Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest
Smithsonian Magazine’s contest site says “After 23 years, the annual magazine photo contest is on hiatus” and “we have decided to discontinue the contest at this time” (checked 26 October 2026; the notice carries no date).
Organiser Smithsonian Magazine (Smithsonian Institution) · The organiser’s page ↗
What the organiser says now · checked
- Contest home page, under the heading “Thank You for Your Support”: “After 23 years and hundreds of thousands of wonderful photographs, we have decided to discontinue the contest at this time. We understand this will be disappointing news for many, but we appreciate your continued interest.”
- An earlier magazine article on the 23rd winners (April/May 2026 issue) said: “The 24th annual contest will open for entries in September.” The contest site now shows the hiatus notice instead.
- The rules and FAQ pages are still the 23rd contest’s (“Last updated: September 2025”), and the winners archive ends at 2025. No 24th, 2026 or 2027 edition is published.
Last edition · Smithsonian magazine 23rd Annual Photo Contest (the 2025 contest)
Rules: the contest “begins September 15th, 2025, and ends December 1st, 2025, at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time”. The rules and FAQ mention no entry fee.
Prizes: Grand Prize $2,500; six category winners and the Readers’ Choice $500 each. The Grand Prize went to “The Punk Rockers” by Jacqueline Burke.
What the latest rules say
From the 23rd Annual Photo Contest rules (“Last updated: September 2025”). The next edition’s rules may differ.
- AI: “Images generated or manipulated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) are not permitted.”
- Editing: “The addition and subtraction of objects is not permitted except in the Artistic Images category.”
- Original files: “Finalists must be prepared to submit an original, unedited digital file or an original negative, print or slide.”
- Eligibility: open to photographers “18 years old or older”, with photos “shot by the entrant since January 1, 2023”.
- Licence: “a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any purpose”.
If Smithsonian Magazine announces a new edition, WinPhoto adds a full verified record when it publishes the rules.
Sources
- photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/ Contest home page: “After 23 years, the annual magazine photo contest is on hiatus” and the discontinuation text, with no date. Checked
- photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/rules/ 23rd Annual Photo Contest rules, last updated September 2025: dates, eligibility, AI rule, originals, licence. Checked
- photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/faq/ FAQ, last updated September 2025. Checked
- photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/archive/2025/ 2025 (23rd) winners and finalists: Grand Prize “The Punk Rockers”, Jacqueline Burke. Checked
- smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/see-spectacular-winners-smithsonian-magazines-23rd-annual-photography-contest-180988429/ 23rd winners article, from the April/May 2026 issue: “The 24th annual contest will open for entries in September.” Checked
Looking for a contest to enter now? See the photo contests open now, each checked against the organiser’s published rules, or the other next editions.
If the organiser has published something we have not added yet, send the link to hello@winphoto.io and we’ll read it.