Deadline: December 21, 2020
Entry Fee: from $15 to $100
Prizes: $500, $3,000, participation in the exhibition
The Mobile Photo Awards is the longest running international competition open exclusively to photographs shot & edited on all mobile phones and tablets. Founded in 2011, we recognize and celebrate the talent and imagery of the mobile phone photo & art communities. Alongside our annual competition (October-December), we produce themed exhibits with international open calls throughout the year.
If it’s true what Henri Cartier-Bresson says, that our first 10,000 photos will be our worst, then it’s safe to say that mobile phone photography has given people an historic opportunity to get past 10,001. The MPA is a showcase for photographers and artists who have embraced this decisive moment.
Since 2011, the Mobile Photography Awards has produced more than a dozen successful exhibits in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Melbourne, San Jose, and more.
“With the MPA…phone photos reach fine art proportions” San Francisco Guardian
The MPA Exhibits are a feature for the winning images from the annual competition and are chosen from thousands by a jury of twenty photographic professionals, journalists, teachers, artists and leaders of the photography, mobile photography and art worlds.
“At heart, The MPA is an opportunity for people to bring attention to their work at the same time as we bring attention to the work of the community as a whole.” – MPA Founder Daniel Berman
The Mobile Photography Awards has 20 photo categories including a Photo Essay with it’s own prize of $500. Every image entered may be placed in up to two (2) categories. All category winners receive MPA prize packs and are included on the exclusive MPA Exhibit Tour, with further opportunities for fine art sales.
Categories
- Eyes of the World
We are all the eyes of the world. This is especially true for the mobile photographer as we document the world around us, at all times, as we see it & encounter its immediacy. - Architecture & Design
Our surroundings are full of visually interesting buildings, structures, designs and patterns from the countryside to the city. - Black and White
In the digital era, photographers are no longer limited by darkroom costs or film choice and the allure of Black & White is as strong as ever. - Digital Art / Photo Illustration (Brought To You By Youcam Perfect)
This category is for manipulated and altered images using additional elements like textures, multiple exposures, and app effects to create an image from the imagination of the artist. - Landscapes
In many ways, landscapes are the most difficult kind of photos to produce with a mobile phone camera. Most landscape shots taken with a DSLR have the advantage… - Macro/Details
When you magnify a subject, you bring your viewers into a world impossible to witness with the naked eye. - Nature and Wildlife
We are all drawn to natural color and beauty. Plants and flowers, the emotions and expressions of animals, the majesty of meadows at magic hour, the unfolding of a rose. - People
The People category is always the busiest in the MPA because it’s about everybody’s favorite subject: our species! - Photo Journalism
Photo journalism is a medium that tries to document life as it is and often serves as a vehicle for political, social and personal statements. - Portraits
The simplest definition is that portraits are artistic representations of the likeness of person. - The Darkness
Think shadows, mystery, low key exposures, night shots, deep, rich, dark colours and misty, cryptic Black and Whites. - Travel & Adventure
Travel photography is about conveying through images an area’s landscape, people, cultures, customs, architecture and history. - Still Life
It’s been said still life photographers make pictures rather than take them. - Self-Portraits
People say that artists do self-portraits as it solves the problem of having to find a model. - Silhouettes
Silhouettes create such powerful images, due to the simple isolation of subject. They remove all distractions and all you see is the a perfectly sharp black outline against a beautiful background. - Street Photography
A mobile phone is perhaps the perfect tool for the street photographer unobtrusive, light, and relatively simple to use. - Transportation
Cars, Trucks, Trains, Planes, Skateboards, Bicycles, Busses, Boats, Jet-Skis, ATV’s, Tractors… - Visual FX
Visual FX & Layers is all about graphic design, abstractions, typography, juxtapositions using photography as a base. - Waterscapes/Snow/Ice
Water, in all it’s forms, is an endlessly inspiring photographic subject. - The Photo Essay
The Photo Essay category is a sub-component of the MPA and awards it’s own prize of $500 separate from all other categories.
Prizes
- The Grand Prize Winner receives $3,000 (US)
- The Photo Essay Winner receives $500 (US)
Entry Fees
- $15 for one (1) image
- $30 for three (3) images
- $50 for six (6) images
- $100 for fifteen (15) images
- The MPA Photo Essay has it’s own entry fee of $29
