Travel Photographer of the Year 2026
Travel Photographer of the Year 2026 is open worldwide for travel photography, with portfolio categories, One Shot categories, Rising Talent and a free youth competition.
Travel Photographer of the Year 2026 (TPOTY) is open to amateur and professional photographers from around the world. The international competition focuses on contemporary travel photography and includes categories for portfolios, single images, young photographers and emerging professional photographers.
Categories
The four portfolio categories are Adventures & Journeys, Cultures, Traditions & Celebrations, Landscapes – Natural & Urban and Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife. There are also four One Shot categories: In Nature, People of the World, Street and Travel in Black & White.
Young Travel Photographer of the Year is free to enter for photographers aged 18 and under, with age groups up to and including 14, and 15 to 18. Rising Talent is intended for amateur and semi-professional photographers who want to build a career in photography.
Fees and submission
A One Shot entry costs £14; two simultaneous One Shot entries cost £20. A four-image portfolio costs £28; two portfolios submitted at the same time cost £36. Entry to Rising Talent costs £30. The youth competition is free.
Entries are submitted online only. Uploads must be JPEG files of up to 3 MB, no more than 2000 pixels on the longest side, in sRGB or Adobe RGB. Finalists will be asked for the original RAW or JPEG files and high-resolution files.
No generative AI imagery
Images made wholly or partly with generative AI are excluded. AI-based processing that only technically improves the original image, such as noise reduction, is allowed. Generative additions, object removal or replacement are not allowed.
Deadline: 12 October 2026 at 23:59 UK time. Finalists will be announced in November and the winners on 17 January 2027.
Image: Marek Biegalski, Poland; official TPOTY 2026 header image.
