Hasselblad Masters 2026 Open for Entries: Winners Earn Camera Kits and Cash Prizes

Dec 16, 2025

Jeremy Gray

Split image: Left shows "Hasselblad Masters 2026" text over a dark eclipse background. Right shows a woman in blue clothing and decorative headpiece posing against a gray backdrop.

The prestigious Hasselblad Masters photography competition is back again, and the 2026 edition is now open for entries. Photographers compete across seven categories, with each category winner earning a valuable Hasselblad camera kit and €5,000 in cash. An overall winner will also be named a “Hasselblad Master,” joining an elite group of photographers.

The Hasselblad Masters competition was established in 2001, promising to celebrate and elevate photographers worldwide. The last edition of the contest was Hasselblad Masters 2023, although Hasselblad has done much to support photographers in the years since, including awarding Sophie Ristelhueber the 2025 Hasselblad Award and $200,000, and supporting photographers to help them publish photo books through the Hasselblad Foundation earlier this year.

The Hasselblad Masters 2026 Grand Jury features leading experts from the imaging community, including photographers from influential institutions, publications, and artistic communities.

The Jury Chair, Kalle Sanner, is the Executive Director of the Hasselblad Foundation. Sanner is joined by seven other jurors, including Alex Pollack (Director of Photography at National Geographic), Aya Musa (Senior Curator at Foam), Paul Lachenauer (Managing Photographer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Rebecca Swift (Senior Vice President, Creative at Getty Images), Rong Rong (co-founder and artistic director at The Three Shadows Photography Art Centre), Sonia Jeunet (Global Education Director at Magnum Photos), and Zack Hatfield (Managing Editor at Aperture Magazine).

A small, modern glass cabin with a sharp angled roof sits on rocky terrain under a starry night sky, surrounded by mountains. The cabin's warm interior glows through its transparent walls.

A woman stands outside a red car in a dimly lit parking lot at dusk, using her phone. The car’s headlights are on, and the lot is filled with other parked vehicles under a misty blue sky.

A solitary tree with yellow leaves stands on rocky terrain under a soft, pastel evening sky, with rugged hills and mountains in the background.

Sanner and the rest of the grand jury will evaluate entries across seven categories: Landscape, Architecture, Portrait, Street, Art, Project // 21, and Wildlife.

While most of the categories are self-explanatory, Project // 21 demands a closer look. This category is available only to photographers who are 21 years old or younger. The category has no restrictions on themes or genres, and Hasselblad says it hopes “to see works brimming with youthful power that explore the boundaries of photographic technology whilst revealing independent thinking, keen observation, and sincere creativity.”

A woman wearing a blue striped shawl and a headpiece decorated with hanging shells poses in front of a blue and gray fabric background.

A person stands waist-deep in calm water, facing away, wearing a large transparent bubble helmet. The sky is clear, and distant trees line the horizon under soft daylight.

A man in silhouette walks past a sunlit tiled wall and a large dark green door, with part of the scene in deep shadow.

A lone gazelle with curved horns stands on a smooth, reflective surface under a pale, cloudy sky, creating a calm and minimalistic scene.

As mentioned earlier, each category winner receives a Hasselblad kit and €5,000. The kit includes the excellent new Hasselblad X2D II 100C camera and two XCD lenses of the winner’s choice.

A digital camera body with eight different camera lenses arranged in a semicircle behind it, all displayed on a dark surface with a black background. — Photographers who enter the Hasselblad Masters 2026 competition are competing for Hasselblad X2D II 100C cameras and two XCD lenses of their choice. Each category winner gets a camera kit plus €5,000.

The complete rules and regulations are available on the Hasselblad Masters 2026 website, but some key takeaways are that the competition is open to all photographers, including professionals, regardless of the camera they used to capture their work. Although a Hasselblad competition, it is not at all limited to artists who use Hasselblad camera equipment. Entries are open from now until February 28, 2026, and finalists will be unveiled on April 28, 2026. Winners will be announced on June 30, 2026. Photographers are encouraged to read the complete list of rules and enter their photos now.

Image credits: Hasselblad