All professional photographers or photographers in service of a company can join the Belgian Photo Awards. 
Are you between 18 & 35? Guess What? You even got the chance to win the title of Young Talent of the year!

At any time, the competitor has the right to access, view, and amend their information, as well as withdraw their participation in the competition by emailing info@beroepsfotografen.be.

Digitally manipulated and composite images are allowed in all categories, except for Nature – Macro, Nature – Landscape, and Nature – Wildlife. In the categories Portrait and Conceptual Art, minor adjustments are allowed. 
If major adjustments, manipulations, or composites have been made, the more creative categories are suitable for the image (e.g. Digital Illustration and Commercial).

Do your images sometimes feel like your babies too? Well, a kid needs a name!
Entrants can give a title to their image during uploading. That title will be presented to the jury. We strongly recommend choosing an English title, as not all members of the international jury speak Dutch, French or German. The photographer's name or logo must not be included in the filename or be visible in the image itself.

Photos must be at least 4000 pixels on the longest side. They must be jpegs 10 - 12 (maximum quality) and maximum 50 megabytes file size with an enclosed colour profile: sRGB, Adobe 98 or Greyscale.

Images may only compete in one category (copies in multiple categories are not allowed even if they have been edited differently). Images competing may not be presented as images submitted to the Belpa competition, for example on social media, before the competition is completed. Images may have been previously published in other contexts and may have participated in other competitions.

In composite images, all elements must be created by the photographers themselves. This means that no stock images are allowed in the competition. Images or image elements created using AI are not allowed in any category of the Belgian Photo Awards competition. It is prohibited to use editing tools that insert information not derivable from the original file(s).

We WILL ask for the RAW files of all finalists, so no, there is no escaping this. Bummer. We keep it real.

Or what did you expect?

A committee of experienced judges for both the online judging as the live judging is carefully selected. They range from both national as international, professional photographer and curator. By choosing a diverse team we make the competition brings together the entire Belgian Photography field. You can find the judges here.

The deadline for submitting entries is the 14th of September 2026, until midnight. But as you’re here now, don’t miss out & submit!

Yes, there is an entry fee for our photo competition. We want to assure you that the entry fee plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation and success of the competition. These costs include but are not limited to administrative expenses, judging fees, promotion, and the logistics of managing entries and winners.

It's important to note that the entry fee helps us maintain the quality and integrity of the competition, ensuring a fair and professional environment for all participants. 

The photographer pays for the first three pictures €60 VAT excl. For each additional photo, it is €15 excl. VAT. To enter for the Belgian excellence title, at least 3 images must be submitted.
We look forward to seeing your pics entered!

The Belpa’s are an Awards Contest Offering Impactful Prizes. Designed to suit and nourish the careers of the best photographic talent at any stage of their career, our prizes will help you uplevel your artistic practice.
Photographers strive for prestigious titles as winners of the categories but also the renowned title of Belgian Excellence. 
All finalists get a 2 month exposition during Lens op de mens. When a photographer is later selected for Team Belgium they get the opportunity of global exposure through international channels.

Notification and Nominations
All nominees will be notified personally via email.

What does being nominated mean?
Every image evaluated by our professional jury that achieves a score of 80% or higher receives an official nomination. Each nominated image stands a chance of securing a spot on the podium. The podium winners will be announced during the Award Show on November 10 at LAMOT in Mechelen.

Absolutely not! We will sell all of your personal stuff to the Chinese government. How else do you think we make money? Just kidding obviously. Everything is safe with us and will not be used elsewhere. However:

By participating in the competition, photographers agree and confirm that the competition committee for the Belgian Photo Awards is allowed to receive and store the photographer’s submitted personal data. Participants agree that their personal data, which includes, but is not limited to name, address, phone number, and email address, may be collected, processed, stored, and used to conduct and administer the Belgian Photo Awards and sending entries to the WPC.
By participating in the competition, photographers agree that their entries, if selected, may also compete for Belgium's national photographers team in the World Photographic Cup (WPC) (which would be an incredible honor).

By participating in the competition, photographers allow the organization, without compensation, to use any of the images submitted for marketing purposes, including on the Belpa website, social media, and in printed materials for this and future Belgian Photo Awards projects.
By participating in the competition, photographers agree their images and results to be published on any of Belpa’s marketing channels (website, social media, etc.), as well as in other contexts related to the competition. Sponsors and media may also publish/show the images in contexts related to the competition.

To be eligible for the Belgian Excellence Award, you must submit at least 3 images. Additional images are allowed, but only the 3 highest scores will count.

The 11 photographers with the highest average scores on their top 3 images will be re-evaluated in a live jury round. The photographer with the highest-scoring set of 3 images wins the title Belgian Excellence 2026. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers will be designated as Runners-Up.

This means that if you are nominated for the Belgian Photo Awards, you also stand a chance of becoming the First Photographer of Belgium. You don't need to worry about a thing. If you are one of these 11 photographers, we will handle the high-quality printing of your three best images for you!

The live judging will take place on the morning of November 10. The 3 images from each of these 11 photographers will then be exhibited for everyone at Creative Connect, and you will also be able to admire them during the networking reception following the announcements at the award show.

The First Photographer of Belgium will be officially announced during the Award Show on November 10.