Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026: registrations open for the international photography competition in Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is preparing to host a new major celebration of international photography with the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026, organized by the Académie de l’Art Photographique de Monte-Carlo (AAPMC) under the patronage of the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP).

Registrations are now open, inviting professional photographers, emerging talents and photography enthusiasts from around the world to submit their works before the deadline of October 4, 2026.

The competition represents a significant event on the international photography scene and is among the first major photographic exhibitions organized in the Principality following Monaco’s admission as a FIAP member country.

Four categories to showcase the world through photography

The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026 features four categories designed to highlight different photographic styles and creative approaches:

• Glamour & Beauty, dedicated to portraits, creativity and the aesthetics of the image;
• World in Focus, a new official FIAP category dedicated to photographs portraying people, cultures, travel, architecture, traditions, gastronomy and everyday life;
• Landscape, celebrating natural and urban environments through landscape photography;
• Free Theme, an open category allowing photographers to freely express their artistic vision.

The World in Focus category holds particular importance, encouraging photographers to use images as a way to document contemporary life and tell stories about identities, places and cultures from around the world.

How to participate in the Monaco photography competition

Each participant may submit up to four photographs per category, for a maximum of sixteen images.

All entries must be submitted digitally through the HiHo platform, in accordance with the technical requirements outlined in the official competition rules.

Registrations opened on June 15, 2026 and will remain available until October 4, 2026.

The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026 schedule includes:

• October 18, 2026: jury meeting and evaluation of the submitted works;
• October 25, 2026: announcement of the results;
• December 4, 2026: official awards ceremony in Monaco.

FIAP awards and more than 370 prizes

The competition will reward the most outstanding photographers with a wide range of international distinctions.

The main award will be the FIAP Light Blue Pin, presented to the overall best author of the competition.

Each of the four categories will also feature:

• FIAP Gold Medal;
• FIAP Silver Medal;
• FIAP Bronze Medal;

• FIAP Honourable Mentions;
• Jury’s Special Mentions.

In total, the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026 will award more than 370 distinctions, confirming the international scale of the event.

Special prizes celebrating digital photography and artificial intelligence

Among the partners of the 2026 edition is Retouch4me, which will provide winners of the top three places in each category with permanent licenses for its professional AI-powered photo editing tools, as well as credits for its cloud services.

All photographers whose works are accepted will also receive free credits and special discounts for purchasing dedicated post-production plugins.

Award-winning images featured in the official catalogue

The winning photographs and selected works will be published in the official digital catalogue of the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026, distributed to participants and designed to showcase the creativity of the selected photographers.

Through this initiative, Monaco continues to support international photographic art, creating a meeting point between creativity, culture and innovation.

The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026 aims to become a global platform bringing together photographers of all levels and backgrounds while celebrating the power of images to tell the story of our world.