Smiley Photo Contest – Guidelines and Submission Rules
We invite all photographers and creative individuals to take part in the photo contest “Smiley”!
A smiley is a symbol understood without words. It might be drawn, sculpted, reflected in a puddle, hidden in the clouds, or glimpsed in the patterns of urban chaos. It’s more than just two eyes and a smile—it’s a moment of recognition: when the photographer’s eye and the viewer’s perception meet in perfect agreement—“Yes, that’s a smile!”
We’re looking for photographs where the smiley is the central subject: whether in staged compositions, macro shots, landscapes, street scenes, or interiors. It must be clearly visible and not get lost in the background—leaving no doubt: this is it.
Let your photograph discover a smile in the real world—in light, objects, nature, and everyday life.
Accepted:
- Any genre: staged photography, macro, street photography, landscape, still life, etc.
- Photos in which the smiley is the main compositional element and is clearly recognizable—without guesswork or interpretation.
Not accepted:
- Images where the smiley appears only as a digital emoji on a phone or computer screen, without artistic or conceptual context.
- Photographs in which the smiley is ambiguous—blurry, fragmented, or merely a random pattern that doesn’t clearly read as “two eyes + a smile.
Important: this is not a contest for portraits of smiling people. We are looking specifically for the smiley as a visual symbol — a clear “eyes + smile” shape emerging from objects, forms, light, shadows, reflections, or chance configurations in the real world. Ordinary human smiles without a clearly readable smiley in the composition are not eligible.
