Question 1

What rights do I keep?

Accepted Answer

You keep full copyright of your work. By entering, you grant the organizer a non-exclusive licence to reproduce winning and shortlisted work to promote this competition and its future editions. No licence duration is stated, so the organizer may keep using selected work indefinitely — ask them before entering if this matters to you. You are always credited when your work is used. The foundation's public promise is that photographers retain full copyright, and that winners and jurors' picks grant it limited use to promote the photographers and market the awards. Its rules go slightly further: clause 6.1 grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free promotional licence over every submitted photograph, not only the selected ones. Both are true and both are published; the rules are the operative text. Every use carries a credit line.

Question 2

Can I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

Entry fees are generally non-refundable. The foundation may consider a refund for a duplicate charge or a technical error at its discretion.

Question 3

How many times can I enter?

Accepted Answer

You may enter up to 50 times.

Question 4

When will I hear back?

Accepted Answer

Results are announced Sep 20, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC.

Question 5

Who decides the winners?

Accepted Answer

The organizer reviews eligible entries and confirms each award placement; Lenspost records the decision before results are published.

Question 6

Is my work public before results?

Accepted Answer

Your work stays private until the winners are announced.

Question 7

What can I submit?

Accepted Answer

This competition accepts single photographs and series of 4 to 10 photographs judged as one work. You may enter up to 50 times. Submissions must be original photographs taken by the entrant. JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, TIF, TIFF, HEIC, HEIF, up to 10 MB per photograph. Entered and judged online. This competition page is public.

Question 8

What kind of street photography do you accept?

Accepted Answer

All of it. Mobile, analogue, conceptual, street portraits, urban, street fashion, road trips, street art, travel, architecture, abstract, graphic and large format. The foundation's own words: the tools you use are not important to us.

Question 9

Does it matter when the photograph was taken?

Accepted Answer

No. Photographs are accepted regardless of their date, and there is no restriction on when the work was made.

Question 10

What is the difference between a single image and a series?

Accepted Answer

A single image is judged on its own. A series is four to ten photographs judged together as one coherent body of work — thematically or aesthetically — and it uses one entry, not four to ten.

Question 11

I cannot afford the entry fee. Can I still enter?

Accepted Answer

Write to support@streetphotographersfoundation.com with a short explanation and ask for a single-photo fee waiver. They are limited, discretionary and subject to verification, and are not available in the restricted jurisdictions listed in the rules.

Question 12

Can I win if I have won before?

Accepted Answer

Yes, with different work. A photograph or series that has already won a cash prize in a previous foundation competition cannot win one again, but previous finalists are eligible and a photographer may win more than once.

Question 13

Where do winning photographs end up?

Accepted Answer

Winning work is exhibited and published, and may be included in future travelling group exhibitions and screenings worldwide. The 2020 and 2021 awards became a show of 62 photographs by 43 photographers at Galerie Joseph Le Palais in Paris. You keep your copyright and you are credited every time.

Street Photographers Foundation Awards 2026

Entrants