The Pasadena Photography Arts
PHOTO AWARD 2026

$2000 Cash Prize!

EXTENDED DEADLINE: APRIL 26, 2026

Open Theme: Excellence in Contemporary Photography

Link to application

Pasadena Photography Arts is pleased to announce an open call for our PPA Photo Award 2026: Excellence in Contemporary Photography (Open Theme). This is an annual award for emerging photographers with residence in the United States. *Photographer must have a US bank account to complete application.

The winning photographer will receive a $2,000 cash prize, a published interview on Pasadena Photography Arts' website, a feature on Lenscratch, and a virtual artist talk.

EXTENDED DEADLINE: The PPA Photo Award 2026 is accepting entries January 6, 2026 through April 26th, 2026. Results will be publicly announced August 21st, 2026. Photographers are invited to submit cohesive bodies of work between 10 - 20 images with an accompanying statement. Analogue, digital, portrait, abstract, mixed-media, documentary, street photography, conceptual, still-life photography, landscape, alternative photography, cell phone photography is acceptable.  No fully generated AI images allowed, however, AI as an editing tool is permissible (e.g., Photoshop, Capture One, etc.). 

The jury panel will be composed of Pasadena Photography Arts Advisors alongside guest juror Craig Krull, art dealer and founder of Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica. Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, originality, quality, and responsiveness to the call.

Meet this year’s guest juror
Craig Krull

Gallerist/Art Historian

Craig Krull is a native Angeleno whose interests center on the art, culture, history and nature of California. He opened his first gallery, Turner/Krull in West Hollywood in 1991. The gallery focused on photo-based media with representation of artists such as Julius Shulman, Anthony Hernandez, Edmund Teske and curated projects such as Action/Performance and the Photograph. In 1994, he became one of the founding galleries in the new Bergamot Station Arts Center, and the program expanded to include all media.

Over the past 32 years at Bergamot, he has mounted over 500 exhibitions with legendary LA artists such as Peter Alexander, Llyn Foulkes, Don Bachardy, Jo Ann Callis, Dennis Hopper, Alexis Smith, Carlos Almaraz, and Phranc.

    • Anyone over 18, and also a resident of the United States, may apply. You must be an emerging artist, legal resident and currently have a primary address and bank account in the United States.

    • Work may be from anywhere in the world, utilizing any type of photography (digital/film, color or black and white, composited or collage), as long as all work is solely the applicant’s. No fully generated AI images allowed, AI as an editing tool is permissible (e.g., Photoshop, Capture One, etc.). Work may range from documentary to fine art narrative (images may be altered or abstracted, candid or staged).

    • Submitted photographs must NOT contain watermarks

    • Submitted photographs should be original works made by the artist. While found materials may be incorporated, projects primarily composed of found photographs or found objects will not be considered.

    • Applicant may submit one project per award cycle. Winning projects from prior years are not eligible.

    • All images submitted must have a common theme or work together as a whole.

    • Applicant may submit up to 2 projects per award cycle, but each project must be its own entry. Winning projects from prior years are NOT eligible.

    • Projects must be previously unpublished. For the purposes of this award, “published” is defined as a project in which 10 or more photographs have been exhibited in a gallery, published on another organization’s website or platform, or included in a book; any of these circumstances would render the project ineligible. However, projects that have been fully self-published on the artist’s own website or social media platforms are eligible. Projects included in a self-published book are also eligible, provided the book has not received ANY awards or accolades. 

    • Previously submitted projects to the PPA Photo Award are eligible for re-submission, but only if they have NOT been awarded prize money or featured on another platform in their entirety.

    • Applicants must submit a project description of up to 2,000 characters, and a biography of up to 2,000 characters.

    • Applicants should submit at least 10 images to show the scope of the project, and can submit up to 20 images total. Images to be submitted digitally, in .jpg format, in sRGB color space, 1200 pixels on the long side, 72ppi, and no larger file than 5 MB each. Jpegs should be named as following: FirstName_LastName_ProjectTitle_01.jpg … FirstName_LastName_ProjectTitle_02.jpg …

    • Entries will be judged by a panel of nominated judges, on the basis of creativity, originality, quality, and responsiveness to the call.

    • $2,000 Cash Prize

    • Lenscratch Feature

    • Published Interview on PPA website

    • A Virtual Hosted Artist Talk

  • All submissions should be completed through our the Call For Entry (CaFÉ) portal. Click here for application.

    $42/ENTRY

  • January 6, 2026 : Call for entries is open for submissions

    EXTENDED DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: April 26, 2026: Deadline to submit. Call for entries closes at 11:59pm MT. Late submissions will not be considered.

    August 21, 2026: Public announcement of winner

  • Entry deadline is by 11:59pm MT of  April 26, 2026. By submitting an entry, each applicant agrees to the rules of the contest, and states that they are 18 years of age or older, a resident of the United States, and have a US bank account. PPA will determine the winner’s eligibility in its sole discretion. The applicant certifies that they are the sole creator and copyright owner of any submitted work. For an image in which a person is recognizable, the applicant must be able to provide a model release from the subject, or in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian, if asked. Applicant retains all rights to work submitted. By submitting to the award, applicant grants PPA and those authorized by PPA a royalty-free, world-wide, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entry, in any media, for advertising and promotion of PPA and its website and programs, including promoting this award, for exhibition, for PPA publications and for all perpetuity. Any work so reproduced will include photo credit. Applicant agrees that if accepted, their artist talk will be recorded and available to the public on PPA’s website and YouTube channel.

FAQs

  • Anyone who is an emerging photographer and legal resident and currently has a primary address and bank account in the United States.

    Previous PPA Photo Award winners cannot resubmit with a new project.

  • For this call, “emerging” refers to photographers who are currently enrolled as students, are within the first five years of their professional photography practice, or whose primary income is not derived from photography.

  • Yes, if you currently have a primary address and bank account in the United States.

  • Analogue, digital, portrait, abstract, mixed-media, documentary, street photography, conceptual, still-life photography, landscape, alternative processes, and cell phone photography.

  • A project is a minimum of 10 images. We will consider up to 20 images taken from a project. Images must share a common theme or concept. Projects will be judged as a whole.

  • Digital images should be in sRGB format, 1200 pixels on the long side, 72ppi, and no larger file than 5 MB each. Name the files as: ProjectTitle_01.jpg … ProjectTitle_02.jpg …

    Please do not use other symbols or spaces in the file name. Since you will be submitting a series of images, please number them and upload in order of importance. Note: The first image should be the opening image.

  • There is a $42 submission fee.

    There are a limited number of scholarships available, please reach out to pasadenaphotoarts@gmail.com for assistance.

  • To be eligible for the PPA Award, your project must not have been previously shown in its entirety in a gallery setting or published on another organization's website or platform. For the purposes of this award, “published” is defined as a project in which 10 or more photographs have been exhibited in a gallery, published on another organization’s website or platform, or included in a book; any of these circumstances would render the project ineligible. However, projects that have been fully self-published on the artist’s own website or social media platforms are eligible. Projects included in a self-published book are also eligible, provided the book has not received ANY awards or accolades. 

  • Yes, you can submit up to 2 projects. Please note, each project submission requires a separate entry fee.

  • If, at the time of the competition’s close, a submission is incomplete (e.g. the submission has not been paid, or the images have not been uploaded correctly), it will not be eligible for juried consideration. Though we make every effort to make contact and to ensure completion of submissions, we are not responsible for incomplete entries and are unable to offer a refund, should an entry be incomplete at the time of the competition’s close.

  • Photographers retain copyright of all images. Images will be used on the Pasadena Photography Arts website and media pages, Lenscratch and social media pages for promotion of all winners and the award in future years.

  • Yes, photographs captured by phone cameras are acceptable.

  • There is one PPA Award granted each year.

  • Yes.

  • No, once submitted no changes can be made to your application. Please review your work selection and writing carefully.

  • No, we will not require the submission of any receipts or reports. We hope that the cash prize can help the winner with any aspect of their pursuit as an artist.

  • The winner of the award is responsible for paying any taxes.

  • Submitted photographs should be original works made by the artist. While found materials may be incorporated, projects primarily composed of found photographs or found objects will not be considered.