Applications are open for European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021. The European Wildlife Photographer of the Year aims to illustrate the high quality and specific style of European wildlife photography through excellent pictures from Europe and all over the world. It also seeks to promote awareness for nature conservation through the means of photography.

All award-winning images will be shown as large-format prints in an exhibition that will have its premiere at the International Nature Photography Festival in Lünen (29 to 31 October 2021) and will then be presented to millions of visitors in museums, galleries and at festivals in Germany and throughout Europe for several years. A presence on the GDT website, its social media channels, a high-quality exhibition catalog, and an international press campaign contribute to the broad visibility of the award-winning photographers and their images.

Prizes

European Wildlife Photographer of the Year will have the following prizes

• There will be cash and material prizes in the amount of 32,000 EUR altogether.
• Overall winner: 3,000 EUR, invitation to the award ceremony (travel expenses, costs for the buffet and accommodation).
• K 1 – 8: winners: 800 EUR, runners-up: 500 EUR
• K 9: winners: 200 EUR as well as an invitation to the award ceremony (travel expenses, costs for the buffet and accommodation; includes expenses for an accompanying adult), runners-up: 100 EUR.
• All winning participants will receive free tickets to the GDT International Nature Photography Festival 2021 in Lünen as well as the exhibition catalog.

Criteria

You can submit 30 pictures in total, 20 in the categories K1-K8 and up to 10 more in the category K10 – Fritz Pölking- and Fritz Pölking Youth Award.

• K1 – K8: A total of 20 images may be entered. These can be distributed freely across the categories. The same images cannot be entered in more than one category.
• K9 – Youth: A total of 5 images may be entered. The images can be thematically unbound, they do NOT have to stick to the given categories.
• The category K10 (Fritz Pölking Prize and Fritz Pölking Junior Prize) is dedicated to nature photography stories or portfolios. Here, a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 10 pictures, as well as a project description, have to be submitted. It is allowed to upload pictures, which are submitted in the categories K1 – K8, also in K10.

File Requirements

• Image size – longest side 1920 pixels (may be moderately sharpened)
• High-resolution files – must be suitable for large format printing (e.g. 70 x 100 cm) and must have Adobe RGB or sRGB colour space. Do not interpolate data! Please sharpen only moderately.

ENGLISH: Competition Rules (PDF)