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IT · Free entry · 2027 · verified

Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards)

Siena Awards (Art Photo Travel Association) creative.sienawards.com ↗

Closes Apr 01, 2027 · D − 137

Creative Photo Awards 2027 can ask for your RAW or original file (rule). Compare your RAW with the photo you plan to enter, free, on your computer → Small retouching, such as removing dust spots, is almost never marked; HDR, panoramas and focus stacks show as differences.

One email now to confirm, then one reminder on 25 March 2027, 7 days before it closes. Nothing else, and the reminder has a cancel link. Privacy

Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) is open for entries until 1 April 2027; the organiser names no time zone, and we read it as Rome time (UTC+2). Entry is free. Strict ban on AI-generated images. The licence covers every entry; it has no end date. Checked against the organiser's rules on 26 October 2026.

Top prize $559 grand prize
Fee Free no entry cost
AI policy No AI images originals can be demanded
Categories 9 8 single · 1 multi-image

Worth entering? Free to enter against a $559 top prize — the cost is your rights, not your money: read the licence terms below before you submit. Jury read ↓ · Rights & disqualifiers ↓

Submit-Safe · before you pay the entry fee Read the fine print

Read the fine print first — Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) has 4 hard disqualifiers and demanding rights terms.

What this contest takes

You keep copyright, but the licence reaches past promoting the contest: commercial use or merchandise and exploiting the images. Read the licence clause before entering.

  • Copyright stays with the entrant: "Siena Awards recognizes you retain full ownership of the copyright in each photograph that you have submitted." Rule 10: "The entrant allows the contest organizers to use, free of charge, the entered images for promotional purposes related to the photo contest and the Siena Awards Festival, such as catalogues, calendars, videos, websites, and official merchandising (e.g., tote bags, notepads, bookmarks, etc.). No photographs entered for the Siena International Photo Awards will be offered for sale or used by sponsors for any commercial purposes other than for the marketing of the Siena Awards Festival, the competition, the exhibition, the catalogue, and the creation of official merchandise (always with mandatory credit to the photographer), without the photographer’s approval." Rule 4: "Winning photographs may be included in the future in traveling group gallery exhibitions and/or screenings and projections at arts institutions and festivals worldwide." FAQ: "By entering the competition, you are agreeing to be included in the possible annual publication that showcases the full collection of winning images." Site terms 8.7.3 say it without "possible": "By entering the competition, you are agreeing to be included in the annual publication that showcases the full collection of winning images." The Siena Awards site terms, which cover every image uploaded to the competition websites, add (8.7.2): "All entrants understand that any image submitted to the site may be used by the Siena Awards for marketing and promotional purposes. You hereby grant the Siena Awards a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence in each Entry throughout the world in all media for any use connected to the promotion of the Siena Awards and all the initiatives connected to them." and (8.1) "The Siena Awards may publish any material You submit, post, upload, email or otherwise transmit to it or to the Site at its sole discretion and it shall be entitled to make additions or deletions to any such material prior to publication." Credit, rule 11: "Any photograph used by Siena Awards shall carry a credit line.", though a missing credit "shall not be deemed to be a breach" if Siena Awards "uses its reasonable endeavors to rectify such failure within a reasonable period". Rule 12: "You acknowledge that Siena Awards and its event partners assume no responsibility and are not liable for any image misuse." Site terms 13.4 limit an entrant's remedies to damages: "in no circumstances will You be entitled by reason of any such breach to enjoin or restrain the distribution, exhibition, broadcasting, advertising or exploitation of any photographs or any Entry." The About page puts it more narrowly: "Winners and Finalists grant Creative Photo Awards limited and restricted use of winning photos only to promote the photographers themselves and in connection with marketing the Creative Photo Awards competition itself. Details can be found in the Competition rules."
  • Duration: No term is stated in the rules; site terms 8.7.2 make the licence "non-exclusive, irrevocable" and worldwide, "in all media"
  • You keep your copyright
  • Credited when used

What disqualifies you

AI-generated or AI-rendered content is disqualified — and RAW files can be demanded to prove it.

  • Copyright ownership You must be the sole copyright owner and creator of every photograph and have the right to enter it; it must not infringe anyone's intellectual property or privacy or publicity rights, and everyone depicted must have granted permission to be portrayed as shown (rules 7 and 8). “You are the sole copyright owner and creator of the photographs.”
  • AI rule Only human-generated content is eligible: AI-generated images and any image manipulation using AI algorithms are not allowed. Other digital manipulation is accepted (FAQ). Final-round entrants must send the RAW or original camera files used to create the entry. “The 'Creative Photo Awards' contest aims to ensure that human creativity and originality are preserved. Only human-generated content is eligible for submission. The use of AI-generated images or any form of image manipulation using AI algorithms is not allowed.”
  • Original files Entrants listed in the final round are asked for the RAW or original camera files of the photographs used to create their entry, to show the original photos were captured by a human; finalists must also be able to supply a high-resolution file of at least 8 MB (at least 2400 x 3600 px at 300 dpi, FAQ). “Participants who will be listed in the final round are requested to submit the RAW/original camera files of the photographs they have used to create their entry into the competition to ensure that the original photos are captured by a human.”
Closes Apr 1, 2027 · D−137 Free to enter Upload spec: Files: JPGMax 1920px long edgesRGB or Adobe98 colour profileNo watermarks
Check your file against these file rules, free → No account · type, pixel size and file size, in your browser · it does not judge the photograph
Compare your RAW with the photo you plan to enter → The organiser can ask for your RAW or original files · free · on your device, nothing is uploaded · it does not judge the photograph
№ 02 · The editorial read

What this jury looks for

Every entry is "reviewed and pre-screened by our editors and an international group of industry professionals"; the screened entries go to the international jury, which chooses the winners, and "The decisions of the jury are final." The participant with the highest scoring image is named Creative Photographer of the Year. The About page s…

Categories

Animal

Single

Photography featuring the animals' life through the creative eye of the photographer.

  • Unethical treatment of the animals are not allowed.

Advertising

Single

Commercial images used to sell, market, promote or advertise a product, service, or people (product, food).

Architecture

Single

Architecture in an artistic way: abstract, bridges, buildings, cityscapes, historic, industrial, interior, other.

People

Single

Artistic images of a person or group of people, capturing the subject's personality through lighting, backdrops, poses and so on (beauty, fashion, portraiture, nude).

Wedding

Single

People and activities relating to wedding or engagement ceremonies, celebrations or traditions.

Fine Art

Single

Images where the intention is aesthetic, revealing the subjective, creative vision of the artist and expressing an idea, a message or an emotion (conceptual, experimental, abstract).

Open Theme

Single

Fine art photography that does not fall under any of the other categories (still life, music).

Nature & Landscape

Single

Environment and landscapes in an artistic way, often enhanced, showing scenes in nature through the photographer's creative eye and techniques.

Series

Series · up to 9 photos (min 5)

A series of five to nine images presented together on one theme, in the same style and linked to one another (Italian brief).

F Format requirements 1 spec

creative_entry

  • File types: jpg
  • Max long edge: 1920px
  • Color profile: sRGB or Adobe98
  • DPI: 72
  • No watermarks

Check a photo against these file rules, free and in your browser.

E Eligibility 5 rules
  • Open to professional and amateur photographers; the Italian rules add "di qualsiasi età" (of any age). Entrants under 18 need a parent's or legal guardian's consent to upload images (Siena Awards site terms 8.5). soft

    “Creative Photo Awards competition is open to professional and amateur photographers.”

  • You must be the sole copyright owner and creator of every photograph and have the right to enter it; it must not infringe anyone's intellectual property or privacy or publicity rights, and everyone depicted must have granted permission to be portrayed as shown (rules 7 and 8). hard

    “You are the sole copyright owner and creator of the photographs.”

  • Only human-generated content is eligible: AI-generated images and any image manipulation using AI algorithms are not allowed. Other digital manipulation is accepted (FAQ). Final-round entrants must send the RAW or original camera files used to create the entry. hard

    “The 'Creative Photo Awards' contest aims to ensure that human creativity and originality are preserved. Only human-generated content is eligible for submission. The use of AI-generated images or any form of image manipulation using AI algorithms is not allowed.”

  • Entrants listed in the final round are asked for the RAW or original camera files of the photographs used to create their entry, to show the original photos were captured by a human; finalists must also be able to supply a high-resolution file of at least 8 MB (at least 2400 x 3600 px at 300 dpi, FAQ). hard

    “Participants who will be listed in the final round are requested to submit the RAW/original camera files of the photographs they have used to create their entry into the competition to ensure that the original photos are captured by a human.”

  • Published and unpublished work is accepted, as are images that have won prizes in other competitions or are entered in other competitions still running (FAQ). soft

    “Yes, both published and unpublished work is accepted.”

Creative Photo Awards 2027’s rules let the organiser ask for your RAW or original files. Compare your RAW with the photo you plan to enter, free and in your browser.

Jury context

Every entry is "reviewed and pre-screened by our editors and an international group of industry professionals"; the screened entries go to the international jury, which chooses the winners, and "The decisions of the jury are final." The participant with the highest scoring image is named Creative Photographer of the Year. The About page says "What matters is your unique vision and your skills in translating that vision into exceptional and original work", and the FAQ: "In this competition, everyone is free to use any technique. Only the final effect counts." The rules state no scoring criteria.

Priorities: unique vision originality creative technique human creativity

Tone: visionary experimental conceptual original expressive

Avoid: ai generated images ai editing tools watermarks or signatures borders unethical treatment of animals

Past winners — text notes

The 2026 gallery (https://creative.sienawards.com/gallery/2026, read 26 October 2026) names Metaverse by Mohammad Dadsetan as Photo of the Year, a work its caption says is "Inspired by the theory of parallel worlds and human existence in the metaverse".

These are text-only curatorial observations, never images of past winners.

Prizes

Creative Photographer of the Year (the participant with the highest scoring image): €500 worth of photography equipment, the "Pangea Prize" crystal trophy and a fixed fee of 400 euros towards two nights' accommodation in Siena during the Awards Ceremony weekend. Category winners and runners-up: the Pangea Prize trophy. Highly Commended: "Crystal of Honor" trophy. Commended: parchment. Every level: special guest at the ceremony, the work shown at the "I Wonder if You Can" exhibition in Siena, "Advertising on international press and on main online media" and publication in the online gallery; every level except Commended also lists "Runway on the stage during the Awards Ceremony". "The Pangea Prize, Crystal of Honor and the parchments will only be given to winners attending the Awards Ceremony." Photos for the "Sovicille Creative" exhibitions in villages near Siena are selected from all submissions.

  • "Pangea Prize" crystal trophy for the Creative Photographer of the Year, category winners and runners-up
  • A fixed fee of 400 euros towards accommodation for two nights in Siena during the Awards Ceremony weekend (Creative Photographer of the Year)

Exhibition Publication Gear

R Rights & licensing what you grant the organizer
What you grant
Copyright stays with the entrant: "Siena Awards recognizes you retain full ownership of the copyright in each photograph that you have submitted." Rule 10: "The entrant allows the contest organizers to use, free of charge, the entered images for promotional purposes related to the photo contest and the Siena Awards Festival, such as catalogues, calendars, videos, websites, and official merchandising (e.g., tote bags, notepads, bookmarks, etc.). No photographs entered for the Siena International Photo Awards will be offered for sale or used by sponsors for any commercial purposes other than for the marketing of the Siena Awards Festival, the competition, the exhibition, the catalogue, and the creation of official merchandise (always with mandatory credit to the photographer), without the photographer’s approval." Rule 4: "Winning photographs may be included in the future in traveling group gallery exhibitions and/or screenings and projections at arts institutions and festivals worldwide." FAQ: "By entering the competition, you are agreeing to be included in the possible annual publication that showcases the full collection of winning images." Site terms 8.7.3 say it without "possible": "By entering the competition, you are agreeing to be included in the annual publication that showcases the full collection of winning images." The Siena Awards site terms, which cover every image uploaded to the competition websites, add (8.7.2): "All entrants understand that any image submitted to the site may be used by the Siena Awards for marketing and promotional purposes. You hereby grant the Siena Awards a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence in each Entry throughout the world in all media for any use connected to the promotion of the Siena Awards and all the initiatives connected to them." and (8.1) "The Siena Awards may publish any material You submit, post, upload, email or otherwise transmit to it or to the Site at its sole discretion and it shall be entitled to make additions or deletions to any such material prior to publication." Credit, rule 11: "Any photograph used by Siena Awards shall carry a credit line.", though a missing credit "shall not be deemed to be a breach" if Siena Awards "uses its reasonable endeavors to rectify such failure within a reasonable period". Rule 12: "You acknowledge that Siena Awards and its event partners assume no responsibility and are not liable for any image misuse." Site terms 13.4 limit an entrant's remedies to damages: "in no circumstances will You be entitled by reason of any such breach to enjoin or restrain the distribution, exhibition, broadcasting, advertising or exploitation of any photographs or any Entry." The About page puts it more narrowly: "Winners and Finalists grant Creative Photo Awards limited and restricted use of winning photos only to promote the photographers themselves and in connection with marketing the Creative Photo Awards competition itself. Details can be found in the Competition rules."
Duration
No term is stated in the rules; site terms 8.7.2 make the licence "non-exclusive, irrevocable" and worldwide, "in all media"
Exclusivity
none
Attribution
Required
Copyright retained by photographer
Yes

Before you enter — quick answers

Is Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) free to enter?
Yes — Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) is free to enter.
Are AI-generated images allowed in Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards)?
No. Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) has a strict ban on AI-generated images.
When is the Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) deadline?
Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards) closes on 1 April 2027; the organiser names no time zone, and we read it as Rome time (UTC+2).
How do I know if my photo is eligible for Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards)?
Only the organiser decides whether an entry is eligible. Read Creative Photo Awards 2027 (Siena Awards)'s published rules before you enter, in particular the editing line, the AI clause and the file requirements. WinPhoto's free contest file check compares your file's type, pixel size and file size with those file requirements, in your browser and without an account. It does not judge the photograph.