Photography Open Calls 2027 for Fine Art, Conceptual, Macro and Aerial Work

Last verified: September 25, 2026. Dates, fees and rules can change. Check the official call immediately before submitting or paying an entry fee.

Photography open calls for 2027: the shortlist

This list includes opportunities that are open on the date above and lead to a 2027 award, exhibition or announcement. It is a researched shortlist, not an endorsement. “Rights note” is a summary, not legal advice; always read the complete terms.

Open call	Deadline	Best fit	Entry fee	Key rights and AI note
Sony World Photography Awards 2027	Student: Nov 27, 2026; Single Image/Youth: Jan 5, 2027; Series: Jan 12, 2027	Conceptual, creative, aerial landscape, single images and series	Free	Photographer retains copyright; the rules grant a non-exclusive promotional licence. Computer-generated content cannot be the origin of an entry.
Wellcome Photography Prize 2027	Oct 21, 2026	Health and science stories, macro, photomicrography, microscopy	Free	Photographer retains copyright; Wellcome requests permission for prize-related use and its broader charitable work. AI-generated images are not accepted.
Fine Art Photography Awards, 13th edition	Early: Oct 11, 2026; final: Feb 14, 2027	Fine art, conceptual, experimental, abstract, photomanipulation	From $19 early / $24 final for an amateur single entry	Review the full terms for image-use permissions. Photomanipulation has its own category; confirm that your process fits the chosen category.
LENS 2027	Jan 6, 2027	Fine art photography in any subject or process	$35 early through Oct 31; then $40 for up to five images	Photographer retains copyright; selected images may be used for publicity with attribution. AI images are not accepted.
Pure Macro & Close-Up Photography Awards 2027	Mar 31, 2027	Macro and close-up work across nature, objects, texture and pattern	$17 for one image; packages up to $80 for ten	Copyright remains with the entrant. Generative-AI and AI-altered photographs are not accepted; normal editing and focus stacking are allowed.

Opening soon: aerial photography

AZDroneFest 2027 opens for entries on October 1, 2026 and closes on January 31, 2027. Its Still Photography category accepts one photograph captured by drone and currently lists a $35 entry fee. The festival takes place on March 20, 2027.

Because entries are not open on this article’s verification date, AZDroneFest is not included in the active table. Recheck the submission platform and complete terms once the 2027 window opens.

Best 2027 calls for fine art and conceptual photography

Fine Art Photography Awards: the most direct genre match

The 13th Fine Art Photography Awards is the clearest fit for photographers already working within fine art and conceptual practice. Its 20 categories include Fine Art, Conceptual, Experimental, Abstract, Open Theme and Photomanipulation, with separate professional and amateur sections.

The early deadline is October 11, 2026. Early single-entry fees are $19 for amateurs and $24 for professionals; series cost $24 and $29. After the early period, the final deadline is February 14, 2027, and fees rise by $5. The two grand prizes total $5,000: $2,000 for the amateur winner and $3,000 for the professional winner.

Choose a category by the idea and method of the work, not by the one that sounds most prestigious. A constructed image driven by a planned message may fit Conceptual; work that tests photographic process may fit Experimental; a composite may belong in Photomanipulation. Read the category definitions before building the edit.

LENS 2027: a physical fine art exhibition

LENS 2027 is Perspective Gallery’s 17th international juried exhibition of fine art photography. It accepts all subject matter and photographic processes except AI-generated images. Applicants may submit up to five JPEGs made within the past five years.

The exhibition runs March 4–28, 2027 in Evanston, Illinois. Awards are $300, $200 and $150. This call also has a production commitment that is easy to miss: accepted work must be professionally framed and delivered to the gallery. International artists may pay the gallery to print their work, while other shipping and presentation requirements still apply. Artists receive 60% of any sale and the gallery takes a 40% commission.

This is a good match when a finished print can carry the work. Before entering, estimate printing, framing, shipping, return shipping and insurance—not only the $35 or $40 application fee.

Sony World Photography Awards: broader categories, larger scale

The Sony World Photography Awards 2027 is free and open internationally. Its Single Image competition accepts standalone photographs, while the Series competition takes projects of five to ten images. The Single Image winner receives $5,000; the Series winner receives $25,000, with additional equipment and exhibition components listed by the organiser.

For conceptual photographers, the Creative categories explicitly welcome experimentation, composite techniques and conceptual ideas. For aerial photographers, the Series competition’s Landscape category explicitly ranges from large-scale aerials to intimate views. That makes Sony useful even without separate “Conceptual” or “Aerial” labels in every competition stream.

Do not assume the rules are identical across Single Image, Series, Student and Youth. Image dates, publication history, file requirements and permitted manipulation differ. The official pages also display inconsistent closing times for at least one stream, so use the dates above for planning and confirm the exact time inside the entry portal.

Best 2027 calls for macro and close-up photography

Pure Macro & Close-Up Photography Awards: the dedicated option

The Pure Macro & Close-Up Photography Awards 2027 is open worldwide to beginners, enthusiasts, amateurs and professionals. A macro lens is not required, and entries made with phones or standard cameras are eligible.

The competition accepts subjects including insects, plants, flowers, water, textures, patterns and everyday objects. It allows regular photo editing and focus stacking but excludes generative-AI and AI-altered photographs. Its animal-ethics rule also rejects images made by killing, harming, drugging, freezing, restraining or deliberately distressing an animal or insect.

The overall award includes $500 and an exhibition in India. Entrants retain copyright, and the published terms limit selected-image use to award promotion, exhibitions and press with credit. That combination of a dedicated theme and unusually visible rights language makes it straightforward to evaluate before paying.

Wellcome Photography Prize: macro with a health or science story

The Wellcome Photography Prize 2027 is not a general macro contest. It is relevant when close-up work reveals something meaningful about health, medicine or science.

Eligible techniques include macro photography, photomicrography, microscopy and medical imaging. Entries can be a single photograph or a three-to-five-image storytelling series. The competition is free, open worldwide and offers £10,000 to each category winner, plus £1,000 to 22 additional selected entries.

The deadline is October 21, 2026. Files must be high resolution and suitable for print, and AI-generated images are excluded. If the image involves patients, identifiable people or a vulnerable community, the ethical-storytelling and consent requirements matter as much as the technique.

Free photography competitions currently open

Two verified opportunities in this edition are free to enter:

• Sony World Photography Awards 2027 — multiple streams for single images, series, students and young photographers.
• Wellcome Photography Prize 2027 — single images and series about health and science, including eligible macro and scientific imaging.

“Free to enter” does not mean zero cost. A shortlisted project may require new files, prints, travel or shipping. Check what the organiser covers before treating an award as cost-free.

Aerial photography competitions: what is actually confirmed

The 2027 aerial field is thinner at this point in the cycle than fine art or macro. Two routes are currently verifiable:

• Sony’s Series Landscape category accepts work ranging from large-scale aerials to intimate views and is open now.
• AZDroneFest’s Still Photography category accepts a single drone photograph and opens October 1, 2026.

Do not rely on an old annual listing as proof that a 2027 edition is open. Competition names, categories and dates often carry over in search results after a submission window has closed. We will add dedicated aerial calls only after the organiser publishes a current entry page.

2027 photography competition watchlist

These opportunities are relevant, but they should not be treated as active 2027 calls yet:

• Close-up Photographer of the Year: the 2026 annual competition is closed. Its themed challenge opens November 1–30, 2026, and CUPOTY 9 is scheduled to open in May 2027.
• CEWE Photo Award: the current official page is open and includes Close-up and Macro plus Abstract and Forms, but it labels the competition “2026” and does not display a verified 2027 deadline. Wait for the organiser’s 2027 announcement before treating it as a 2027 call.
• International Aerial Photographer of the Year: a 2027 submission window was not confirmed on the official site at the time of checking. Previous editions are not enough to infer new dates.

How to choose the right open call

Direct answer: Enter when the work fits the brief, the total cost is acceptable and the rights clause has a clear, limited purpose. A large prize or famous name does not repair a weak category fit.

Before submitting, check:

1. Single image or series? A strong standalone photograph may weaken when stretched into a project. A coherent body of work may lose its argument when reduced to one frame.
2. When was the work made? LENS requires images from the past five years. Sony applies different date and publication rules to different streams. Wellcome requires images made after December 31, 2021.
3. What does the AI policy cover? “No AI” can mean no generated image, no generative fill or no AI-assisted alteration. Do not infer the boundary from a label; read the rules.
4. What licence do you grant? Retaining copyright is only the first question. Check duration, territory, media, sublicensing, commercial use and whether the organiser may use all entries or only selected work.
5. What happens after selection? Add printing, mounting, framing, shipping, insurance, customs and travel to the budget.
6. Can you meet the file requirements? Prepare the requested colour profile, dimensions, file size and naming convention from a master file—not from a social-media download.

Prepare a portfolio before the deadline

An application file and a public portfolio do different jobs. The application follows the organiser’s exact format. Your portfolio gives a juror, curator or editor somewhere reliable to understand the wider practice after seeing one image or series.

For each submitted project, prepare:

• a concise project statement;
• a deliberate image sequence rather than a folder of favourites;
• titles, dates, medium, dimensions and edition information where relevant;
• a short biography and current contact details;
• high-resolution masters plus submission-specific exports;
• a record of captions, consent and release information;
• a public project page that works on desktop and mobile.

Digital Original for Photographers supports high-resolution image presentation, Deep Zoom for fine detail, individual artwork pages and grouped series. It can be the stable portfolio behind an application, but it does not replace an award’s official submission process or improve the odds of selection by itself.

For the wider website structure around that portfolio, see Why Every Visual Artist Needs Their Own Website.

How this list is verified

We include an opportunity in the active table only when its official organiser page confirms the edition, entry window and core eligibility. Aggregator listings can help discover a call, but they are not used as the final authority for dates or fees.

This page is reviewed twice a month through February 2027, then monthly while the remaining 2027 cycles open. Expired calls move out of the active table. If an organiser publishes conflicting information, we flag the uncertainty instead of choosing the more convenient date.