Apeldoorn Photo Award 2026
A new biennial photo competition on the theme Traces, open to amateur and professional photographers from the Netherlands and abroad.
The Apeldoorn Photo Award is a new biennial photography competition organised by Apeldoorn Photo and the Municipality of Apeldoorn. The first edition focuses on the theme Traces: what people, time and nature leave behind, whether visible or hidden.
Photographers can enter in one of three categories: Nature in Motion, The Human Trace and Silent Witnesses. The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers from the Netherlands and abroad, aged 18 and over.
Each participant may submit a maximum of three photographs in one category. Digital and analogue photography are allowed; AI-generated images, heavy image manipulation, compositing, video, GIFs and digital illustration are excluded.
Submissions are open until 31 July 2026 via Pixoroo. The entry fee is €15. Photographers selected for the longlist and participating in the exhibition pay €150, which covers print production and the catalogue among other costs. The selected works will be exhibited at Apeldoorn City Hall. The awards evening takes place on 28 October 2026 at GIGANT Apeldoorn.
Each category has a €500 prize. The audience award is also €500; its winner will also receive a solo exhibition during the Photo Festival in 2027.
