Submissions open for CPB Photo Awards (4th Edition) – India

At the CPB Foundation, they strongly believe in and stand by the power and sensitivity of visual practices and commitment to the photographic form.

Award Categories

• The Danish Siddiqui Award for Socially Concerned Photography- Photo of the year
• Photo Story of the Year
• Emami Art Award for Regional Photographer of the Year
• News & Current Affairs
• Climate, Environment & Conservation
• Daily Life & Culture
• Portrait
• Nature & Wildlife

What winners receive?

• Cash Awards and Certificates
• Additional top awards
  • News & Current Affairs – Single Image | Rs.50,000
  • News & Current Affairs – Photo Story | Rs.50,000
  • Climate, Environment & Conservation – Single Image | Rs.50,000
  • Climate, Environment & Conservation – Photo Story | Rs.50,000
  • Nature & Wildlife – Single Image | Rs.50,000
  • Portrait – Single Image | Rs.50,000
  • Daily Life & Culture – Single Image | Rs.50,000
• Additional top awards
  • The Danish Siddiqui Award for Socially Concerned Photography
  • Photo of the Year (single image) | Rs. 100,000
  • Photo Story of the Year | Rs. 100,000
  • The Emami Art Award for Regional Photographer of the Year | Rs. 100,000

Eligibility Criteria

• The CPB Photo Awards is free and open to all Indian residents regardless of location, religion, caste/class or gender. Non-resident Indians cannot apply.
• Participants must be 18 years or over at the time of application for the award.
• Team members, patrons, trustees and advisors of the organisers and key partner-organisers cannot participate in this award.

Technical Criteria

• File Specification: Submitted photographs must meet the following specifications:
  • Images to be submitted online to the contest platform with the following dimensions: 1500 pixels on the long side at 100 dpi.
  • AdobeRGB, sRGB or grayscale Gamma 2.2 are recommended.
  • No CMYK files will be accepted.
  • Images must be uploaded in JPEG format at the highest quality setting.
  • Shortlisted participants will be asked to submit untouched RAW files along as well as Full-Resolution processed TIFF images.
• Image Editing
  • For applications under the categories “News and Current affairs” and “Climate, Environment and Conservation”: Only single exposure and single frame pictures will be accepted. The following are not accepted: Multiple exposures, diptychs, triptychs, stitched panoramas, in-camera or with image editing software in these categories.
  • The content of a picture must not be digitally altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame. There are two exceptions:
    • Cropping that removes extraneous details is permitted. Only standard format crops are permitted. No cloning or straightening of an image after a crop will be permitted.
    • Removing sensor dust is permitted, but it should not in any way remove any detail from the picture along with the dust. For instance, removal or sensor dust should not be an excuse for removing a mole from a face, or a bird from the sky, or a bullet from a scene of crime.
  • Adjustments of colour or conversion to grayscale that do not alter content are permitted, with the following exceptions:
    • Changes in colour should not result in significant changes in hue, to such an extent new colour is introduced, and is different from the original scene.
    • Changes in density, contrast, colour saturation levels that alter content by obscuring or eliminating backgrounds, objects or people are not permitted. For instance, an increase in contrast or brightness levels should not end up making a telegraph wire in the sky go away.
  • The images should not contain any watermarks, graphics or any kind of identification.

Submission Categories

• News and Current Affairs – Single Image
  • Images on news events, culture, health, politics, gender or any current events across the country as single images. You may enter any number of entries.
• News and Current Affairs – Photo Story
  • Photo stories on news, culture, health, politics, gender or any current events across the country. You may enter any number of entries. Minimum of 10 and maximum of 15 images can be submitted as part of your photo story.
• Climate Change, Environment and Conservation – Single Image
  • Single images documenting climate crisis, climate impact on land, communities and wildlife, vegetation, land, ecology, geography, natural resource management, ecotourism, local conservation traditions, and related issues. You may enter any number of entries.
• Climate Change, Environment and Conservation – Photo Story
  • Photo Stories documenting climate crisis, climate impact on land, communities and wildlife, vegetation, land, ecology, geography, natural resource management, ecotourism, local conservation traditions, and related issues. You may enter any number of entries. Minimum of 10 and maximum of 15 images can be submitted as part of your photo story.
• Nature and Wildlife – Single image
  • Nature and wildlife photography that highlights not just the beauty, but the importance of preservation of nature and the wildlife, national parks, bio zones, the relationship between humans and nature and wildlife, natural habitats, urbanisation’s impact on nature and wildlife, and related topics.
• Portraits – Single Image
  • Compelling portraits that can be street style, environmental portraits, or close-up portraits, capturing the person’s mood, body language, setting, giving a story of that person in one image. This can include creative studio portraits as well with a social and cultural lens. You may enter any number of entries.
• Daily Life and Culture – Single Image
  • Street moments, cultural events, cultural traditions within a home or outside in public spaces, daily routines, capturing the essence of a moment that qualifies as daily life. Composition and context of the moment will play a key role here. You may enter any number of entries.

For more information, visit CPB Foundation.