Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 announced!

Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 is now closed to entries. Look out for details of the 2022 competition, which launches on 12 February.

Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021

Congratulations to the winner and

Nguyen Tan Tuan, Vietnam

Nguyen Tan Tuan, Vietnam

270 points

Nguyen Tan Tuan has been a regular entrant to APOY for the past couple of years, but this year he really came into his own, winning Round 6, Movement, coming third in Round 10, Close-ups, and sixth in Round 8, Travel. He also had images shortlisted in four further rounds.

AP’s editor Nigel Atherton says: ‘To win the overall title of Amateur Photographer of the Year you need to demonstrate skill and imagination in multiple genres, and Nguyen achieved that in spades. His winning image in our Movement round is typical of his work and was one of my favourite images submitted during the whole year.’

See more of their work

1st in Movement with 100 points (main image)
3rd in Close-Ups with 80 points (above)

6th in Travel with 50 points (above)

Young Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021

Congratulations to the joint winners of

Muhammad Amdad Hossain, Bangladesh

Muhammad Amdad Hossain, Bangladesh

510 points

Muhammad Amdad has been an outstanding entrant in our inaugural Young APOY competition, winning Round 1, Black & White, Round 3, Home and Round 8, Travel. He was also placed in the top ten of three further rounds.

Nigel Atherton says: ‘Muhammad’s work displays a skill and maturity beyond his age, as his hat-trick of round wins attests.’

See more of their work

1st in Black and White with 100 points (main image)
1st in Home with 100 points (left)
1st in Travel with 100 points (right)

Lucy Monckton, UK

Lucy Monckton, UK

510 points

Lucy was placed in all ten rounds of Young APOY, which is quite the achievement and demonstrates impressive consistency and ability. She and Muhammad Amdad fought a very close battle, and ended up at the top, with a 160-point lead over their nearest rival, and deservedly sharing the prize.

Nigel Atherton says: ‘Getting shortlisted in every round is an achievement not equalled by anyone else of any age, so Lucy richly deserves her joint victory.’

See more of their work

2nd in Natural World with 90 points (main image)
4th in Movement with 70 points (left)
4th in Street with 70 points (right)

Camera Club Winners 2021

Congratulations to the

Launceston Camera Club, Cornwall

490 points

With no fewer than 15 members featuring on the shortlists and in the top ten throughout APOY 2021, Launceston Camera Club is the runaway winner of our inaugural camera club competition, accumulating an impressive 490 points in total – 270 points ahead of their nearest rivals. Ian Smith was the highest-placed member, coming second in Round 7, Portraits.

Nigel Atherton says: ‘You’ve got to be in it to win it and Launceston won by harnessing the power of teamwork, and having multiple members placed in virtually every round. Why not get your club more involved next year?’

Visit Launceston Camera Club

2nd in Portraits with 100 points. Photo by Ian Smith (above)

Check out the final 2021 leaderboard

APOY 2021 Leaderboard Young APOY2021 Leaderboard UK Camera Clubs Leaderboard

Browse all the category winners

Judging panel

All images submitted to APOY 2021 will be reviewed by our panel of photography experts from Amateur Photographer magazine, joined by some special guest judges for individual rounds.

Read more about our judges
Nigel Atherton

Nigel Atherton

Editor, Amateur Photographer magazine

Matt Barker

Matt Barker

MPB founder

Benedict Brain

Benedict Brain

UK based photographer and journalist

Amy Davies

Amy Davies

Features Editor, AP magazine

Martin Evening

Martin Evening

Photographer and writer

Geoff Harris

Geoff Harris

Deputy Editor, AP magazine

Olivia Harris

Olivia Harris

Saturday Picture Editor, The Times

Hollie Latham Hucker

Hollie Latham Hucker

Technique Editor, AP magazine

Ailsa McWhinnie

Ailsa McWhinnie

Project Manager, APOY Awards

More guest judges to be confirmed...

Guest Judge

Guest Judge

Guest Judges Title

Name of Round

Guest Judge

Guest Judge

Guest Judges Title

Name of Round

£11,000 worth of prizes up for grabs

£11,000 worth of prizes up for grabs

Be in with the chance of winning the title of Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 and other fantastic prizes courtesy of our sponsors MPB.

Explore the full prizing details

Explore previous Amateur Photographer of the Year competitions.

Get 4 issues for £4!

Get 4 issues for £4!

Subscribe to Amateur Photographer magazine and get your first four issues for just £4 (GBP).

Subscribe here

Amateur Photographer Magazine

Amateur Photographer is the world’s oldest consumer photographic magazine, published every week since October 1884. Since then, AP has been the bible for both amateur and professional photo-enthusiasts around the world. It has helped generations of photographers to improve their skills.

Look out for AP in your newsagent on sale EVERY week, so it’s always the first with the latest news and reviews on cameras and equipment as well as the largest and most up-to-date marketplace for buyers and sellers.

Amateur Photographer magazine is also available in digital format, for your iPad, mobile device or PC.

Keep up to date with APOY 2021

amateurphotographer.co.uk

Frequently asked questions

What are the APOY 2021 rounds?

There are 10 rounds in APOY 2021, in the following order:

1. Black and White
Opens 5th February | Closes 1st March | Shortlist 12th March | Results on Photocrowd 2nd April

2. Natural World
Opens 20th February | Closes 19th March | Shortlist 2nd April | Results on Photocrowd 30th April

3. Home
Opens 20th March | Closes 16th April | Shortlist 1st May | Results on Photocrowd 28th May

4. Landscapes
Opens 17th April | Closes 14th May | Shortlist 29th May | Results on Photocrowd 25th June

5. Architecture
Opens 15th May | Closes 11th June | Shortlist 26th June | Results on Photocrowd 23rd July

6. Movement
Opens 12th June | Closes 9th July | Shortlist 24th July | Results on Photocrowd 20th August

7. Portraits
Opens 10th July | Closes 6th August | Shortlist 21st August | Results on Photocrowd 17th September

8. Travel
Opens 7th August | Closes 3rd September | Shortlist 18th September | Results on Photocrowd 15th October

9. Street
Opens 4th September | Closes 1st October | Shortlist 16th October | Results on Photocrowd 12th November

10. Close-ups
Opens 2nd October | Closes 29th October | Shortlist 13th November | Results on Photocrowd 10th December

(all dates 2021)

Who can enter?

The 10 rounds are open to ‘amateur’ photographers of all ages and nationalities. ‘Amateur’ in this context refers to a person who earns 10% or less of their annual income from photography or photographic services.

Photographers aged between 13 and 21 on 29th October 2021 are welcome to enter the ‘Young Amateur Photographer of the Year’ category in each round, which is free to enter.

Any entrant under 18 on the date when they enter must gain the permission of a parent or guardian to enter the competition. People under the age of 13 are not permitted to register on the Photocrowd platform.

What are the key dates?

The opening date of Round 1 is 5th February, 2021.

The closing date for entries in Round 10 is 29th October 2021.

The overall winners of Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 will be announced in a future issue of Amateur Photographer magazine, followed by an announcement on Photocrowd.

The results and shortlists for each round will be announced throughout the year.

How many images can I enter?

For the main APOY 2021 award, you can enter up to 4 images in each of the 10 rounds. 1 free entry per round can be obtained via a unique code published in Amateur Photographer magazine during the period in which that round is open. Without the code, you’ll be able to enter a maximum of 3 images per round.

For the Young APOY 2021 award, eligible photographers can enter up to 4 free images per round.

How are the overall winners of the ‘APOY 2021’ and ‘Young APOY 2021’ awards decided?

A leaderboard of photographers for both APOY 2021 and Young APOY 2021 is running throughout the competition, and will be updated after the results of each round are announced. It will be accessible from the main awards portal on Photocrowd.

Any images given a Top 10 place or shortlisted by the judges will be given points, and your highest-placed entry in each round will count towards your overall leaderboard ranking. The photographers who finish top of the leaderboards at the end of all ten rounds will win the titles of ‘Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021’ and ‘Young Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021,’ respectively.

Points are allocated in each round as follows:

1st – 100 points
2nd – 90 points
3rd – 80 points
4th – 70 points
5th – 60 points
6th – 50 points
7th – 45 points
8th – 40 points
9th – 35 points
10th – 30 points
Shortlisted – 10 points

What is the UK camera club award?

In this year’s APOY, you can accumulate points for your UK camera club. Each of your members’ best-placed images in each round will count towards your club’s score, with no limit on how many of your members can enter - they’ll all count. After all ten rounds are complete, the club with the most points will win a voucher for £500 to spend at MPB. Your club might choose to spend it on gear for use by its members, or even run its own in-house competition with the prize going to the most successful photographer.

You'll have the option to tell us your UK camera club when you fill out our simple agreement form.

How much does it cost to enter?

The cost is based on the number of images you want to enter. Entries are bought in advance and can then be used at any time before midnight (UTC+1) on 29th October 2021. The following entry bundles are available for the main APOY 2021 competition, and entries can be used across any of the 10 rounds:

1 image – £8

3 images - £21 (£7 per image)

9 images - £36 (£4 per image)

24 images - £66 (£2.75 per image) – as of Round 3, with 8 rounds remaining.

A discount on the price of entry bundles of 10%, 20% or 30% is available for Photocrowd Challenger, Pro or Master subscribers, respectively. Find out more about Photocrowd subscriptions here.

Multiple bundles can be purchased (eg. 3 x 1 image bundles = 3 total entries) but the maximum number of paid entries that can be made across all 10 main categories is 30 (3 images per category).

A voucher for one free entry per round in the main APOY 2021 competition is printed in Amateur Photographer magazine, which costs £2.99 from most good newsagents and supermarkets. Amateur Photographer magazine is also available in digital format, for your iPad or mobile device: in iTunes, Kindle, Google Play and Zinio. Also available on Readly.

The Young Amateur Photographer of the Year award is free to enter.

No. The same image can only be entered into one category. And by ‘image’, we mean the same original file – so a manipulated/altered version of the same file can’t be entered in a different category.

Each entry to a category counts as one entry, for the purposes of payment.

Please note, once the submissions period for a round has closed, entries cannot be withdrawn/swapped, and refunds will not be available for images that are ruled out for consideration due to repeated use.

I've entered Young APOY 2021, but can I also enter my images into the main APOY competition?

Yes. Photographers aged between 13 and 21 who have entered Young APOY 2021 can also enter the main APOY competition (standard charges apply). You are also welcome to enter the same images into both Young APOY and APOY.

How many times can I enter the awards?

Each photographer can enter up to 4 images into each of the 10 rounds (3 purchased images + 1 free entry via code in Amateur Photographer magazine), using one Photocrowd account. More than one image bundle can be purchased, but there is a maximum of 40 images that can be entered by each photographer across the competition.

Photographers who are eligible for Young APOY 2021 are also permitted to enter the main competition, but must use the same Photocrowd account (standard charges apply).

How recently do submitted images have to have been taken?

There is no rule regarding how recently an image must have been taken.

Can I withdraw or swap an image once I’ve entered it?

If the round in which the image has been entered is still open, then at any time you can remove a submission and enter a different one in its place. Once the deadline for entries has passed in each round, and judging is underway, images cannot be removed or swapped out for other images.

Do I have to sign up to Photocrowd to enter?

Yes, there’s a simple signup process to register on Photocrowd, which will then give you full access to the Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 awards.

Can images be taken on a phone?

Yes, images can be taken on any device capable of producing a digital image of sufficient size for entry. For full guidelines on minimum image requirements see the ‘How should I prepare my images for submission?’ FAQ, below.

Do images have to be taken in the United Kingdom?

No. The APOY 2021 Awards is an international competition and you may enter photographs taken anywhere in the world.

Can I enter an image that has been submitted into a previous year of APOY?

Maybe. Any image that has finished in the top 10 of any round in a previous year of APOY, is not eligible for entry in APOY 2021, but images that have been previously entered without finishing in the top 10 of any round can be re-submitted this year.

Can I enter a photo that has previously won another photo awards?

Yes, you are allowed to enter photos that have won other photo awards previously.

How should I prepare my images for submission?

File type
Images should be saved as jpegs at the highest quality available, with a colour profile attached. Either the RGB or sRGB colour profiles are recommended. Digital scans from film are also eligible providing they meet these technical guidelines.

Image size and resizing
Whilst no image sizes will be rejected at upload, winning images will be required to be printed, and so must be of sufficient quality to allow this. It is therefore advised that images measure a minimum of 2,500 pixels on the shortest side after any cropping. Where images submitted are smaller than this, it will be assumed that this is the largest image size available to the photographer, and may affect that image’s chances of winning. The submission of larger file sizes is encouraged if available.

There are Photoshop and other image software tutorials online that show you how to best resize an image.

Image Manipulation
There are no restrictions regarding the manipulation of images using software or other techniques in these awards, provided that all imagery is the exclusive work of the submitting photographer and does not include any element that is the copyright of another. That includes not using any image elements such as skies that are available in some image editing software.

Image sharpening, noise reduction and colour saturation
Excessive sharpening, noise reduction and colour saturation techniques should be avoided. We appreciate that entrants will attempt to prepare their entries to optimise appearance and appeal on screen, and this may include these techniques. Excessive use of any or all of them can result in an entry that will be unsuitable for printed media and therefore become invalid as a result.

Image descriptions
Please include a description about your work during the upload process. This is a great way to tell a story or other interesting facts about your image. The panel will be able to read this while judging to give them insight into how you came about the shot.

Metadata
We would advise all entrants to add copyright information in the metadata of all submissions.

Terms and Conditions

The Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 competition is hosted on Photocrowd.com, and Photocrowd’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply.

In addition please note the following in relation to these awards:

1. The Promoter

The promoter is Kelsey Media Ltd. which has its registered offices located at Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL, and is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 05822990.

2. Eligibility

The competition is global and open to people of all nationalities.

Any entrant under 18 on the date at which they enter the competition must gain the permission of a parent or guardian. Entrants under the age of 13 at the closing date of the competition (29th October 2021) are not permitted to enter.

The Young Amateur Photographer of the Year 2021 contest is only open to persons aged 13-21 on the date of closure of the competition on 29th October 2021. Entrants aged 13-21 are also eligible to enter the main categories of the competition (standard entry charges will apply).

It is the responsibility of each entrant (and the entrant's parent or guardian) to ensure that they have read and will abide by these rules and Photocrowd’s terms and conditions. By submitting an entry, each entrant (and the entrant's parent or guardian) agrees to these rules, that their entry complies with these rules, and that they will be liable to the Promoter and their licensees in respect of any damages or losses incurred as a breach of the rules.

Employees or agents of Kelsey Media Ltd. and Photocrowd, their families or other persons connected with this promotion (excluding the sponsors) are not eligible to enter.

Proof of eligibility must be provided upon request. Use of a false name or other false details will result in disqualification.

3. Submission Rules

All entries must be submitted via the Photocrowd online platform. No entries will be accepted by email or post.

The Promoter reserves the right to request from the entrant a copy of the original camera file and a screengrab of their editing software showing other images from the same shoot, and to eliminate entries where such a request is ignored or where it is suspected that the rules have been infringed.

Full guidelines on permissible image sizes and types, and what image manipulation and retouching is allowed are provided in the FAQs section, above.

The Promoter and Photocrowd reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify or remove any entry that does not comply with the rules or the spirit of the awards, at any stage of the awards.

4. Prizing

Please refer to the prizing section on this website for details of prizes.

5 Competition Judging

Once the entry period has closed for each round, the panel of judges will convene to determine their prizewinners.

For each round in both APOY 2021 and Young APOY 2021, a shortlist will be announced at the end of the judging period, followed by the announcement of each round's final results.

The grand prize winners will be unveiled after the final round’s winners are announced.

Please refer to our judges page for more information on the judging panel. The judges’ decisions are final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the decisions.

6. Copyright and permissions

All imagery MUST be the exclusive work of the submitting photographer and may not include any element that is the copyright of another. The Copyright for each image entered will remain with the submitting photographer. By entering the Competition and submitting your photograph(s), you hereby grant the Promoter, its sponsors and their hosting partner Photocrowd a non-exclusive, irrevocable license to use your photograph(s) for any purpose connected with the Competition, including (but not limited to), promoting the Competition within printed and online media, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of any Competition book, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of any Competition calendar or other merchandise, display at exhibitions, use in press, promotional and marketing materials, social media networks and for the promotion of any future photographic competition in both print and online media.

7. Publicity

You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of Your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation.

Any personal information, including without limitation, your name, age, address (including postcode) and/or email address will be used by Kelsey Media Ltd. in accordance with its privacy policy.

8. Liabilities

The promoter is excluded from liability for any loss, damage or injury which might occur to any of the winners arising from their acceptance of the prizes. Entrants indemnify the Promoter for all liabilities, including legal costs, in relation to any action or complaint taken by any third party against the Promoter in relation to the entrant’s photograph(s).

9. General

The promoter and Photocrowd reserve the right to cancel this Competition, in which case any entry fees paid will be refunded.

The promoter and Photocrowd reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by English law. When a photograph is submitted and the entry date has passed, the entry cannot be changed or withdrawn. No refunds will be given. Entry to the Awards shall be deemed full and unconditional acceptance of the terms & conditions.