Open Call 2027 — The World Through Your Lens

Your vision. Your world. Your shot.

Submit your work here:

Step into the spotlight and let your images tell the story. From the vast silence of Arctic landscapes to the vibrant pulse of city life — we invite photographers from every corner of the world to take part in the Greatest Photos of the World 2027.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or an emerging talent, this is your chance to showcase your work to an international audience and be recognized among the best in contemporary photography.

Why Enter

• Your work exhibited alongside National Geographic and World Press Photo photographers

• Part of a major international festival in the Netherlands with 10,000+ visitors

• Cash prizes and special category awards

• Professional review by an international panel of photography experts

• Featured across partner media including LensCulture, Dodho Magazine, and All About Photo

• Publication in the official festival program

• Potential to exhibit in other European cities.

Categories 2027

• Journeys & Adventures

  Capture the thrill of exploration and discovery — moments that define travel and open our eyes to new worlds and perspectives.

2. Faces & Souls

Introduce us to the people you meet. Portraits that reveal character, spirit, and emotion — from quiet intimacy to the vibrancy of daily life.

3. Nature’s Beauty

Celebrate the majesty of the natural world. From sweeping landscapes to delicate flora — reveal the essence and fragility of our planet.

4. Wildlife in Harmony

Show how animals coexist with their environments. Evoke the atmosphere, rhythm, and raw connection of life in the wild.

5. Underwater Wonders

Dive beneath the surface and uncover the mysterious beauty of aquatic life. Inspire awe with your vision of oceans, rivers, and lakes.

6.Motion & Emotion (Sports in Action)

Freeze the power of movement. Capture emotion, energy, and determination — from personal triumphs to global competitions.

7.Stories That Matter (Documentary & Photojournalism)

Tell the stories shaping our world. Reveal cultural, political, and environmental realities through compelling visual storytelling.

8.Streets of the World

Find beauty in the chaos. Capture life as it unfolds — spontaneous, raw, and authentic — from bustling city centers to quiet backstreets.

Submission Details

1. • 1 image – € 10,-

   • 3 images – € 20,-

   • Storytelling (a serie of max 10 images) – € 35,-

Deadline: May 1^th 2027- 23:59 hrs

Join us and be part of a global celebration of photography — where art, nature, and humanity meet through the lens.

THEME 2027:

LIVING TOGETHER How We Share Our Planet

Living Together explores how people, animals and nature coexist within the same spaces, landscapes and ecosystems. Across the world, our shared environment is constantly changing. Cities continue to grow, natural habitats are under pressure, and tourism, agriculture, housing, industry and recreation increasingly compete for space. At the same time, our lives remain deeply connected to the landscapes, communities and natural systems around us.

This theme invites photographers to look at what it means to share our planet.

Living together can be harmonious, challenging, beautiful, fragile or unexpected. It can be found in the relationship between people and wildlife, in communities adapting to changing environments, in crowded city streets, remote rural areas or beneath the surface of the ocean. It can be about cooperation and connection, but also about boundaries, conflict and the struggle for space.

We are interested in photography that reveals these relationships from different perspectives. How do humans shape the places they inhabit? How does nature adapt to human presence? What happens when wildlife enters cities, when tourism transforms landscapes, or when communities depend on the same land and resources? And where can we find examples of resilience, coexistence and new ways of living together?

At the same time, Living Together is not only about social or environmental problems. Photography has the ability to create wonder, curiosity and emotional connection. A remarkable landscape, an intimate portrait, an extraordinary encounter with an animal or a powerful sporting moment can remind us why places, communities and ecosystems matter.

For The Greatest Photos of the World, the theme therefore remains deliberately broad and visually open. Photographers can respond through documentary photography, visual storytelling and socially engaged work, but equally through spectacular, poetic, humorous or aesthetically powerful single images.

Selection Committee

The selection process for the Greatest Wildlife & Landscapes of the World contests consists of three rounds of evaluation. In each round, the photography experts panel (selection committee) will individually review entries and select a group of entries in each category to proceed to the following round.

Entries will be judged based on creativity, photographic quality, and effectiveness in expressing the contest theme. Winners will be announced on this website as well as on social media channels.

Meet the selection committee 2027:

Andrew Parkison: Andrew is a contributing photographer to National Geographic magazine, has completed nine photo features for BBC Wildlife Magazine and has been published in Audubon, Geo and Terre Sauvage. He has won multiple awards for his photography and is most often drawn to the wildlife and wild places of the UK.

Mike Korostelev:Mike is a wildlife photographer specialising in underwater photography. As well as wildlife photography, Mike now also runs wildlife trips and organises whale watching expeditions. His photos have been awarded in both the Dutch and Slovenian Nature Photographer of the Year competitions as well as the European Wildlife Photographer contest.

Marcel Kollen: Freelance photographer. Managing director of Rotterdam Photo. Marcel Kollen is a photographer from Rotterdam. Besides his visual practice, he is a renowned entrepreneur in the cultural life of Rotterdam. He organized festivals such as Fotofestival Schiedam and led projects for Kunsthal Rotterdam and Het Nieuwe Instituut, among others. In 2015, he initiated Rotterdam Photo to generate a wider stage and support for national and international photographers during Art Rotterdam Week. He likes to create new activities for image-makers and wants to propagate image culture in all its facets in the Rotterdam region.

*Once a submission fee has been paid, there are no refunds provided. If you have been wrongly charged for any reason, we will be happy to credit the amount that is due.

Submit your work here:

Join us and be part of a global celebration of photography — where art, nature, and
humanity meet through the lens. The official exhibition is in De Nieuwe Kerk Zierikzee from 15 July to 26 August 2027.

Terms and conditions: