Exhibition in New York | Featured at international photo festivals | Cash grants of $10,000
Top 10 will be exhibited in New York

Critics’ Choice 2025 – A Global Call for Entries

Get Seen by 20 World-Class Photography Critics

LensCulture Critics’ Choice Awards put the spotlight on the year’s most talented photographers — maximizing visibility and opportunities for those ready to step onto the global stage and enter international markets. This year’s panel of 20 critics includes photography experts and influencers from world-renowned museums, art galleries, magazines, news media, online platforms, book publishers, and international festivals.

Each of the 20 critics will personally select three photographers with outstanding talent and creative vision — so as many as 60 photographers will be recognized with this year’s honors. Top 10 photographers will be featured in a group exhibition in New York.

If you enter only one photography competition this year, this is the one to consider — it’s a rare opportunity to have your work seen by 20 of the photography world’s leading experts.

Free for one single image entry.

Critics’ Choice 2025 is your opportunity to gain global exposure and recognition. Each of the 20 critics — from top museums, galleries, magazines, and festivals — will handpick 3 standout photographers. Up to 60 photographers will be honored. The Top 10 will be exhibited in New York. Put your work in front of the world’s leading photography voices.

Awards
  • • 20 top photography critics will review your work
  • • Each critic selects 3 standout talents
  • • Up to 60 photographers will be recognized
  • • Top 10 will exhibit in New York

Meet the International Critics

This year's critics are leaders of some of the most influential organizations and institutions in the world of photography. Instead of winners and finalists decided by consensus vote, each critic will select three photographers who stand out to them personally. These experts will write short statements of appreciation about each of their choices. This professional endorsement is an amazing addition to any artist’s resume.

Mazie Harris

Getty Museum

Jamie Spence

Vogue

Asha Iman Veal

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Yuri Yamada

Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Sam Mercer

The Photographers' Gallery

Moshe Rosenzveig

Head On Photo Festival

Arianna Rinaldo

Curator, PhEST

Marta Weiss

Victoria and Albert Museum

Cassidy Paul

Aperture

Robert Morat

Robert Morat Galerie

Diane Smyth

British Journal of Photography / Photoworks Annual

Andreas Müller-Pohle

European Photography

Markus Hartmann

Hartmann Books & Projects

Amy Kellner

The New York Times Magazine

Maysa Moroni

Internazionale

Jim Casper

LensCulture

Gwen Lee

Singapore International Photography Festival

Steven Evans

FotoFest International

Ann Jastrab

Center for Photographic Art

István Virágvölgyi

Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center

Top 10 Photographers Will Be Exhibited in New York

If your work is selected by more than one critic, you’ll be considered for the Critics’ Choice Top 10. These 10 photographers will be featured in a New York gallery exhibition and awarded a $1,000 cash grant. The exhibition opens during New York’s largest international photography fair, with editors, curators, and industry leaders in attendance.

If your work is selected by more than one critic, you have a chance of being named in our Critics’ Choice Top Ten. Top 10 photographers will be featured in an exhibition at a gallery in New York, and each will receive a $1000 cash grant.

An opening reception will be held for LensCulture artists, invited media, photo editors and industry insiders for a night of art appreciation and networking during New York’s largest international art fair dedicated to photography.

Each award from LensCulture has propelled a momentum and impact to my career and trajectory that I'm extremely grateful for.”

—Andrew Kung, Critics’ Choice 2023

Get the opportunity to grow your career with our awards & benefits

  • Winning Series Published on LensCulture

    Top Series winners will have their work published on LensCulture. Benefitting from LensCulture’s high search rankings and traffic to the site, our features offer significant ongoing exposure for your work.

  • Featured at International Photo Festivals

    Select works will be screened at photo festivals and events worldwide. In the past, our winners, finalists, and jurors’ picks were screened at festivals in the US, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Japan, The Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Hungary, Serbia, and more.

  • Visibility With Industry Insiders & Creative Professionals

    All it takes is one set of eyes to change the course of your career. If our jury ranks your submission highly, you will be included in LensCulture Discoveries, our directory of top-rated photographers. We provide this directory to key decision-makers including editors, book publishers, gallery owners, festival directors, creative directors, curators, and online media publishers.

  • Permanent Exhibition in LensCulture Online Gallery

    LensCulture has become a key resource for discovering new photography work all over the world. All winners, finalists and jurors’ picks for this award will be prominently featured in the permanent online gallery on our site.

  • International Press Exposure

    Award winners receive press coverage in publications and media outlets around the world — the kind of exposure that can lead to viral, global recognition of your work. Winners, finalists and selected entrants have been featured in major publications including BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Internazionale, VICE, The Times of London, Huffington Post, Spiegel Online, The British Journal of Photography, and The Telegraph.

    Be sure to check out our latest feature in The Guardian, a beautiful image gallery sharing the work of recent LensCulture Award winners with the world.


The Guardian Photo Contest and Competition
The Timelightbox Photography Contest and Competition
BJP Photography Contest and Competition
The Telegraphy Photography Contest and Competition
The New York Times Photography Contest and Competition
Speigel Photography Contest and Competition
Hufftington Post Photography Contest and Competition

Cash Awards & Recognition

  • Recognition for up to 60 Selected Photographers

    This year, up to 60 photographers will be recognized with Critics’ Choice Awards — each of the critics will choose 3 photographers to be winners. For every winner, we will publish a short quote written by the critic about why they selected that work for this year’s prize.

  • Top 10: Awards & Exhibition in New York

    If your work is selected by more than one critic, you have a chance of being named in our Critics’ Choice Top Ten. The top ten photographers will be featured in an exhibition at a gallery in New York, and each will receive a $1000 cash grant.

More Awards and Benefits
  • • Winning Series Published on LensCulture
  • • Visibility with industry insiders and creative professionals
  • • Permanent exhibition in LensCulture Online Gallery
  • • International press exposure.

Cash Awards & Recognition

All Critics’ Choice Winners

This year, up to 60 photographers will be recognized with Critics’ Choice Awards — each of the critics will choose 3 photographers to be winners. For every winner, we will publish a short quote written by the critic about why they selected that work for this year’s prize.

Critics’ Choice Top Ten

If your work is selected by more than one critic, you have a chance of being named to our Critics’ Choice Top Ten. Top 10 photographers will be featured with prints in the group exhibition in New York, and each will receive a $1000 cash grant.

Benefits for All Who Enter

BenefitsTop 10 PicksCritics’ PicksEditors’ Picks(1)Every Entrant
$10,000 in Cash Awards
Solo Features Published on LensCulture(2)
Exhibition in New York
Visibility with LensCulture Insiders
Featured in International Photo Festival Projections
International Press Exposure
Massive Exposure to our Global Audience of 3 Million
LensCulture Portfolio Account(3)
Opportunity to be in LensCulture Discoveries online directory of top-rated photographers(4)
Share your Work with the Global Photography Community
Opportunities for Immediate Exposure
(1)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 Instagram and Facebook pages, all updated daily.(2)Solo Feature for series winners.(3)LensCulture Portfolio Account: Available for all Series entries and 5+ Single entries.(4)All highly-rated photographers are automatically included in LensCulture Discoveries online directory.

Get a written review
of your work

Enter a series, and you can add a professional written review of your submission for an additional $25. This is a unique opportunity to receive valuable and specific feedback on your work from one of our experienced industry professionals.

"This review was extraordinarily insightful and immensely helpful. Truly, I didn’t anticipate this level of attention... I am extremely encouraged." —Fred Zafran

Closed for entries.

Be persistent.

Many successful photographers enter the same work in several competitions before they finally win. This is an effective strategy to have your work seen by many different jurors and build your career. Persistence is the key to getting your work seen by influential experts worldwide - it only takes one person to make a positive impact on your creative journey!

Success Stories

For 20 years, LensCulture has been committed to supporting 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.

“Receiving the Critic's Choice Award was a significant affirmation of my project's quality. It provided me with international visibility and connected me with various industry experts. The award nearly covered all my project's expenses, and I'm enthusiastically anticipating the upcoming exhibition in New York.”
Mario Heller
Top Ten Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023
“The LensCulture Critics' Choice Award has been a powerful catalyst for my photographic career. Receiving the news was a great moment in my career, affirming not only the quality of my work, but also its universal communicative power. One of the most significant aspects of this recognition has been the exposure of my work to a worldwide audience through LensCulture's online platform. The increased visibility has generated considerable interest in my photographic series. The award made me realize that the messages conveyed through my photographic series resonated with a wide audience. I am deeply grateful to LensCulture for this opportunity, which has truly shaped my artistic trajectory.”
Anass E Azhar Idrissi
Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023
“Winning the Lensculture Critics Award gave me validation and helped direct my work with the marginalized Irish Traveller community. By witnessing life and capturing elusive moments of grace and beauty often missed by the casual observer, I give voice to the human experience. My work celebrates everyone's strength, vulnerability, and beauty, going beyond how one presents themselves to the world. Thank you, Lensculture, for recognizing my work.”
Michele Zousmer
Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023
“Each award from LensCulture has propelled a momentum and impact to my career and trajectory that I'm extremely grateful for. Since the LensCulture Critics Choice Awards, I've been fortunate enough to receive the Light Work Artist-in-Residence award and numerous exhibition opportunities along the Hudson Valley; the exhibition inquiries came as a result of the LensCulture prize and the visibility that it brings.”
Andrew Kung
Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023
“Winning the LensCulture Critics Choice Top 10 award was a great accomplishment for me as a photographer — not only has it provided more exposure for my work in terms of connections and networking, but it's also increased the love I have for the work and storytelling that I do and in submitting to more photo awards. Seeing the feedback from critics who chose my work was so wonderful, and I've been continuing to expand the projects I've been working on and also take more portraits for my work, both personal and commissioned work.”
Yasmin Yassin
Top Ten Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023
“The LensCulture Critics’ Choice Award has given me more confidence to further push my own boundaries and explore image-making in novel and challenging ways. Since being awarded in 2023, my work was featured in The Female Gaze in Art and Photography, published in November 2023 (Hardie Grant Media), and my project “Homage” was featured in the Hungarian online photography magazine Punkt.”
Cornelia Hediger
Top Ten Winner, Critics’ Choice 2023

We respect artist’s rights

All photographers retain full copyrights for their own work. Period. All Critics’ Choice winners grant LensCulture limited, restricted use of winning photos only to promote the photographers themselves and in connection with marketing the Awards competition itself. Details can be found in the Competition rules.