Director, FOAM, Netherlands

Marcia Allert, Director of Photography, The Dallas Morning News, USA

Margaret Kelly, Director, Exhibition and Art Fairs, Pace/Macgill Gallery, USA

Margy Dudley, Owner, Open Shutter Gallery, USA

Marion Hislen, Déléguée à la photographie, Ministere de la Culture, France

Mark Murrmann, Photo Editor, Mother Jones, USA

Martin Parr, Photographer, Magnum Photos, UK

Mary Virginia Swanson, Photography Marketing Advisor, Educator, Author, USA

MaryAnn Camilleri, Founder, The Magenta Foundation, Canada

MaryAnne Golon, Director of Photography, The Washington Post, USA

Matthew Craig, Co-Founder and CEO, Blink, USA

Matthew Tucker, Broadcast Journalist/Picture Producer, BBC News Online, UK

Maya Byskov, Project Manager, Centrifuge, Germany

Mazie Harris, Assistant Curator, Getty Museum, USA

Meaghan Looram, Director of Photography, The New York Times, USA

Melissa Ryan, Deputy Director of Photography, Nature Conservancy Magazine, USA

Mia Diehl, Photography Director, Fortune Magazine, USA

Michael Dooney, Director, Jarvis Dooney Galerry, Germany

Michael Famighetti, Editor, Aperture Magazine, USA

Michael Foley, Owner, Foley Gallery, USA

Michael Hoppen, Owner, Michael Hoppen Gallery, UK

Michael Mack, Founder, MACK Books, UK

Michael Weir, Director/Founder, Belfast Photo Festival, UK

Michelle Dunn Marsh, Chief Strategist, Photographic Center Northwest, USA

Miyako Yoshinaga, Director, Mikayo Yoshinga Gallery, USA

Molly Roberts, Senior Photography Editor, National Geographic Magazine, USA

Monica Allende, Artistic Director, GetxoPhoto & Landskrona Foto Festival, UK

Moritz Neumüller, Academic Director of Photography, IED Madrid, Spain

Moshe Rosenzveig, Founder and Director, Head On Photo Festival, Australia

Muhammed Muheisen, Pulitzer Prize-winning Photojournalist, Netherlands

Mutsuko Ota, Editorial Director, IMA magazine, Japan

Nadav Kander, Award-Winning Photographer, UK

Nakamori Yasufumi, Assistant Curator, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA

Natalie Matutschovsky, Photography & Content, Apple, USA

Natasha Egan, Executive Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, USA

Newsha Tavakolian, Photographer, Magnum Photos, Iran

Nicolas Jimenez, Director of Photography, Le Monde, France

Oliva Maria Rubio, Directora Artística de La Fábrica, PhotoEspaña

Olivier Laurent, Photography Editor, The Washington Post, USA

Patricia Lanza, Art Consultant & Creative Director, USA

Paul di Felice, Senior Lecturer in Visual Arts, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director, Griffin Museum of Photography, USA

Pavel Banka, Editor in Chief, Fotograf Magazine, Czech Republic

Paweł Szypulski, Curator, Krakow Month of Photography, Poland

Peggy Sue Amison, Artistic Director, East Wing Gallery, Qatar

Phillip Prodger, Senior Research Scholar, Yale Center For British Art, USA

Raffaela Lepanto, Photo Editor/University of the Arts London, UK

Rebecca Morse, Curator, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, LACMA, USA

Regina Maria Anzenberger, Founder, Anzenberger Gallery, Austria

Régina Monfort, Photo Editor, FotoEvidence, USA

Richard A. Brooks, Deputy Photo Director, Asia Pacific, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Hong Kong

Richard Renaldi, Photographer, Richard Renaldi Photography, USA

Roger Archibald, Photo Editor, Society of Environmental Journalists, USA

Ron Haviv, Visual Journalist, Filmmaker, Co-Founder, The VII Foundation, USA

Roxanne Behr, Visuals Director, GQ Magazine, USA

Roy Kahmann, Founder & Owner, Kahmann Gallery | GUP Magazine, Netherlands

Rui Prata, Director, Museu da Imagem, Portugal

Ruth Offen, Director/Curator, WaterWorks Gallery, USA

Sacha Lecca, Deputy Photo Editor, Rolling Stone Magazine, USA

Sadie Quarrier, Senior Photo Editor, National Geographic Magazine, USA

Sam Barzilay, Creative Director, United Photo Industries and Photoville, USA

Sarah Leen, Director of Photography, National Geographic Magazine, USA

Sean Corcoran, Curator of Prints and Photographs, Museum of the City of New York, USA

Sean O’Hagan, Critic and Writer, The Guardian and The Observer, UK

Selva Barni, Founder & Editor, Fantom Editions, Italy

Serge Belet, Senior Exhibitions Manager, National Gallery of Canada, Canada

Shoair Mavlian, Director & Curator, PHOTOWORKS, UK

Silvia Mangialardi, Artistic Director, Encuentros Abiertos, Argentina

Simon Bainbridge, Editorial Director, British Journal of Photography, UK

Siobhán Bohnacker, Senior Photo Editor, The New Yorker, USA

Stacey Baker, Associate Photo Editor, The New York Times Magazine, USA

Stephen Mayes, Executive Director, Tim Hetherington Trust, USA

Stephen Perloff, Editor, The Photo Review, USA

Steven Evans, Executive Director, FotoFest International, USA

Sujong Song, Independent Photography Professional, South Korea

Susan Spiritus, Owner, Susan Spiritus Gallery, USA

Susan White, Photography Director, WeWork, USA

Susan Zadeh, Founder/Photography Director, Eyemazing Editions, Netherlands

Taj Forer, Cofounder, Fabl and Daylight Books, USA

Thomas Seelig, Director, Folkwang Museum, Switzerland

Todd Hido, Artist and Photographer, USA

Todd James, Senior Photo Editor, National Geographic Society, USA

Todd Tubutis, Director, Art Museum of West Virginia University, USA

Tomoka Aya, Owner/Director, The Third EyeGallery Aya, Tokyo, Japan

Ute Noll, Photo Director, Du Kulturmagazin, Germany

Volker Lensch, Photo Editor, Stern Magazine, Germany

Whitney Johnson, VP Visual Experiences, National Geographic, USA

Wim Melis, Curator, Noorderlicht Photography, Netherlands

Xavier Canonne, Director, Musée de la Photographie, Belgium

Xavier Soule, CEO, Agence VU & Gallery VU, France

Yasunori Hoki, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Super Labo Publishing, Japan

Yuko Yamaji, Curator, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan

Yumi Goto, Curator, Editor, Publisher, Founder, Reminders Project, Japan

Yuting Duan, Festival Founder and Director, Lianzhou Foto, China

International Press Exposure

Each year, LensCulture award winners receive a variety of press coverage from publications and media outlets around the world. Winners, finalists and entrants have been featured in such major publications as BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, L’Œil de la Photographie, Huffington Post, Spiegel Online, The British Journal of Photography, and The Telegraph as well as many other national and international media outlets. This kind of press exposure can lead to viral, global recognition of your work.

Left: The winners of the Magnum Photography Awards 2017 were featured in BBC Culture and The Guardian among many other places.

Opportunity for LensCulture Instagram Takeover

Our editorial team will pick a number of photographers from the winners and finalists to feature as week-long takeovers on LensCulture’s Instagram feed. The popular feed, which has over 600,000 followers from all over the world, is an excellent platform for photographers to showcase their latest projects to an international audience and grow their own following. Previous takeovers have included Alec Soth, Bruce Gilden, Matt Stuart, Diana Markosian, Randy Olson, Gerd Ludwig, and many others.

Photographers: Zoe Childerley (left) and Tariq Zaidi (right)

Other Awards & Benefits Include:

Immediate Exposure Within the Global Photography Community: Just by entering, your work will be reviewed by editors from LensCulture for immediate exposure in our Competition Gallery and across all our online channels, reaching a combined audience of over 2.8 million.
Permanent Exhibition in the LensCulture Online Gallery: The selected work will be featured in a permanent exhibition in LensCulture’s online gallery. It will be accessible to photography professionals from all over the world, including gallerists, photo editors and curators.
A Free LensCulture Portfolio Account to Showcase Your Work: Get a FREE LensCulture Portfolio Account when you submit a full series or 5 single images to the Exposure Awards! Our platform offers an easy-to-use, professional-looking display for your photographs.
LensCulture Network Membership: Winning photographers and the jurors’ picks will receive membership to the LensCulture Network, our invitation-only community of internationally-recognized photography talent. Network members benefit from entry into all of our annual competitions at no additional cost. Visit the LensCulture Network page to learn about additional benefits.

Get A Free

Submission Review

Enter the LensCulture Exposure Awards 2018 and get a free Submission Review of your work. This is an opportunity for you to receive critical and constructive feedback on your photography from top photo editors, curators, publishers, gallerists, educators, critics, consultants, and other industry professionals. These reviews not only help you have more success in future photo competitions but provide major insight into moving forward creatively and professionally.

Read what LensCulture’s community of photographers is saying about Submission Reviews:

Thank you! This was really a terrific and thoughtful review. It’s tough once you hit a point in your work to get the type of critical review that pushes you forward, and I think you guys do as good a job as I’ve seen given the format and resources (i.e. not an in-person critique or formal portfolio review). In fact, your reviewers’ suggestions on a previous project helped me be named as PhotoLucida finalist in 2016 which led to a show at the Annenberg Space for Photography in LA.

— Mike Magers

See Mike’s full review »

This review helped me much more than I was expecting!! I was a bit lost selecting the photos for this portfolio, and now I have a better idea on what to do and how to proceed with this idea! Again, thank you!!!

— Andrea Schmidt

See Andrea’s full review »

Wow! Thank you so much for the review on my submission. I wasn’t sure if submitting my work would be worth the price since I’m an amateur, but to receive the high quality feedback that I did is really a great surprise. It is the kind of honest review that is difficult to find, but it gave me both praise and critique and was very helpful. Thank you to your entire team for delivering a superior experience!

— Stephen Hoppe

See Stephen’s full review »

Learn more and read the actual submission reviews

Show Us

Your Work

Take part in this celebratory year as we look forward to another decade of exposure through these Awards! Our photography competitions are different. We believe every photographer in the world should be able to get expert feedback on their work. The sooner you enter, the more opportunities you have to share your work and engage with the global photo community. Unlike most competitions, you can change your entry after you submit and all the way up to the deadline, so get started today and don’t miss this opportunity!

The Exposure Awards is our largest annual competition, attracting worldwide press coverage, industry attention and the support of photography-lovers around the globe. We welcome submissions from photographers with no limitations on age, level, genre, or location. For further information, please see our FAQ.

open to all types of photography

FINE ART • PORTRAIT • LANDSCAPE • ARCHITECTURE • INTERIORS • ALTERNATIVE PROCESS • PHOTOJOURNALISM •
DOCUMENTARY • CONCEPTUAL • VISUAL STORYTELLING
STILL LIFE • B & W • NATURE • STREET PHOTOGRAPHY • ABSTRACT • EXPERIMENTAL • STAGED

Are you a currently enrolled student?

Get a 30% discount on your entry fee. Start your submission and select the option to register as a student. Your discount will then be automatically applied to your entry.

Receive a free Submission Review!

Everyone who enters with 5+ photos is eligible to get expert written feedback about their submission!

Closed for new entries.

Career

Success

For over a dozen years, LensCulture has been committed to helping photographers of all levels move forward creatively and professionally. In that time, we have heard from hundreds of photographers who were able to achieve breakthroughs in their careers through participation in the LensCulture community. Here are six examples of LensCulture award-winners moving forward—

Featured in Photograph Magazine

After I was honored in LensCulture’s Exposure Awards, the project received significant attention in China, bringing interviews and feature articles from the state news agency Xinhua, People’s Daily, and more. I’m also thrilled to say that the highly respected Photograph Magazine will be featuring my series in its next issue. You guys rock and I’m beyond being grateful for everything you’ve offered!

Amy Luo
Student Spotlight, Exposure Awards 2017

Art Fair Success

Shortly after the publication of the finalists of the LensCulture Exposure Awards, many magazines contacted me to publish my work “Boarded-up Houses” all over the world. I was also selected as a young talent for the Contemporary Art Ruhr Art Fair in Germany and the work was also given an honorable mention at the International Photography Awards.

Katharina Fitz
Student Spotlight, Exposure Awards 2017

Publication in Times of London

Since being selected as a finalist in EA17, my work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals in Spain, India, Italy, France, Brazil, San Francisco and more. The feature published on LensCulture after my win led to my image being published in the Times of London. Thank you LensCulture for having such a great competition and an extremely professional team!

Tariq Zaidi
Finalist, Exposure Awards 2017

International Exhibitions and Interviews

The award led to a lot of exposure as well as licensing of the images, a couple of exhibitions, and a ton of interviews, so it has truly been great. A lot of doors have been opened because of this. I’m now starting to work on my next project!

Rasmus Degnbol
Finalist, Exposure Awards 2017

Published in AINT-BAD, Lenscratch and more

The exposure on LensCulture generated some interest in this series especially from online publications around the world. My series was featured in AINT-BAD, Lenscratch, Wired Japan, and Il Post Italy, among others. Since the award, I have also held a series of solo shows around the US.

Astrid Reischwitz
Finalist, Exposure Awards 2017

Featured in BBC and Daily Telegraph

The Exposure Awards were a very good experience for me, with my photo featuring on the BBC and Daily Telegraph and Amateur Photographer, amongst others. I’ve also had requests to print the image (for a fee) in two publications (one in France, one in Germany) next month.

Alan O’Riordan
Finalist, Exposure Awards 2017

More Success Stories

Meet the photographers that are moving forward in their careers and gaining inspiration from the LensCulture community every day. You could be next—and we want to help you get there! Click on the photographer’s photo to hear how their careers were impacted by winning LensCulture awards.

Tadas Kazakevičius
Lithuania
Tadas Kazakevičius
Soon to Be Gone
Juror’s Pick,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2017
After the Exposure Awards, my series picked up good speed. Of course, the main thing is that I got encouragement that the project was good.
During this year I was a finalist in the International Photography Awards and included in its exhibition in London at the Royal Photographic Society. I was also shortlisted in the portrait category in the Sony World Photography Awards and received the National Award. I was also featured in a few important publications worldwide and in Lithuania.
The feedback from your reviewer helped me to continue the project, as it is an ongoing series. I got some really great contacts and had the opportunity to meet them. I am working on my new series and I'm finding it much easier after the self-assurance I got from LensCulture.
Richard Ansett
United Kingdom
Richard Ansett
Tina and Geoff
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2017
The exposure of the image of Geoff and Tina’s transformation was very welcome. The metaphor of the timeline of mortality to examine our persona was very important to me, and I hope the extensive exposure from LensCulture lent further credibility and authenticity to my practice in exploring all issues that challenge cultural norms. The same work that was recognized in the Exposure Awards was included in the Arte Laguna Prize which exhibited at the Arsenale di Venezia and was then included in a group exhibition called “Gender, Transgender and Psychoanalysis” in London.
Since then, I have been commissioned to work on a series of portraits called Genderquake exploring the many different faces of gender dysphoria. Other recent commissions have dealt with teen cancer, new cancer treatments and Aspergers. I was also commissioned to photograph Martin Parr at his London studio. This was acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in London for its permanent collection. Any recognition is very welcome and it emboldens me to keep going and believe in myself and my practice. So thanks!
Hossein Velayati
Iran
Hossein Velayati
The School of Death
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2017
In the past year I completed my collection of Iraqi war pictures and traveled to Iraq for the liberation of Mosul. I was also included in an article on LensCulture that mentioned photographers covering the liberation of Mosul. In between, I also covered the usual events in Iran. After becoming a finalist last year I know I have a better understanding of professional photography and the business of it. The experience made it easier to do my current projects. Many thanks to LensCulture.
Nadir Bucan
Turkey
Nadir Bucan
Under the Shadow of the Sun
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2017
After the Exposure Awards, my work was published in the following publications: İgnant, My Modern Met, Kwerfeldein, Art Upon, Fotoblogia, Lonely Planet, Fubiz and P3. My work will also be published two printed magazines (Les Others and Renk) next month.
I also exhibited my work at the following festivals: La Quatrieme Image International Photo Festival in Paris, France, and Songzhuang International Photo Biennale in Beijing, China.
Finally, I was also selected as the 1st Prize Winner for The Independent Photographer Documentary Award 2017 as well as a Finalist in The Independent Photographer Emerging Talent Award 2017 and the Documentary Category in the 10th Pollux Awards. Culture Trip also included me in a list of the 10 best Turkish photographers.
Sulejman Bijedic
Italy
Sulejman Bijedic
In Memory of Abdulah Boškailo
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2017
As a result of the 2017 LensCulture Exposure Awards, things have surely improved for me. The visibility that my work has achieved thanks to the award has been remarkable.
After the award, I got a small paper publication and a feature in the well-known French magazine *6Mois*. Also, this year I was awarded two cash grants that will allow me to continue working in 2018 and start dedicating myself to my next long-term project.
I have put up two exhibitions that have received great interest from the public, and I have another one in Sarajevo shortly. The prize has definitely given great visibility to the story I want to keep on telling, which is what I'm most interested in!
Sylvain Heraud
France
Sylvain Heraud
Les Symboles Invisibles
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2017
Being selected as a finalist in the Awards brought positive news indeed. I was contacted by several websites and was published in several online publications. The best were National Geographic Travel and Wired! Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Unrated, and a few other sites published my work as well. I was also really glad to be included in The Best of LensCulture. The Awards definitely helped my project receive exposure! Many thanks!
Frank Herfort
Germany
Frank Herfort
Fairy Tale from Russia
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
After receiving the Emerging Talent Award, I received immense feedback from people around the world. This helped me to finally sell some fine art prints via my online print shop. Several magazine publications of the work were followed by hundreds of blogs and online magazines. I then went on to sell some large gallery prints in Moscow. LensCulture gave me the confidence that I can turn my passion of image-making into a full-time pursuit and be less dependant on commercial work. That’s a great feeling. Doing your own stuff and working every day on your ideas is much more satisfying than focusing on commercial work. Thanks for everything LensCulture does!
Jonghun Lee
South Korea
Jonghun Lee
Beyond the Wall
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
I have been very busy since last year’s Emerging Talent Award. It was a tremendous thing for me to have been a winner in the competition. After the announcement, a Korean news channel showed great interest in reporting about the award and my work. Many gallery representatives then expressed interest in my photography. The same work will be exhibited in Europe next year and in Korea in the future. Thus, it was a wonderful opportunity to be selected for this prize—I give my infinite gratitude to LensCulture for making all this possible.
Marcus DeSieno
United States
Marcus DeSieno
Surveillance Landscapes
Emerging Talent,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
Because of the press from the Emerging Talent awards, I had my work featured in the New Journal of Zurich, one of the oldest newspapers in the world. My series was also written about in a number of publications, from Fast Company to Wired. I was also fortunate to show the work at the Aperture Foundation in their Summer Open exhibition, titled “On Freedom.” Next month I’ll be showing at Candela Gallery in Richmond for an exhibition “The Theory of Place.” Lastly, I’m working with Daylight Books on the production of my first monograph due out next summer, "No Man’s Land: Views from a Surveillance State."
Sheng Wen Lo
Taiwan
Sheng Wen Lo
White Bear
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
I have had wide success since last year’s Emerging Talent. In terms of publication, the work was shown in National Geographic, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Der Spiegel, Wired, de Volkskrant and beyond. It was also exhibited at a range of festivals—Organ Vida (Croatia), FORMAT (UK), Fotofestival Naarden (Netherlands), Belfast Photo Festival (UK) and LianZhou Foto Festival (China). In addition, it was named the winner of the Portfolio Review at FORMAT.
Philip Kanwischer
Canada
Philip Kanwischer
Inhospitably Ours
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
Since the award, I am actively selling fine art prints and frames on my website. I have also shown my work in a number of exhibitions recently, including solo shows at Resolve Photo (Animals on Display, 2017) and at Holy Grill 2017. My largest solo show to date was held at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium (Inhospitably Ours, 2017). I also have had a number of online interviews as a result of my LensCulture exposure including Tabi Labo, a Japanese online publication and Feature Shoot. In the fall, I will be starting my MFA at NSCAD in Halifax where I will continue to deepen my photographic practice.
Rahima Gambo
Nigeria
Rahima Gambo
Education is Forbidden
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
Since being a winner in the Emerging Talents award, I won the Fourthwall Books African Photobook Award that will enable me to publish a first edition photobook of the “Education is Forbidden” project in an edition of 500. I was also selected to be among the 12 participants for the prestigious World Press Photo Joop Swart masterclass in 2017. The recognition from LensCulture helped me gain pivotal exposure for my work and gave me a validation that I was on the right path. Many thanks again for the opportunity!
Ofir Barak
Israel
Ofir Barak
Mea Shearim
Winner,
Magnum Photography Awards 2016
Winning the Magnum Photography Awards has been a really powerful experience, as it should for an award of such magnitude. I received a warm recognition from local press and international media. Opportunities from different organizations and publications appeared at my doorstep and increased my popularity. But I think the most beneficial part from winning the award was that I was able to translate virtual connections to real life relationships. These contacts have pushed me to become a better photographer. So, I would highly recommend entering to any fellow photographer. Work hard, dream big and apply.
Annabel Oosteweeghel
The Netherlands
Annabel Oosteweeghel
Everlasting
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2015
Since my latest project “Everlasting,” which was named a finalist in the Exposure Awards 2015, a lot has happened! My work was published in different newspapers, magazines and online magazines. I was interviewed by a Dutch radio program and then invited onto Dutch television! After this, I was ask to make a new project by the Museum Hilversum—the museum even paid all the costs to make this new project! The exhibition was shown at Hilversum and is now going to travel to Rotterdam and then Med Photofest in Sicily.
Matej Povse
Slovenia
Matej Povse
Refugees on the Balkan Route
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2015
When I won a LensCulture Exposure award, it was a confirmation of my work, that I’m on the right path. The announcement was followed by much more than I expected—the opportunity to participate in discussions, submission reviews and exchange views with industry professionals as well as other photographers. Later, I discovered how these awards are respected by editors and curators around the world. Many of them are interested in publishing or exhibiting my work, all because it was acknowledged and awarded by LensCulture. It goes without saying: the entry fee has paid for itself several times.
Eugenio Grosso
United Kingdom
Eugenio Grosso
Heavily Loaded
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2014
Since I won the LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards, my series "Heavily Loaded" won the Flash Forward Magenta Foundation 2015 and has been featured in its catalogue. The work has also been shortlisted for the BarTur Photobook Awards in 2015 and I had the chance to present it at The Photographers Gallery in London...To win the LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards gave me high visibility and now I can see the results. I am glad I applied for it and would definitely do it again.
Andreas Olesen
Denmark
Andreas Olesen
Estate
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2014
Being chosen for a LensCulture Award resulted in a huge and immediate jump in the amount of attention my work receives. I was photographing on a small island north of Sardinia when I got the news, and by the time I got back to my computer, my inbox was flooded with mails from well-wishers and print purchase inquiries. Within a few weeks, I had gotten several interview requests, a publishing request and hefty jump in traffic on my website. Since then, I have organized an exhibition of the work in California and I think that winning the award definitely helped me secure this show.
Lucy Hilmer
USA
Lucy Hilmer
Birthday Suit
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2014
For decades I kept my photographs in boxes in a closet, or at best, on walls of my small, apartment living room. Now, thanks to LensCulture’s amazing international reach, one of my projects, “Birthday Suits: A Woman, Her Camera & Time” is known all over the world. At my age, it’s such a gift nowing that what I’ve spent a lifetime doing has touched others. I’m still getting emails from women and men of all ages and countries thanking me for what I’ve done. Wow! What a gift that is, and without you and your wonderful website, none of this would have been possible.
Susana Cabañero
Spain
Susana Cabañero
Addis Ababa: The Epiphany
Finalist,
Street Photography Awards 2015
Being named a finalist and getting published on LensCulture has given me international exposure and recognition. I was contacted by an important press photo agency and my projects have been featured in magazines like Xataka Foto, Vision Magazine and exhibited in galleries and festivals in Spain (PhotoEspaña), Greece (Athens Photo Festival) and Turkey (Second Documentary Photography Days). The award gave me a lot of confidence and motivation to keep on working and show my work, all thanks to LensCulture.
Alia Ali
Yemen
Alia Ali
Liberty
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2015
Since the LensCulture Exposure Awards and the exhibition at PhotoLondon, quite a lot has happened! I was exhibited in group shows in Jordan, Vietnam, Malaysia the UK and the United States in galleries, festivals and academic settings. I was also accepted to a series of residencies, stretching from Mexico to Japan and then Hanoi. Finally, I won a special award from my university, as an alumnae of Wellesley College!

Camille Michel
France
Camille Michel
The Last Men
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
After being published on LensCulture, my work received a lot of attention — the good news came one after the other! I received other awards such as "Sony Photo Magazine" award and the "30 Under 30 Women Photographer 2016." The project was published in magazines, books, as well as in newspapers such as La Croix (France), CityZine (China). The series was exhibited or projected in several places in France, England, Argentina, United States, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, and Russia. And my work will be exhibited at the Filature Scène Nationale de Mulhouse in France in 2017 for my first major personal exhibition! So, thank you to LensCulture, as the award enabled me to get introduced to many interesting people, to spread my work, and to pursue my projects.
Joshua Rashaad McFadden
United States
Joshua Rashaad McFadden
After Selma
Juror's Pick,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
A lot has happened since becoming one of the Emerging Talents in 2015! I have won additional awards, including an International Photography Award (IPA Award) 1st place: Social Cause for "After SELMA". I also won the Society of Photographic Education Award and Scholarship (South East Region) for After SELMA. I have traveled all over the USA doing talks about After Selma. I have been accepted into the New York Times Portfolio Review 2016.
Roderick McNicol
Australia
Roderick McNicol
A Portrait Revisited: 1986, 2006
Juror’s Pick,
Portrait Awards 2016
Having established some local recognition here in Australia for my quiet, somewhat obsessive portrait photography, I was keen to see if I could encourage a broader international profile for my work. So I decided to ‘fire an arrow into the dark’ and send in an entry to LensCulture. I am so glad I did! As an award winner, I was immediately given my own LensCulture profile page, and my series—A Portrait Revisited: 1986, 2006—was widely disseminated through the broad LensCulture network. Along with the other Portrait Award winners, my work was then exhibited by LensCulture at Photo London. I even took the long flight from Australia to see my work in person at the Somerset House. In the end, I was delighted with the response my work received—thousands of shares and likes from all around the world. My arrow into the dark really had hit its mark! Thank you LensCulture!
Ian Hughes
UK
Ian Hughes
Around the Floodlit Grounds
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
Being named an Emerging Talent in 2015 was the best thing that has happened to me in my 30 years as a photographer. Before that, my pictures had only really been looked at by friends, family and occasionally been shown in various publications...but I woke up one morning to messages from friends congratulating me on having my photos in their UK morning newspapers like Metro and The Daily Mail. They went viral online overnight. Gemany’s two main magazines Spiegel and Stern both ran long interviews with me about them and so did Grazia in France. I recommend anyone who is serious about their photography to enter this year’s competition. It really does provide much needed exposure and the LensCulture team are extremely supportive. I can’t thank them enough.
Laura Hospes
The Netherlands
Laura Hospes
UCP-UMCG
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
It started with an e-mail from the Daily Mail, after they had seen the article on LensCulture and Spiegel. They asked a couple of questions and put it on their website. After that, a bomb exploded in my mailbox. I got interviewed by The HuffingtonPost, Redbook, Feature Shoot, Refinery29, WunderWeib and many more. Then, I found myself on the frontpage of Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Empowering Woman and so many more…This media attention resulted in the sharing of my story world-wide as well as selling many prints and books. I’ve even been offered an opportunity to exhibit in New York City!
Joan Alvado
Spain
Joan Alvado
School of Shepherds
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
Just after LensCulture published my work, I received an inquiry to publish the story in the Washington Post InSight photo section. Thanks to that, a filmmaker from NYC found me and proposed to make a movie about the School of Shepherds—we are into filming that movie right now! So the exposure has been high and produced real results very fast.
Mathieu Willcocks
United Kingdom
Mathieu Willcocks
Mediterranean Migration
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2016
It’s been an interesting year since winning the Emerging Talent award. The biggest news would be also winning a World Press Photo Award for the same project. The photographs were also published quite widely: The New Republic ran an 8-page spread and it was the cover story for Panorama, a major weekly magazine in Italy. The work was also selected for several festivals and exhibitions: at the India Photo Festival, Brazil Photo Fest and the Photolux Biennale in Lucca, Italy. That’s not to mention the 100+ cities where the World Press Photo exhibition will be shown.
Pierre Abensur
France
Pierre Abensur
Subjective Trophies
Finalist,
Portrait Awards 2016
After the awards were published and I was selected as a finalist in the LensCulture competition, I was contacted by many websites for interviews. Several of them (Slate, Huffington Post, Wired, and FotoRoom, to name a few) published my work online. I was also selected to be a member of a jury in one of your concurrent photography awards! All in all, I had the chance to present my work in several different countries around the world. My exhibition at Paris’ Museum of Hunting and Nature in 2015 had already brought me some visibility, but this opportunity gave the project a jump-start. There are also two exhibitions currently planned for hunting museums in Finland; they will start in February 2017.
Polly Braden
United Kingdom
Polly Braden
Great Interactions: Life with Learning Disabilities and Autism
Juror’s Pick,
Portrait Awards 2016
Since the LensCulture Portrait Awards, one of the photographs from my book Great Interactions: Life with Learning Disabilities and Autism, published by Dewi Lewis, won silver at the Royal Photographic Society. After the LensCulture competition, the Guardian weekend magazine ran an 11 page spread on the work and also included two dedicated photo galleries for the series. Additionally, David Campany and I published a book called Adventures in the Lea Valley; that series was also published by the Guardian. I am now working with the arts organization MultiStory on a book and exhibition called Fit to Plead. It’s about people with learning disabilities and autism, specifically their journeys through the criminal justice system.
Peter Braunholz
Germany
Peter Braunholz
Topophilia
Finalist,
Street Photography Awards 2016
The fact that my work has been chosen as LensCulture Awards finalist has been helpful for me mainly in two ways. First, the large number of festival screenings all over the world, which would be hard to get otherwise: San Francisco, Krakow, Brighton, Athens, Tokyo, San Diego, Arles. Places where your work will be seen and that you can use for your communications—it’s priceless. But even more important for me has been the high-quality response on my work by the LensCulture reviewers. If you want to find out what is substantial in your work, if you want to improve precision both in form and content, as well as writing about your photography, LensCulture reviews can be very helpful. Thank you LensCulture!
Sylvain Biard
France
Sylvain Biard
Les Dominants
3rd Place Series Winner,
Street Photography Awards 2016
Right after the LensCulture Street Photography awards, my work was featured in online photography magazines and blogs, including some prominent ones such as Ignant.de. Later, one of the photos made the cover of the Bavarian State Opera magazine. In May, through my collective Fragment, we took part in a street photography exhibition called Street Sans Frontières at a gallery space in Paris.
Mankichi Shinshi
Japan
Mankichi Shinshi
Full of Null
Juror’s Pick,
Street Photography Awards 2016
For me, the confidence I got was the biggest prize. After that, my project was published in numerous magazines, including Leica Online (Germany), C41 (Italy), Pool Resources (international) and more. As a result, many people saw my photos again. I’m very happy with the results.
Candace Karch
USA
Candace Karch
Ms. Ulmer: 90 Years an Artist
3rd Place Series Winner,
Portrait Awards 2015
I have been working on the pages of this book for a long time and FINALLY with this win I am getting the attention I need to move forward—and it is keeping me motivated!! After the winners were announced, Feature Shoot Magazine interviewed me for their blog and The Guardian also contacted me to feature my website and the “Ms. Ulmer” series in an online gallery. My hope is to find a publisher and get this book in print by the end of the year! And as an extra bonus, I will have Ms. Ulmer at the book signing.
Daesung Lee
France
Daesung Lee
Futuristic Archaeology
Winner,
Visual Storytelling Awards 2014
“After receiving a LensCulture Visual Storytelling award, I was contacted by “Courrier International” a French weekly magazine! My work will be published on the 8th of January. Thanks a lot, again, to LensCulture. It is very worthy to apply for awards on LensCulture.”
Daisuke Takakura
Japan
Daisuke Takakura
monodramatic
Winner,
Visual Storytelling 2014
My work “monodramatic” was featured in U.S. news site Mashable! It was shared by over 2.2k people. What a nice surprise. It’s thanks to you and the LensCulture team.
Daniele Pintore
United Kingdom
Daniele Pintore
The Painting is Me
Featured in LensCulture Spotlight
“Since my work was recognized by LensCulture, my project “The Painting Is Me" was published by Shot Directory. I also showed the work in a group exhibition in the summer of 2013. Finally, I was contacted by the agency Millennium and asked to be part of their archive. This felt like one of the biggest goals I had reached thus far. My photographic career continues to grow and change but LensCulture was the first major institution to celebrate and expose my work.”
Debi Cornwall
United States
Debi Cornwall
Gitmo at Home, Gitmo at Play
Finalist
Visual Storytelling Awards 2014
Many thanks to everyone at LensCulture for recognizing my work and offering me your platform for wider exposure! As you can see, it has helped to catapult my work before a worldwide audience, including showing at the 2015 Belfast Photo Festival opening June 6, being shortlisted for the Festival Images Vevey Photography Award and the 2015 Athens Photo Festival, and showing my first solo exhibition, opening at Fovea Exhibitions in Beacon, NY on June 13.
Douglas Ljungkvist
United States
Douglas Ljungkvist
Ocean Beach
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2013
“I got a lot of FB Likes and increased web traffic. Also, lots of folks were really impressed with me being Finalist which goes to show the respect people have for LensCulture.”
Ellie Davies
United Kingdom
Ellie Davies
Smoke and Mirrors
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2010
“Being selected for a LensCulture award in 2010 had a fantastic impact on my career, giving me worldwide exposure and leading to six solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions throughout Europe, Russia, North America and Malaysia over the last four years, as well as inclusion in Arles, Singapore and Norderlicht Photofestivals in 2012. My work was published in magazines around the world and also included in a number of books, most notably WUD: Four Fictional Walks in the Woods, a hand-bound limited-edition photobook published by Tangarine Press.

The LensCulture Awards were one of the best awards I’ve won because of the touring exhibition and also due to the continued LensCulture website page give my work ongoing exposure. But I think most importantly I love the strength and diversity of the work that LensCulture promotes and selects in its awards, and I’m very happy to have been included in this.”
Fulvio Bugani
Italy
Fulvio Bugani
Waria: Being a Different Muslim
Finalist,
Portrait Awards 2015
Regarding my latest success: my whole work has been published on TIME LightBox. I've been invited to take part in some photo festivals, such as Lucca PhotoLux. I've also been contacted by Amnesty International to do an exhibition with them in Rome during a summer festival. And I'm now collaborating with the Leica Store in Bologna who will exhibit my work in July.
Kurt Simonson
United States
Kurt Simonson
Northwoods Journals
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
It's been a really busy and fantastic year...biggest of all, my "Northwoods Journals" book was released in November! It's been mentioned in a few year-end / best of list — most notably by Photo Eye, Lenscratch and Flak Photo. Also, just yesterday, American Photo featured the project on their front page! So that's just a few things...all very exciting!
Michael Joseph
United States
Michael Joseph
Lost and Found
Finalist,
Portrait Awards 2015
Since the announcement, I have been contacted and reconnected with a lot of the traveling kids that I have photographed. I have been contacted by family members (moms and aunts) of these kids who are thanking me for making their children seen. One aunt wrote a beautiful essay as a reaction to the image that I took of her nephew...All in all, this exposure has helped bring about more discussion about my project and helped me connect to people who will add to the depth and understanding of my subjects. Some great news—two blogs have already committed to featuring my project and then I was contacted by CNN PhotoBlog! This has been nothing but a positive experience.
Philipp Englehorn
Hong Kong
Philipp Englehorn
Qingdao Beach
2nd Place Series Winner,
LensCulture Portrait Awards 2015
In just three weeks since the announcement, Photo District News (PDN) picked up my swimmer series for online usage. S Moda Magazine, a suppplement to El País journal in Spain, asked me for some images too. I used my 2nd place win for a general promotion email to all my clients and magazine contacts, which led to a job with Afar Magazine!
Tetsuya Kusu
Japan
Tetsuya Kusu
American Archives
Finalist,
Portrait Awards 2015
I had some successes after I received the LensCulture prize: A commercial gallery in Japan asked me to exhibit my work in May 2016—they are a very famous photo gallery in Japan. They will deal not only my prints but also publish my photo book. Thus, I have a big chance to make my career as an artist next year, going to Photo Fever in Paris with them and then go to business across the United States. All thanks to LensCulture!!!
Thomas Kiefer
United States
Thomas Kiefer
El Sueno Americano Project
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
A high-profile photo agency saw my work and contacted me within a week of the announcement of the Emerging Talent awards. Since then, my project has been featured in magazines and publications in Europe, Asia and other markets that I never could have imagined. The project continues to grow in stature and visibility due directly to the Lens Culture recognition. I almost didn't enter the competition because of that familiar refrain of self-doubt. So thanks to LensCulture for what you do!
Frances Denny
United States
Frances Denny
Let Virtue Be Your Guide
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
Just in the last 6 months or so, I went on press for my first monograph—a book of my series "Let Virtue Be Your Guide" that will be released by Radius Books in May 2016! I also had my first solo exhibition at ClampArt in NYC in November 2015 (and receiving ongoing representation with the gallery). Finally, I went on to win the PDN 30 for 2016 as well.
Sandra Pereznieto
Mexico
Sandra Pereznieto
Back to Silence
Finalist,
Street Photography Awards 2015
Back to Silence was featured at the Slideshow Event for the exhibition “LIFE: Life A Journey Through Time" at the Annenberg Space for Photography in March 2016. This one-night special program highlighted the work of photographers who examine a variety of topics related to the overall theme of the exhibition. The project was also featured at Xataka Foto, where both Spanish photographers that were finalists of the Street Photography Award were published.
Denny Renshaw
United States
Denny Renshaw
Street Stories
Finalist,
Street Photography Awards 2015
Last October, I was shooting on the street in Tokyo when I received the email stating I was a finalist in the LensCulture Street Photography Awards. This good news was a substantial encouragement for me to continue towards my goals in street photography. Before being recognized by LensCulture I had not shown my street photography to anyone outside of a few close friends. Since winning, my work has received a lot of attention and I have made many new friends within the street photography community.
Steve Scallone
Australia
Steve Scallone
Untitled
Finalist,
Street Photography Awards 2015
It has been an amazing year as I’ve won a few awards and presented a solo exhibition in Sydney, Australia called "Into the White". I also ended up winning the 2015 Australian Travel Photographer of the year (National Award) and the 2015 Victorian Professional Photographer and 2016 Victorian Travel Photographer of the year (State Awards). Love what LensCulture is doing...fantastic!!
Niki Boon
New Zealand
Niki Boon
Childhood in the Raw
Finalist,
LensCulture Exposure Awards 2015
Since being selected as finalist in the Exposure Awards this year, I have had requests from various international websites and publications to feature my work, which has allowed me to have some valuable exposure. This competition was the first I have ever placed in and it has given me the courage to enter more over the course of the year—which has allowed for further exposure of my current body of work. I want to thank LensCulture for providing a wonderful platform for this. It has certainly given me the exposure and confidence to take my pictures elsewhere.
Matjaz Krivic
Slovenia
Matjaz Krivic
Digging The Future
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2015
Thanks to my LensCulture Instagram takeover, then being named a finalist in the LensCulture Exposure Awards and then an award from World Press Photo, my professional career really got a booster this year! Specifically, being named a finalist in the LensCulture Exposure Awards made a really big difference. My work was seen there by some of the most important photo-editors in the world, as I later discovered at the festivals in both Arles and Perpignan...
Karina Sechi
Spain
Karina Sechi
Full Moon Light Paintings
Winner,
Emerging Talent Awards 2015
Since being named a LensCulture Emerging Talent in 2015, I have been kept quite busy! My work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals in São Paulo, Berlin, Milan, London, Serbia and Spain. Besides the prize from LensCulture, I also received recognition from PX3, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award and the Pollux Award. Finally, I have now undertaken work to turn two of my projects into photobooks.
Kris Sanford
United States
Kris Sanford
Through the Lens of Desire
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2015
I’ve had quite a few accomplishments since Photo London last May! Here are the highlights: In June, I had a solo exhibition at Elizabeth Houston Gallery in New York, New York. In September I was invited to participate in GETXOPHOTO a photography festival in Spain featuring an international group of 20 photographers. I was also exhibited in Fort Collins, Colorado, received the Forward Award and was published in magazines and websites such as Black + White Photography Magazine, Slate and the Huffington Post.
Lydia Goldblatt
United Kingdom
Lydia Goldblatt
Still Here
Finalist,
Exposure Awards 2014
Showing at Photo London has been amazing...it's such a privilege and opportunity to show my work to both an international crowd and the London audience as well.
Marius Schultz
Norway
Marius Schultz
First There Was Nothing
1st Place Series Winner,
Portrait Awards 2014
2014 was a great year! It began with winning the LensCulture Portrait Award. As a result, there has been a big increase in the attention my work receives. There was an article in the Italian Huffington Post and on a few different Norwegian photographic websites.
Later, I had an exhibition in Rome at the "Fotografia—Festival Internazionale di Roma." As the theme was portraiture, my award-winning series was the perfect fit!

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