Four awards. Six honorees. One vision.
40MPA is dedicated to discovering, recognizing, and promoting photography distinguished by an independent visual language, originality, and artistic expression.
The competition follows three principles: art takes precedence over equipment, originality over trends, and a photographer’s personal expression over social media influence.
Entrants are not required to use a 40mm lens. Digital, film, aerial, and mobile photography are all eligible.
Annual award · Photographer title
1 placeAnnual photography selection · Three individual works
3 placesExperimental and innovative photography
1 placeOutstanding photographic work
1 placeThe annual highest honor, awarded to no more than one recipient each year. It recognizes a photographer with a distinctive visual language, outstanding artistic expression, and an exceptional body of work. The recipient formally receives the 40MMaster title for that edition.
Up to three photographs may be selected each year, with no ranking among them. The jury primarily evaluates composition, spatial relationships, visual expression, originality, and artistic resolution in a single image.
Up to one recipient may be selected each year for work demonstrating an experimental spirit, innovative technique, or a groundbreaking visual language.
Up to one recipient may be selected each year in recognition of a distinctive viewpoint, strong artistic expression, or notable creative potential.
The four awards are judged independently and do not constitute first, second, or third place. A photographer may receive no more than one official award in each edition; in principle, the six places are awarded to six different photographers.
The jury may leave an award vacant and must not lower its standards merely to fill all six places.
The competition is planned to welcome professional and amateur photographers, students, and independent creators worldwide. Nationality, occupation, equipment, and shooting location are unrestricted, subject to applicable law and these rules.
Current jurors, staff involved in final award decisions, and related persons whose conflicts of interest cannot be managed effectively may not participate in the relevant judging.
Works by the founder may appear in the Founder’s Collection but are not eligible for official awards in any edition whose judging the founder organizes or controls.
Every submitted work must have been photographed by the entrant or created by disclosed co-authors. Image theft, false attribution, fabricated provenance, and unauthorized submission of another person’s work are prohibited.
Whether a photographer enters the 40MMaster Award or 40MMasterShot, all valid submitted works may also be considered for the Special Award or Honorable Mention.
A photographer should pay only one entry fee and may be considered for multiple awards under these rules.
Each photographer may submit only one official entry per edition of 40MPA. One entry may contain multiple photographs within the quantity limits of the relevant awards and may be considered for more than one award.
Entrants may not submit repeatedly through multiple accounts, different email addresses, or false identities. An existing entry may be edited before the deadline, but a second valid entry may not be created.
Each photographer may receive no more than one official honor in the same edition: the 40MMaster Award, 40MMasterShot, Special Award, or Honorable Mention.
Works may be classified as Fine Art, Street, Documentary, Spatial, Portrait, Landscape, Architecture, Black & White, Experimental, or Open.
Categories are used solely for submission organization and curation; they do not carry separate award allocations.
Film photography may be submitted as scans. A photographer may not be disqualified solely for lacking a RAW file.
A single-image entry should preferably have been completed within the three years preceding the submission deadline. A 40MMaster Award series may span a longer period so the jury can assess sustained creative practice.
Exposure, contrast, color, cropping, local adjustments, noise reduction, sharpening, black-and-white conversion, film scanning, and traditional darkroom processes are permitted. Clearly disclosed multiple exposures, long exposures, stitching, and experimental photographic techniques are also permitted.
40MPA is grounded in authentic photographic creation. Images created entirely by generative AI are not accepted. Assistive processes such as AI noise reduction and lens correction may be used when they do not materially alter the image content.
Works that use generative AI to add, remove, or replace major visual content are generally not accepted. Composite works in experimental photography may be submitted for review only when primarily based on material photographed by the author and when the creative process is disclosed.
The jury may ask a candidate to provide RAW files, original JPEGs, film scans, negative records, or other reasonable evidence. The absence of a RAW file alone is not grounds for a violation finding.
The jury should consist of three to five independent members with experience in photography, art curation, publishing, or the visual arts. Jurors should be announced before final judging.
40MPA is committed to independent, impartial, and art-first judging. The jury evaluates artistic merit, originality, and visual expression in accordance with the nature of each award.
Emphasis is placed on the photographer’s personal visual language, artistic ideas, the completeness and consistency of the series, and sustained creative ability.
Emphasis is placed on composition, spatial relationships, visual impact, originality, and artistic resolution within a single photograph.
Recognition focuses on distinctive methods, experimental spirit, innovative perspectives, or approaches that expand conventional photographic expression.
Recognition focuses on photography with a distinctive personal style, strong artistic expression, or notable potential.
Jurors must disclose relationships that may affect impartiality. A juror with a conflict of interest may not score or decide on the relevant work. Sponsors may not purchase awards, designate winners, or interfere with judging.
The proposed fee for the inaugural edition is USD $1 per photographer per edition, rather than $1 per photograph. Before paid entries open, the payment method, refund terms, submission deadline, and relevant tax information must be published.
Compliance requirements for collecting fees and awarding prizes across different regions must also be confirmed. If necessary, entry may be made free or participation in certain regions may be limited.
Prize money should come from secured sponsorship or a dedicated prize budget. The founder is not personally required to fund prize commitments that are not financially secured.
USD $300 is an initial fundraising target for the inaugural edition, not a confirmed prize commitment. Before submissions open, funding must be secured and the fixed amount, payment schedule, eligibility verification, and applicable tax rules must be published.
If funding has not been secured, the target amount must not be advertised as a guaranteed prize.
Photographers retain copyright in their work at all times. Submission does not transfer copyright.
Entrants grant the organizer the non-exclusive rights necessary to review, judge, and promote the competition within the agreed scope. Winning works may be displayed on the official 40MMaster website, in the 40MPA winners’ archive, and in a competition feature in SPATIAL Magazine.
The scope, term, and withdrawal process for this license must be stated in the formal submission agreement.
Without separate consent from the photographer, the organizer may not sell a work to a third party, license it for commercial advertising, or produce standalone commercial merchandise from it. Photographer credits must be respected, and works must not be materially altered without authorization.
Entrants must comply with laws applicable at the location where the work was made, including privacy, image rights, drone, and location-use rules. The competition may request additional evidence of lawful creation for works involving minors, private places, or other sensitive circumstances.
Documentary works must not fabricate real events, present staged content as news documentation, or mislead viewers through post-processing.
The organizer will collect only the information needed to operate the competition. Contact details, dates of birth, and other non-public personal information must not be disclosed without authorization.
Minor entrants must receive appropriate privacy protection. An applicable privacy policy and data-retention framework must be established before formal operations begin.
All official winners are eligible to receive:
The availability of physical trophies, printed publications, and shipping services must be announced in advance for each edition.
The recipient of the 40MMaster Award may use the title 2026 40MMaster Laureate in their professional biography.
The title indicates annual award status only and does not confer ownership of the brand or a staff role within the organization.
The following conduct may result in disqualification or revocation of an honor:
Before imposing a significant sanction, the organizer should explain the specific concern and provide a reasonable opportunity for the entrant to respond and submit evidence. Decisions must be based on facts and the rules published in advance.
An entrant should submit an appeal within 14 days after receiving a disqualification or revocation decision. The appeal must be reviewed by a person who was not involved in the original decision and has no conflict of interest.
Ordinary disagreement with an artistic score is not generally grounds for re-judging, but a procedural violation, factual error, or conflict of interest may warrant review.
When a serious violation is verified, 40MPA may revoke the relevant honor and update the official winners’ archive. An award may not be revoked merely because the photographer expresses a different artistic viewpoint.
The schedule for the inaugural 40MPA 2026 competition will be announced. Please stay tuned.