One Photo Challenge 2021: Send Us a Photo. Tell Us a Story. Win $2,500!

This competition is dedicated to architectural photography that captures the essence of a place, revealing something new about our surroundings.

Paul Keskeys Paul Keskeys

Architecture’s biggest photography competition is back! Architizer is thrilled to announce that the 2nd Annual One Photo Challenge is still open for entries, with a Late Entry Deadline of April 16th. You can read the full competition brief below, but the challenge can be summed up as follows: Submit a single architectural photograph that communicates a powerful story about the built environment and those that inhabit it.

With two Top Prizes of $2,500 (for one student and one non-student), as well the opportunity to have your image published and celebrated by millions within the Architizer community, the One Photo Challenge is THE competition to enter this year. Register and get started on your submission by clicking the button below:

Enter the One Photo Challenge

Note: We have updated our system, and you must now use your Architizer login credentials to access your One Photo Challenge account. For those that entered last year’s One Photo Challenge, you will need to create a new account to submit your photo for this year’s program.

“Guangzhou Opera House” by Stephane ABOUDARAM, WE ARE CONTENT(S), Finalist in the 2020 One Photo Challenge

Competition Brief

The One Photo Challenge celebrates architectural photography that captures the essence of a place, revealing something new or unexpected about our surroundings and communicating a larger story about the meaning of home, city or country. The competition is open to everyone, including both professional and amateur photographers — to enter, all you need is a phone or camera and a keen eye for the world around you.

Submissions call for one photograph that powerfully communicates a certain atmosphere or mood that is created by an architectural structure or space. The photo can be captured anywhere in the world, and its subject matter can be at any scale. It can be taken from a wide angle or close up, show a whole building or just a detail. As long as your photo portrays part or all of a building or group of buildings, it is eligible.

Remember, the challenge is to tell a story with your image, so think about what narrative your photo communicates. We encourage participants to submit photographs that depict architecture’s relationship with local cultural, social, political, and economic conditions. Images with a strong sense of time and place stand the best chance of success. Your photograph should be accompanied by a short description, no more than 150 words.

Left: “The Glow of the City” by Edwin Watkeys; Right: “75th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising” by Jeremy Hosking, Finalists in the 2020 One Photo Challenge

Top Prizes

Prizes for the two top winners (one student, one non-student) include: 

  • $2,500 prize money 
  • Coverage on Architizer Journal and social media promotion 
  • An exclusive interview discussing your work published in Architizer Journal

Ten additional runners-up will feature in the Winners’ Announcement and receive extensive coverage across Architizer Journal and all social media platforms. One hundred finalists in total (including the top winners and runners-up) will be published in our special feature “100 Photographs That Tell Powerful Stories About Architecture”, to be distributed to thousands of architecture firms and millions more via Architizer’s social media channels.

“Happytecture” by Anna Devís Benet and Daniel Rueda Cuerda, Finalist in the 2020 One Photo Challenge

The One Photo Challenge Jury

The 100 Finalists will be selected by Architizer’s team of in-house competition jurors. These finalists will then be scored by our expert jury, which includes practitioners and thought leaders from the worlds of architecture and photography.

Confirmed jurors include:

Left: “Sensing the lines” by Tommaso Giuntini; Right: “Just make sure you noticed the collateral beauty” by Aude Marion, Finalists in the 2020 One Photo Challenge

The One Photo Challenge provides a compelling opportunity to illuminate the communicative power of both architecture as a discipline, and photography as a medium. As mentioned earlier, this competition is not limited to professionals; everyone with a passion for photography is invited to apply. If you have an eye for composition, light and shade, and visual narrative, your images may well be contenders for the $2,500 Top Prizes.

For more information, check out the FAQs, the Jurors Page and the Judging Criteria. We can’t wait to see your photographs, and share them with the world!

Start Submission

Note: We have updated our system, and you must now use your Architizer login credentials to access your One Photo Challenge account. For those that entered last year’s One Photo Challenge, you will need to create a new account to submit your photo for this year’s program.

Top image: “Surfing in the wave” by Ryan Tsui, Finalist in the 2020 One Photo Challenge

Paul Keskeys Author: Paul Keskeys
Paul Keskeys is Editor in Chief at Architizer. An architect-trained editor, writer and content creator, Paul graduated from UCL and the University of Edinburgh, gaining an MArch in Architectural Design with distinction. Paul has spoken about the art of architecture and storytelling at many national industry events, including AIANY, NeoCon, KBIS, the Future NOW Symposium, the Young Architect Conference and NYCxDesign. As well as hundreds of editorial publications on Architizer, Paul has also had features published in Architectural Digest, PIN—UP Magazine, Archinect, Aesthetica Magazine and PUBLIC Journal.
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