The Travel Photography Club Awards
Brought to you by The Wandering Lens
Celebrating creativity, visual storytelling, and the art of exploring the world with a camera.
Photography has the power to transport us, to capture fleeting light, cultural encounters, and landscapes that evoke moments of awe. The Wandering Lens Travel Photography Awards were created to celebrate the experience, diversity and joy of travel and to recognise images that do more than document a place; those that visually tell a story or spark curiosity, and inspire us to explore.
And of course, to celebrate the photographers behind the images, maybe you!
From October 20th, photographers from all corners of the world are invited to submit their work across three categories: Natural Wonders & Wildlife, People & Culture, and Places & Journeys. Whether you’re photographing sweeping landscapes, human connections, or the details of everyday adventures, these awards are your chance to share your creative vision and how it relates to travel.
Entries will close at midnight, November 20th AEDT.
THE AWARD CATEGORIES
-
Natural Wonders & Wildlife
This category celebrates the beauty of the natural world. Think mountain ranges, seascapes, forests, and deserts, plus the wildlife that calls these places home. Whether it’s a landscape image that shows the scale of nature, or an animal documented in its environment, this is the category for nature and wildlife photography.
-
People & Culture
This category focuses on the human side of travel. From portraits to street scenes, festivals, and everyday life, it’s about capturing the essence of people and their cultural connections. Images could showcase traditions, rituals, community, or candid encounters that highlight the diversity and vibrancy of the world’s cultures.
-
Places & Journeys
City skylines, architectural details, bustling markets, or the small moments that reveal what it feels like to move through a place. This category is for photography that tells the story of travel itself, from iconic landmarks to hidden streets, from transport that carries us to faraway places to the details that make each journey unique.
AWARDS & PRIZES
All images will be judged on creativity, composition, technical quality, skill used by the photographer, and their relevance to the category entered.
Photographer of the Year 2025 – The Travel Photography Club Awards
Awarded to the photographer with the highest combined score across their top three images, taken from any category. For example, your strongest entries might all come from one category, or be spread across multiple categories.
Prize: OM SYSTEM OM-5 MKII camera + M.Zuiko 12–45mm f/4.0 PRO lens - total prize value is $2199.00 AUD. (see the full details here)
Runner-Up Photographer of the Year 2025 - The Travel Photography Club Awards
Awarded to the entrant with the second-highest combined score across their top three images.
Prize: Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L in Ash, value is $425 AUD (see full product details here)
3 x Category Winners
In addition to these top honours, each of the three categories; Natural Wonders & Wildlife, People & Culture, and Places & Journeys, will have a Category Winner. This will be the highest-scoring single image submitted within that category. Category winners will each receive a $150 Gift Voucher to Travel Photography Resources by The Wandering Lens, redeemable for courses, tours, memberships, or resources.
A huge thank you to our sponsors OM SYSTEM + Peak Design for their support of these inaugural travel photography awards and the greater creative community.
In addition to the prizes noted above, winners will be invited to be interviewed for The Journal, and their work will be showcased on The Wandering Lens + The Travel Photography Club Instagram accounts (if they wish).
Please note: For our inaugural awards, in the event that the Photographer of the Year or Runner-Up also has the highest-scoring image in a single category, the award will be shared, and two Category Winners will be announced. This aims to ensure more talented photographers within our community are recognised and celebrated.
ENTRY DETAILS
These awards celebrate the true and authentic experiences of travel. AI must not be used to add elements to an image or manipulate the scene. Basic editing, colour correction, cropping, removal of distracting elements and exposure adjustments are acceptable, but the integrity of the original photograph must remain.
Entrants may submit up to 4 images per category (maximum of 12 images in total).
Members of The Travel Photography Club: Free entry (up to 12 images). Membership must remain active during the awards period to be eligible for a prize if you entered with the code.
Non-Members: AUD $40 flat fee to enter up to 12 images.
Images must be submitted in JPEG format, sized at 1500px wide (height determined by orientation).
All images must be in colour, no sepia or black + white will be accepted.
Maximum file size is 3MB per image.
Files must be in sRGB colour space, with no watermarks.
To ensure images are judged in the correct category, please name your files in the following format: FirstName_LastName_Category.jpg
(e.g. Sarah_Smith_PeopleAndCulture.jpg)
Who Can Enter
The Travel Photography Club Awards 2025 are open to photographers from around the world, regardless of experience level. Whether you’re a passionate amateur capturing your travels for the love of it, or a professional with years of storytelling experience, these awards are designed to celebrate creativity and authentic perspectives on travel.
You don’t need to be a member of The Travel Photography Club to enter, but members enjoy free submissions as part of their membership benefits and you’re welcome to join the club prior to entering here. Non-members are also welcome to enter, however there is a flat entry fee of $40AUD payable for submitting up to 12 images.
Entering photography awards and contests is such a great way to not only take a chance and see what happens, but to spend time curating and assessing your own work prior to submitting your images, which is a wonderful way to grow as a photographer and discover where your skills or creative talents lie.
Read more - The Journal: How to Select Images for Photography Contests
The Judging Process
The judging will take place in two stages to ensure fairness and consistency.
Stage One – Eligibility & Shortlisting
All images will be reviewed by The Wandering Lens Pty Ltd to ensure they meet the entry requirements and competition guidelines. Eligible images will then be considered for shortlisting based on creativity, composition, technical quality and skill, storytelling, and their relevance to the category entered.
Stage Two – Judging Panel
A panel of three photographers and industry professionals, to be announced prior to October 20th, will judge the shortlisted images. To ensure impartiality, all judging will be anonymous. No entrant names will be shared with the panel, and images will be assessed purely on their creative and technical merit, alongside relevance to the category entered.
The Photographer of the Year and Runner-Up will be determined by the combined score of each entrant’s top three images, while Category Winners will be awarded based on the highest-scoring single image in each category.
Judges’ decisions are final, and results will be announced in December 2025.
Entries open October 20th
Entries close November 20th
Join the Club to Enter for Free
Members of The Travel Photography Club can enter the awards for free, with up to 12 images included in their membership. If you’re not yet a member, you’re welcome to join prior to entering to receive your entry code when the awards open on October 20th.
By joining, you’ll gain immediate access to:
A global photography community with a private chat space to connect and share your work.
The monthly digital magazine The Edit, filled with creative challenges, resources, and travel inspiration.
A growing resource library of guides, itineraries, and cheat sheets to develop your skills.
Member features, collaborative projects, and opportunities to showcase your photography.
Membership is just AUD $120 per year (or $70 for six months) and gives you instant access to all resources and community spaces.
Once you’ve joined, you’ll receive login details to explore the community and club spaces, and your free entry code will be available inside the member portal on October 20th.
Join The Travel Photography Club for access to inspiring conversations, exclusive resources, and monthly creative challenges. Choose Annual – $120 AUD (approx $75 USD) to save, or 6 Months – $70 AUD (approx $45 USD) to get started.
