Architizer is thrilled to announce that the 2022 One Photo Challenge is open for entries!
One of our most popular annual competitions returns for its third edition, once again posing a simple yet provocative question: Can you tell a powerful story about architecture and the people that inhabit it with a single photo? With some of the world’s best architectural photographers on the jury and $5,000 in cash prizes on offer for the winners, architecture’s biggest photography competition is set to be more inspiring than ever.
Entering is easy: Simply submit one photograph, taken using any camera or phone, that captures an architectural structure, detail, space or built environment from a unique perspective. Multiple entries are allowed and can help to maximize your chances of success! The full competition brief can be viewed below.
Enter the competition before the Final Entry Deadline on Friday, July 15th to secure your place in the running — hit the blue button below to get started:
“The Roofscape of the Obscure” by Venla Rautajoki, Non-Student Winner in the 2021 One Photo Challenge
Competition Prizes
The two top winners (one student and one non-student) will each receive:
- $2,500 cash prize
- Top billing in the official Winners’ Announcement on Architizer.com, promoted on social media to Architizer’s 4.5M+ followers
- An exclusive interview discussing your work published in Architizer.com
- NEW this year: A place on next year’s prestigious One Photo Challenge Jury alongside some of the industry’s most renowned photographers!
10 additional Commended Entries will also feature in the Winners’ Announcement and receive extensive coverage across Architizer.com. Furthermore, 100 Finalists 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.
Left: “Timkat” by James Brittain, James Brittain; Right: “Architecture and Nature Aligned” by Alex Nye, Commended Entries in the 2021 One Photo Challenge
Competition Brief
Your challenge is simple: Submit one photograph that powerfully communicates an architectural form or space, capturing the essence of the place and the experience of those that inhabit it.
Your image can be located anywhere in the world and be at any scale. It can be taken from a wide angle or close up, show a whole building or just a detail, and be located anywhere in the world. As long as your photo portrays part or all of a building or group of buildings, it is eligible. This should be accompanied by a short description of your photograph that explains what makes your image — and the architecture shown within it — special.
This year, special attention will be given to photographs depicting architecture that is intrinsically tied to our shared place and time — the world in 2022. Images that encapsulate the atmosphere and emotion of a particular place, through the lens of architecture, are most likely to be rewarded.
“Echo” by Philippe Sarfati, Philippe Sarfati, Commended Entry in the 2021 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.
Select jurors include:
- Ema Peter, A+Award-winning architectural photographer.
- Hufton + Crow, world-renowned photographers Nick Hufton and Al Crow, whose clients include Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG and Heatherwick Studio.
- Ana Mello, renowned Brazlian architect and architecture photographer, featured in Architectural Digest’s “5 new latin architecture photographers“.
- Yener Torun, Turkish architect and photographer otherwise known as cimkedi; creator of the world’s most colorful architectural photography series!
- Krista Jahnke, one of Canada’s leading architectural photographers.
- Sebastian Weiss, otherwise known as le_blanc — Instagram’s most popular photographer of minimalist architectural details.
- Paul Clemence, renowned architectural photographer and founder of the huge Archi-Photo community, home to almost 1 million followers!
- Aldo Amoretti, A+Award-winning architectural photographer who took the photo on the cover of 2018 “The World’s Best Architecture” compendium. Explore his Instagram @aldoamoretti.
“Poor Man’s Canvas” by Kavin Kumar La Sa, Anna University, Student Winner in the One Photo Challenge
Show Us Architecture Through a New Lens
The One Photo Challenge provides an 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!
Top Image: “Terlingua Night” by Peter Molick, Peter Molick Photography, Commended Entry in the 2021 One Photo Challenge