The international Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) are now open for entries. The 2015 awards have three portfolio categories, three single-image awards, a New Talent category for aspiring professional photographers, an HD video category, Young Travel Photographer of the Year (for photographers aged 18 and under) and the new Smart Shot category (for images shot on a mobile phone or tablet). The overall winner of Travel Photographer of the Year will be chosen from the photographers who submit two or more portfolio category entries. The winner will receive £2,500, the Travel Photographer of the Year trophy and a personalised Plastic Sandwich portfolio case or iFolio. Entry fees start at £7.50 and entry for Young TPOTY is free. The submission deadline is 1st October. Images can be submitted online or as prints.

Press Release

A new world of adventures awaits:

Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 opens for entries

It’s time to pack your bags and get your camera clicking as the 2015 international Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) open for entries. This year TPOTY has introduced a new category – Smart Shot - for every traveller, alongside a new set of exciting photographic themes.

One of the world’s biggest travel photography awards, TPOTY attracts entries from over 100 countries each year, with amateur and professional photographers competing for a coveted TPOTY title.

The 2015 awards have three portfolio categories, three single-image awards, a New Talent category for aspiring professional photographers, an HD video category, Young Travel Photographer of the Year (for photographers aged 18 and under) and the new Smart Shot category (for images shot on a mobile phone or tablet).

TPOTY sponsors, Direct Photographic, Genesis Imaging, Plastic Sandwich, Photo Iconic and Railbookers, have been joined by British lifestyle brand StaaG, and have provided a great range of prizes for the successful photographers.

And winning TPOTY doesn't stop at receiving prizes. Over the years TPOTY winners have seen a huge growth in their international profile. For example, former overall winner, Canadian photographer Darwin Wiggett, commented, “It was like my work suddenly had legitimacy and a large audience. My work featured in major photo magazines and newspapers around the globe and people began buying my prints. My book orders tripled, stock photo requests doubled and visits to my website increased ten-fold."

The awards are judged by a highly respected international panel of judges, which includes the adventurer, naturalist, wildlife filmmaker & environmental activist Catherine Capon, Daria Bonera (Photo Agency Director & Photo Editor for National Geographic Traveler Italy), curator Brigitte Lardinois, renowned wildlife photographer Chris Weston and Caroline Metcalfe, former Director of Photography, Conde Nast Traveller.

Those looking for inspiration for this year’s awards can find them in the range of ‘Journey’ portfolio books available from tpoty.com. The latest one, Journey Seven, will be published this summer.

Inspiration will also come from the two upcoming Travel Photographer of the Year exhibitions. There’s a final chance to see last year’s exhibition of award-winning shots at TPOTY’s first touring exhibition at Lacock Abbey near Bath, England, from June 6th to July 12th, while the most recent winning images can be seen for the first time at London’s Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) from July 24th to September 5th.

Travel Photographer of the Year is open to photographers of all ages and all nationalities. Images can be submitted online via www.tpoty.com or as prints. Entry fees start at £7.50 and entry for Young TPOTY is free.  Entries close on October 1st.

2015 categories and prizes

The overall winner of Travel Photographer of the Year will be chosen from the photographers who submit two or more portfolio category entries. The winner will receive £2,500, the Travel Photographer of the Year trophy, a personalised Plastic Sandwich portfolio case or iFolio and the massive international exposure that such success brings.

There are three portfolio categories, with photographers invited to submit a portfolio of four images that meet the relevant theme:

Faces, People, Encounters - sponsored by Direct Photographic, a leading provider of photographic equipment rental facilities this category has a top prize of £1,000.

Monochromal – the winner of this exclusively black and white image category will receive will receive a set of StaaG luxury leather goods from either the Cockburn or Connaught collection, worth over £1,500.

Nature & Environment – the winner of this category will receive £1,000.

The winners of the Best Single Image award in each of these three portfolio categories receive a magnificent Giclée exhibition print from Genesis Imaging, who produce all the TPOTY exhibition prints.

TPOTY 2015 has three single image ‘One Shot’ categories:  A Moment in Light, Water and Colours of the World. The winner of A Moment in Light receives a city break for two people in Lyon with Railbookers, the Water winner will enjoy a Railbookers Amsterdam city break, and the winner of Colours of the World will go on a Railbookers Bruges city break.

The Travel Photographer of the Year New Talent award always proves popular with amateur and semi-professional photographers who are looking to kickstart a career in photography. This year’s New Talent category has the theme Street Culture, and entrants must submit a portfolio of six images on that theme. The winner receives £1,000, a mentoring day with a TPOTY judge plus a personalised Plastic Sandwich portfolio case or iFolio.

Many contemporary stills cameras also have the facility to shoot HD video, and this is reflected in the HD video category, Travel Shorts. This challenges entrants to shoot a two-minute travel film, with the winner receiving £500 plus a personalised Plastic Sandwich portfolio case or iFolio.

Not everybody packs their camera when they travel, but they still take photographs, and Smart Shot, iCaptured, a new a single image category for pictures taken on a mobile phone or tablet is aimed at those travellers. The winner receives £500 plus a place on a Photo Iconic photography course.

TPOTY has always had special categories for young photographers, and over the years has seen former young winners go on to become professional photographers. TPOTY has even negotiated a five-figure image usage fee for an international ad campaign for one former young winner. Young Travel Photographer of the Year has two age groups – 14 and under and 15-18. This year’s theme is Travels Through My Lens, and the winners in each age group will receive £100. The overall winner – the Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2015 – receives £500 plus a personalised Plastic Sandwich portfolio case or iFolio. All three of the young winners also receive a place (with an accompanying parent) on a Photo Iconic photography course.

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