Nikon’s 40th Photo Contest Celebrates Video With New ‘Nikon Film and Photo Contest’ Name
The Nikon Photo Contest, running since 1969, has welcomed filmmakers into the fold in recent years. To better showcase this, the upcoming 40th edition of the competition has a new name: The Nikon Film and Photo Contest.
The Nikon Film and Photo Contest has long welcomed amateur and professional photographers, and more recently filmmakers, to compete across multiple categories. In the previous 39th contest, around 35,000 participants from 180 countries and regions submitted over 70,000 works.
As PetaPixel‘s coverage shows, the winners were incredible. It is a safe bet that the Nikon Film and Photo Contest 2024-2025 will attract even more talented visual artists worldwide.
The competition has a new design to showcase the name change.
“The Contest logo has also been revamped with a new design that expresses the concept behind the Contest — a place where works created from diverse perspectives come together,” Nikon explains.
Although there’s a new name and logo, there’s a familiar face leading the judging for the contest, Sarah Leen. Leen became the first female director of photography at National Geographic in 2013, and in 2020, Leen founded the Visual Thinking Collective, a community of female editors, teachers, and curators who manage visual projects.
“I am delighted to be returning as the lead judge for the 2024-2025 Nikon Film and Photo Contest. In my past role as the lead judge, I was very impressed with the quality of the photographs and the films that we received. For this next edition of the Contest, we are hoping to see photography and filmmaking that inspire and connect us through visual storytelling,” Leen says.
I would like to encourage all photographers and filmmakers to consider submitting their work to this contest, not only for the exceptional prizes but also for the opportunity to be seen by the public and members of our visual community. This could be a career-changing moment for you and your creative work.”
The Nikon Film and Photo Contest 2024-2025 will comprise a Short Film Competition and Photo Competition. The Short Film side will include Super-Short Film and 5-Minute Film categories. The photography contest portion will include Single Photo and Photo Story categories. Regardless of skill level, age, or nationality, all photographers and filmmakers are eligible to enter.
Grand Prize winners will be named across each category, with all four winners earning a prize of 500,000 yen ($3,340), a Nikon Z8, and a Nikkor Z lens. There will also be Excellence Award winners for all four categories, each receiving a Nikon Z6 III, Nikkor Z lens, and accessories. Special Encouragement Award winners will get a Nikon Z30 kit for the video prizes and a Zfc and lens on the photo side. Finally, a General Public award winner — one each for film and photo — will win a Z50 body and a Nikkor lens. Nikon says it will determine the precise lenses and accessories later.
Interested photographers and filmmakers can begin entering the Nikon Film and Photo Contest 2024-2025, starting on October 30, 2024. Entries close at 11 PM ET on February 16, 2025. Complete entry and rules information is available on the Nikon Film and Photo Contest website.
Image credits: Nikon
