The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2025 competition is now open for entries! Giving amateur and professional photographers, of all ages and from anywhere the world, the opportunity to showcase their best images on an international stage. Entries close on 13 October.
TPOTY 2025 has a range of categories, reflecting the breadth and diversity of travel photography. So whether you photograph people, landscapes, wildlife, underwater, street or any other genre of travel photography, there will be a category for you! Alongside nearly £10,000 in cash bursaries, photographic equipment, magnificent prints, portfolio reviews, and photo tuition, entrants will have the chance to gain international exposure and acclaim that comes from achieving success in these awards. The 2024 winners are currently on display at Banbury Museum & Gallery in Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK until 6 July. More exhibitions are on the way for 2025 and 2026!
The awards are judged by an international panel of imaging experts from around the world. This year TPOTY welcomes two new judges to the panel, both from the USA and each internationally acclaimed: – multi award-winning documentary and travel photographer Mark Edward Harris and photojournalist and UNICEF Ambassador Krystal Chryssomallis. They will be part of a 16 strong international judging panel.
Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 Categories and prizes
TPOTY 2025 has four portfolio categories: ‘Adventures & Experiences’, ‘Culture, Heritage & Beliefs’, ‘Landscape, Weather & Climate’ and ‘Wildlife, Sealife, Birdlife’. There are also four One Shot single-image categories: ‘Green Planet’, ‘Slow Travel’, ‘Travel in Monochrome’ and ‘Travel Portraits’.
The Overall Winner – the Travel Photographer of the Year 2025 – will be the entrant who submits the best two portfolios across any of the four portfolio categories, and entry to this is automatic and free. In addition, there is Young Travel Photographer of the Year, which is open to photographers aged 18 and under and has awards in two different age groups. The Young TPOTY theme is ‘Journeys & Adventures’.
Travel Image of the Year is a new award and will be awarded to one of the winners of the four One Shot categories or one of the four Best Single Image in a Portfolio winners. The judging panel and the general public will be given the opportunity to choose this winner – the only main award in which the general public have a say alongside the judges. However there will also be the People’s Choice award – which last year received 19,000 votes – for the general public to choose their favourite image from the finalists.
For the second year, the Rising Talent award will select amateur or semi-professional photographers to have their work reviewed and support them with developing their photography. The six winners will each receive a cash prize, a portfolio review from a TPOTY judge, imaging software and online photography training. In addition, two of the six winners will be chosen to receive an additional portfolio review from leading New York photographers’ agent Frank Meo.
This year also sees the return of the HD Video category. Entrants will have the opportunity to enter either a two-minute video on the theme ‘Our World’ or a one-minute ‘Shooting Travel’ video showing how they work or how they created an image.
How to enter
Entry fees start at £12, and entry is FREE for young photographers aged 18 and under. For early bird entrants there is a special TPOTY Pass which gives unlimited entry up until 31st July. In addition, TPOTY is offering a number of entry ‘packages’ which offer substantial savings of as much as 50% over individual category fees. Submissions must be made online at www.tpoty.com. Entries close on 13 October.
Need some inspiration? Previous winners can be found on tpoty.com
Related reading:
- International Amateur Photographer of the Year 2025 is open and better than ever! Over $35,000 / £26,000 of prizes up for grabs
- World Press Photo exhibition now on – get a special discount!
- Abbey Road Music Photography Awards 2025 now open!
- Close-Up Photographer of the Year 2025 now open for entries
