Prestigious Prizes For Photography Pros

August 15, 2009 6:10 AM

Professional photographer types: which photography awards are the most prestigious?

I'm looking not necessarily for the ones with the biggest prizes, but the ones where a win would seriously impress other professional photographers or potential employers familiar with the field. I did some Googling, but every award out there wants me to think it is a big deal, so any insider feelings would be awesome. :)

posted by picopebbles to media & arts (10 comments total)

Photojournalism has a few different POTY (photo of the year) awards. One is from the National Press Photographers Association. Among newspaper folks, that pretty prestigious.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 6:28 AM on August 15

I should add in the US.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 6:28 AM on August 15

World Press is the most prestigious of all, as far as I know.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:52 AM on August 15

When I was a staff newspaper photographer, the NPPA national and even regional awards were important. A Pulitzer was gold, as was a World Press award.

Since I've been freelance, my favorite award is the check that comes in the mail after completing a successful shoot.

These days, any professional photographer who can continue to make a good living impresses me by virtue of the fact that he or she is still in the business.
posted by imjustsaying at 7:05 AM on August 15

I would think winning a Pulitzer would look good on your CV.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:25 AM on August 15

A photojournalist would very much like the Visa Pour l’Image.

A wildlife photographer would be pleased to have won the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

Portrait photographers could enter the Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Prize, and be proud of a win.

Apart from the previously mentioned prizes, these three are a very high level.

FWIW, winning a big, high-budget commission from a client you respect and want to work for is at least as good as any prize.
posted by Magnakai at 9:36 AM on August 15

PDN's 30
posted by bradbane at 1:01 PM on August 15

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize formerly known as Citygroup Photography Prize.
posted by A! at 5:19 PM on August 15

For photojournalism:

Mentioned previously, Visa, World Press, and the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism. Also look at Pictures of the Year International. Some other highly respected and coveted grants and exhibition opportunities are the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, the Howard Chapnick Grant, the Open Society Institute's Moving Walls program, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Oskar Barnack Prize. Oh, and the Pulitzers. I'm missing a few of the other big ones, I think...

Within the contests themselves, a few awards are considered more prestigious than others. The big categories, picture of the year, magazine photographer of the year, large circulation newspaper photographer of the year are considered more prestigious than, say, winning 1st in the arts and entertainment photography category. And the specialized categories, such as the so-called premiere awards (scroll down just a little) in POYi, are considered more prestigious than individual categories.
posted by msbrauer at 6:10 PM on August 15

Thank you all so much! This is very, very helpful. :)
posted by picopebbles at 9:03 PM on August 15