Rules

Organizer

The 35AWARDS contest is conducted by the organizers and founders of the 35photo.pro platform (hereinafter referred to as the "Organizer"). It is open to an unlimited number of participants and aims to promote photography as a form of art worldwide.

Jury members are appointed by the organizer, and their final decisions regarding the photos, finalists, and winners are not subject to appeal. Any author whose photograph meets the competition requirements can be a bidder. Authors (photographers) from any country can participate in the competition without restrictions.

To be eligible to enter the competition, you must be over 18 years of age.

Basic Terms

The author (photographer) is an individual who has captured a photo and submitted the work for competition, holding full copyrights and authority to make decisions on all organizational issues related to participation in the competition.

Venue and dates

Registration and voting are conducted on the 35awards.com website.

Based on the results of the photo contest, the 100 best single works, the 25 best serial works, and the 100 best photographers will be revealed, as well as works that received special recognition from the international jury. Additionally, rankings of the best single works and photographers will be organized by nominations, city, and country.

After the completion of the competition, an annual catalog will be released, which will include not only the works of the winners but also the best works from the competition. All additional information about the catalog will be published on a special page after the summarization.

Stages of the competition

1. Competition Kickoff. Registration of authors for participation in the competition.

2. Authors upload photos to the contest.

3. Voting. A more detailed description of the voting stages will be published on the competition website pages.

4. Competition conclusion and results tally.

5. Catalogue printing.

Stages 1-2 are conducted throughout the period of work submission.

To apply for participation in the competition, the author must register themselves and then upload the photos to the photo contest site 35awards.com in the prescribed form as mentioned in the section "Registration of authors and works."

The organizers reserve the right to conduct informational mailings to all competition participants. Winners of additional prizes may be determined by representatives of companies providing the prizes from among the finalists. The winning entries will be announced at a special online ceremony (at the annual competition) as well as in a separate section on the competition website. The announcement time will be disclosed later.

According to the contest results, winners in each category will be invited to join the editorial board for the following calendar year after the competition they won. This ensures the transparency of the procedure of forming the 35photo.pro editorial board.

Authors cannot vote for their own photos.

Each photo can only be voted for once in one stage of voting.

An author may only receive one prize for work that scored the maximum number of votes in the current competition.

Final voting results will be released in stages by the end of the 3-step process.

If multiple photos score an equal number of votes in the 1st or 2nd stage, all these works will move to the next phase.

If, in the 3rd stage, a few photos score an equal number of votes, the winner will be determined by an additional vote.

Rights of the Competition Organizer

The contest organizer reserves the right to unilaterally change the Contest Rules, notifying participants 5 days prior to the date the changes take effect, by posting the new Rules of Competition on the Site.

The contest organizer has the right to remove participants and revise the procedure for determining the winner in the event of detecting fraudulent activities by a bidder or other persons benefiting the bidder. This includes deception, fraud, and other illegal activities by which a bidder might acquire prizes, as provided by these rules, or obtain a privileged position in relation to other participants.

Nominations

The number and names of the nominations for the competition will be published later on the competition website. Organizers reserve the right to move a picture to another nomination if deemed necessary. If a nomination receives a small number of entries, it may be combined with other nominations.

If photos within one nomination or thematic competition are very similar (e.g., similar combinations of objects, cropping, shooting angle, or tone), the administration reserves the right to keep only one photo at its discretion.

Throughout all competitions, the use of only one version of a photo is allowed. Uploading the same photo with different tones (for example, uploading a photo in both color and black and white) is not allowed.

Starting from 01.03.23 (9th 35AWARDS). For the main award, photos that have not previously participated in the annual award are accepted (within the award, the photo can be submitted to different categories). In thematic contests, a photo can participate no more than 3 times.

Register photos

Authors and photo registration occur on the 35awards.com website in the relevant section, using a specially prescribed form.

Image Format - JPEG, RGB

Photo sizes - from 1500 pixels (large size)

Photos submitted for the annual 35AWARDS contest must have been taken in 2023, 2024 or 2025. For other thematic competitions, there are no specific year-of-shooting requirements.

Photos allowed:

Technical retouching is allowed, including adjustments to exposure, contrast, saturation, sharpness, conversion of the image to black and white, and white balance, as well as correction to remove objects that accidentally appear in the frame.
Cropping is permitted, but increasing the image size is not allowed.
Images obtained by traditional chemical methods may be scanned.
Creating HDR files, exposure bracketing, focus stacking, and panoramas are allowed.

The photos are not allowed:

Collage (editing) is permissible, including the addition, deletion, or moving of objects, introducing additional graphic elements, and changing the background using graphic editors. Uploading collages is permitted in the "Conceptual Photography" and "Staged Photo" categories at the annual competition, or in thematic competitions if explicitly allowed in the contest rules. UPD 03/02/24. In competitions and the “Conceptual Photography” nomination, moderate use of neural networks is acceptable, provided that the basis is photography.
If there are “Black-and-White” and “Mobile Photography: Black-and-White” categories in the main competition, photos taken on a mobile phone will automatically be moved to the mobile category. In the "Mobile Photography" category, photos taken on a mobile phone or tablet are allowed.
Photos must not contain any copyright plates, copyright signs, added frames, etc.
The use of images, or portions thereof, generated by neural networks is permissible (exception, AI-photo nomination).

The original photo

In the case of advancing to the semifinal (3rd stage), the author is required to upload the highest resolution file in JPG format, Adobe RGB to the site. The uploaded file should appear identical to the photo submitted to the contest (including any editing), and, if possible, retain EXIF information. Should questions arise regarding the work, the organizer reserves the right to request the original, unedited file from the camera from the photograph\’s author. The deadline for file submission is 10 days following the conclusion of the third stage of voting. Notifications regarding the necessity to upload will be sent via email or an informational message on the participant's personal page. Upon receiving this message, the author must supply the organizers with the files through a specialized form.

The crop of the photo must be identical to the web version presented for the competition and evaluated by experts and the jury.

Author and Intellectual property

Rights to the photos solely belong to their authors. By participating in the 35AWARDS competition, authors consent to the free use of their photos by the 35AWARDS administration for the purpose of promoting the competition. This includes use in various media, printed albums, books featuring the works of finalists and winners, and production for exhibitions. The use of finalist photos for future special events dedicated to the popularization of the competition is also permitted.
Copyright Confirmation
Upon uploading photos to the website, participants automatically affirm their adherence to copyright and other intellectual property rights, assuming full responsibility for any violations.
Plagiarism
Publication of a replica of another author's previously taken photograph under one\’s own name, without the consent of the original author, is prohibited. Cases of plagiarism, which can sometimes be ambiguous, will be resolved at the discretion of the organizers.
Provision of Copyright Material
Authors must hold the copyright for their submitted materials. By submitting photos to the competition, authors grant the organizers permission to use the provided materials for any purpose related to the competition and subsequent exhibitions.
Notification and Submission
Winners and laureates will be notified by the administration and are required to upload high-resolution files to the site for album printing and exhibition works. Authors should provide photos in the format indicated under "Original Works."
Agreement
By submitting a photo to the contest, authors agree to provide their work for publication in a catalog, contest exhibitions, and other post-competition events without any monetary compensation. Proceeds from the sale of albums, books, and exhibition works will be used to cover production, exhibition, and other 35AWARDS administration costs.
Commercial Use
Any other commercial use of the photos is permitted only with the consent of the author.

Individual requirements

Total Images Submission
Authors who have passed moderation on 35photo.pro site are allowed to send a total of 5 images to the competition. All other participants are limited to 2 photos. Opportunities for increasing this limit will be detailed on the contest organizer's website.
Single Account Policy
Each author is limited to one account for competition entry.
Camera Specifications
Photos captured with digital cameras without removable components must have a minimum matrix camera pixel count of 8 million (8 megapixels).
File Size
The high-resolution file submitted must measure at least 3000 pixels on the longer side. Artificial enlargement of the original dimensions is prohibited.
Previous Winners
Photos from authors who have won in other 35AWARDS contests cannot win in the current main competition for the title of the best 100 photos of the year.
Reasons for Refusal
The competition organizers reserve the right to decline entries that do not meet the standards and requirements outlined in various sections of the competition regulations. Entries that do not meet certain quality and technical levels may be rejected without explanation.

Additionally

Terms

Start of photo submission to the contest: 01.03.2024

End of photo submission to the contest: 25.2.2025

Dates for other stages of the competition will be announced on the contest webpage.

Informing Participants About the Competition Conditions

The invitation to participate in the contest, along with its conditions, is available on the 35awards.com website. The organizer reserves the right to further publish information about the project, including in the media.

Final Provisions

In cases of conflict between the author and the organizers, or disagreement with the current rules where a solution cannot be found, the author\’s participation in the competition will be terminated. This termination includes the cancellation of participation in the project and the removal of all submitted photos from the resource.

All additional information regarding the contest is available on the website pages or will be sent to the email specified in the participant's profile.

By entering the competition, participants hereby accept these competition rules.