Call for Entries: LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards 2025

LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards seek photographers worldwide who work in monochrome—whether through classic processes, digital techniques, or experimental approaches that expand the language of grayscale. If you are committed to the art and craft of black and white, we invite you to share your vision with us.
A total of 37 photographers will be recognized as winners, jurors’ picks, and finalists, with the top winners featured in a group exhibition in New York — reaching curators, editors, gallerists, and collectors. This is a unique opportunity to have your work seen, celebrated, and connected to a worldwide community of photography experts and enthusiasts.

Call for Entries: LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards 2025

LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards seek photographers worldwide who work in monochrome—whether through classic processes, digital techniques, or experimental approaches that expand the language of grayscale.

This year, 37 photographers will be recognized as winners and finalists. The top winners will be featured in a group exhibition in New York, and all selected artists will be promoted to LensCulture’s global audience of more than 3 million photography professionals, curators, collectors, and enthusiasts.

We invite you to share your work.

Be Seen by Our International Jury

Anna Walker Skillman

Jackson Fine Art Gallery

United States

Roy Kahmann

Hungry Eye Gallery

The Netherlands

Rachel Barker

Stanley/Barker Publishers

United Kingdom

Stéphane Magnan

Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire

France

Ray Potes

Hamburger Eyes

United States

Jim Casper

LensCulture

The Netherlands

Winning photographers will be
exhibited in New York

Winning photographers will be exhibited at a gallery in New York during The Photography Show (Spring 2026), the eminent photo fair that brings together hundreds of galleries, publishers and collectors, as well as an ambitious program of exhibitions, conversations, artist book signings and curated fair events.

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.

Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.”

—Elliott Erwitt

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

  • Solo Feature Published on LensCulture

    Top Series winners will have their work published on LensCulture, benefiting from the platform’s engagement with a global audience. Our features provide significant, ongoing exposure for your work, leveraging LensCulture’s high search rankings and site traffic.

  • 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 last year’s feature in The Guardian, a beautiful image gallery sharing the work of the 2024 Black & White Awared winners.


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

  • Series prize winners

    1st Place: $3,500
    2nd Place: $2,000
    3rd Place: $1,000

  • Single image prize winners

    1st Place: $2,000
    2nd Place: $1,000
    3rd Place: $500

  • Jurors’ Picks

    Each juror will select an individual Juror’s Pick to receive special distinction, including quotes from the experts praising each of the selected series or single images.

  • Finalists

    25 Finalists and their work will be highlighted and featured on the winners’ page, and in the worldwide promotions, along with the Winners and Jurors’ Picks.

More Awards and Benefits
  • Solo Feature Published on LensCulture
  • International exposure for hundreds of Editor’s Picks
  • Visibility With Industry Insiders & Creative Professionals
  • Permanent Exhibition in LensCulture Online Gallery
  • International Press Exposure

Cash Awards & Recognition

Series prize winners

1st Place: $3,500
2nd Place: $2,000
3rd Place: $1,000

Single image prize winners

1st Place: $2,000
2nd Place: $1,000
3rd Place: $500

Jurors’ Picks

Each juror will select an individual Juror’s Pick to receive special distinction, including quotes from the experts praising each of the selected series or single images.

Finalists

25 Finalists and their work will be highlighted and featured on the winners’ page, and in the worldwide promotions, along with the Winners and Jurors’ Picks.

Benefits for All Who Enter

Benefits6 Winners6 Jurors' picks25 FinalistsEditors’ Picks(1)Every Entrant
$10,000 in Cash Awards
Exhibition in New York
Solo Feature Published on LensCulture(2)
Visibility with LensCulture Insiders
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.

Submission Reviews

Enter 5+ single images or a series into this competition 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

Submit Your Work — Get Seen by Leading Photography Experts


Single


5+ Single

Best opportunity

Series

Are you currently an 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.

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.

“My success with LensCulture gave me invaluable media exposure that helped grow and solidify my reputation within the street photography community. My work has been featured in exhibitions, festivals, and magazines. I’ve had wonderful networking opportunities and contact with photographers I revere.”
Argus Paul Estabrook
Winner, Black & White Photography Awards 2021
“Winning the LensCulture Black & White Photography Awards is one of the most prestigious recognitions I could get in my photography journey! Since winning, I’ve had my photos featured in a local newspaper in Hong Kong, which led to a local gallery offering me representation. Along with being represented by this gallery, I’ve had other publications discover my work and offer me features.”
Jason Au
Winner, Black & White Photography Awards 2021
“My work gained great attention because of the LensCulture Award. My book The Monument was nominated for The Swedish Photo Book Award 2019, and also nominated for Prix Pictet!”
Ulf Lundin
Finalist, Black & White Photography Awards 2018

We respect artist’s rights

All photographers retain full copyrights for their own work. Period. Winners, Jurors' Picks and Finalists 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.