Frequently Asked Questions

 ● Who can apply to the contest? 

The contest is open only for professional photographers. 

  ● Who is considered as a professional photographer?
Professional photographers are those who earn, or have earned, the majority of their income from photography, and who sell or publish their work regularly, and work with professional photography or media organizations.

  ● What is the meaning of news photography? 
İstanbul Photo Awards aims to support photojournalism field. Photojournalism is communicative photography to tell a story with ethic, standart and responsibility as a reporter. Photographers should submit their newsworthy photos; cover / capture an important moment / event, emphasis on an important matter for world's agenda, evoke strong emotions, connect people on a deeper level, create awareness even for a small group of people or a place etc.

  ● Can freelancers apply? 
Yes, the contest is open for photographers both freelancer and under the name of a company / agency. Freelancers can add company name for each submission at the INSERT IMAGE tab.

 ● My company is not on the list, how can add a new company? 
There is a WRITE DOWN choice at the end of the company list. A new box will appear after photographers choose this to add a new company name. 

 ● Should I use a certain type of camera to apply? 
No, there are no rules for the devices but, all inserted photographs must be high-resolution.

  ● Can photographers apply as a team? 
No, the contest is only open for individual applications. 

● What criteria does the jury evaluate the wining photographs?  
International jury selectively handles every photograph during the gathering. Every photograph is handled on several aspects such as photojournalism ethics, technical features, perspective, how did the photographer use the equipment, the way news handled and if the content has the great importance for that year. 

● What are the feature offers of the contest? 
Our jury composed of names who directs the world of news photography with field experience. Photographers who submit get the chance to show their work to the prestigious names of the field. Along with the cash prizes, winner photographs will be globally exposure in prestigious galleries and be placed in the Photobook which distributes all around the world. 

● What size and format do the photos need to have? 
Photos needs to be in high-resolution JPG, JPEG or PNG format. There are no rules on their size but we do not recommend more than 5MB size for one photo regarding to avoid internet connection failures.

 ● What is the time period for the submitted photos? Can I submit photographs which have already published?
Every submitted photo must be taken in 2024 (1 Jan. 2024- 31 Dec. 2024). Photographers may submit both published and unpublished photos.

 ● Can one photo be submitted to two different categories?        
No, the same photo cannot be submitted into two different categories. For example if a photo is already submitted to a Single category it can not be a part of a Story submission. 

 ● How many images can be uploaded for the Story categories?
Story applications cannot be consist of more or less than 10 images. Photographers must submit 10 images per application. Photographers may apply 2 different stories to each category.

 ● Can black-and-white photographs be submitted to the contest?
Yes, photographers may submit with both black-and-white and color photographs. However, digital manipulation and Photoshop-type effects are prohibited.

● Can cropped, composite or edited photographs be submitted to the contest? 
Yes, photographers can crop and make minor level editing on the photographs. Basic color corrections are allowed but, digital manipulation, removing or adding any parts of the photo and Photoshop-type effects like HDR are prohibited.

It is not allowed to add any personal rating, initials, signatures, photographer's name or company info on the photo.

 ● What should I do when I encounter a system error?
The Technical Team checks the site every day to prevent system errors. Please try again with a different server (Chrome can be a good option), renewing your page with F5 / cmd+r and cleaning your browser history can be helpfull.

Try to reduce the size of the image and make sure that file name do not have any gaps or includes characters like these; “ > < / *”. If the problem continues it may originated from the internet connection try to upload your photo later with cable connection instead of wifi. 

! In story categories uploading all 10 photos at once can cause problems try to upload them one by one. The submit button will appear at the top right corner of the page when you finish uploading all photos and fill all the information needed.

If the problem continues do not hesitate to contact with the contest team by email with the screenshot of the problem.

● What should I do when I encounter a log in / register problem?
To being with check for the spelling mistakes, the email address can be written wrong like gamil instead of gmail. Be aware of the upper / lover case letters when log in. If your email address can not  be registered, you may already opened an account in previous years, please click forgot password button. 

For security reasons applicants can not change email address of the account. An activation email to be send after the registration. Kindly check your mail box before uploading any photos.

Passwords must include 8 or more characters that contains uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. Be aware of the spelling mistakes.

reCAPTCHA is Google's standart security service that should be pass before every login. That service is not a part that the Contest Team can intervene.

If the problem continues do not hesitate to contact with the contest team.

 ● What are the caption limits? 
Every photo should have a caption with at least 50 characters with spaces. Every single photograph needs to have a title, not more than 75 typespaces and a description between 150- 400 typespaces. All photos in the story submission should have a description maximum 200 typespaces and photographers should write general story info up to 600 typespaces. The country and the date of the photo was taken will be added separately. 

● What should captions include? 

Caption can not be left blank or consist of a single word. Captions must be written in English and must include the answers of basic journalism questions about the photo like; who is in the photograph, what is the theme or occasion, why it is important, specific location that the photo taken. Photographers will choose the date and country separately from the given list. 

! It is not allowed to add any personal rating, initials, signatures, photographer's name or company info in the caption.

● Can entries be edited after the uploading? 
Yes, the system is open for caption editing until the deadline (January 10, 2025, at 23:59 UTC+3). Photographers can change the info and category of the photographs.

● Do I need to do anything else after I finish uploading?
No, every uploaded photo is automatically submitted to the contest. Kindly make your ultimate control before you logout.

 ● What is the deadline?
The deadline is January 10, 2025 at 23:59 UTC+3 İstanbul time.