Archifoto 2026 — an international European architectural photography competition featuring an exhibition in France
Today, architectural photography is increasingly becoming a way to speak not only about buildings, but also about cities, atmosphere, memory, the environment and how space affects people. It is precisely this approach that underpins Archifoto—a European architectural photography award that invites photographers to explore contemporary architecture through their own visual perspective.
The theme for 2026 is ‘Architecture and Landscape’. The organisers invite participants to explore the relationship between architecture and nature, the urban environment and the landscape, to reveal their mutual influence, contradictions and ability to shape everyday life. The competition focuses not on commercial architectural photography, but specifically on authorial documentary or artistic photography.
Archifoto is organised by the La Chambre association and the European House of Architecture – Upper Rhine as part of an architecture festival in France. The five winners of the competition will take part in an exhibition in Strasbourg in autumn 2026, and will also receive the opportunity for further exhibitions of their work and a €500 exhibition fee for displaying the series.
Who should enter the competition
The competition is particularly suited to:
— photographers working with architecture and the urban environment;
— creators of documentary and visual research projects;
— artists exploring themes of space, ecology and landscape;
— creators of photo series, rather than individual shots;
— those who wish to showcase their work to an international professional audience.
Both professional photographers and artists without extensive exhibition experience are welcome to participate. The organisers are not concerned with status or the number of publications, but rather with the coherence of the series, the visual language and the ability to develop a distinct artistic voice.
What you need to apply
To take part, you must:
— upload 5 photographs;
— prepare a short description of the series (up to 1,000 characters;
— pay the €10 registration fee;
— submit your application via the form on the competition website.
The competition itself is conducted entirely online — participants do not need to travel to France to take part in the exhibition stage. Following selection, the organisers will manage the exhibition and display of the projects themselves. Photographs must be submitted in JPEG format, with a minimum size of 13×18 cm, 300 DPI and no larger than 4 MB per image.
The organisers specifically emphasise that they are looking fororiginal projects, not photographs intended for architectural marketing or commercial building presentations. They also recommend submitting a series with a consistent visual approach and a carefully considered selection of images.
What makes Archifoto special
Many photography competitions focus mainly on individual striking images. Archifoto takes a different approach — here, it is the series itself, the visual exploration, and the photographer’s ability to construct their own narrative about contemporary architecture and the built environment that matter.
It is also significant that the project is linked to an architecture festival and the professional community surrounding it. The winners’ works become part of exhibitions and further displays, whilst the competition itself is gradually building an archive of contemporary European architectural photography.
Important points to note
Only adult entrants residing in EU countries, as well as in a number of other European countries—including Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, the UK and Switzerland—are eligible to participate.
Even if the photographer has never worked with architectural photography or participated in similar competitions before, the submission process remains fairly straightforward and does not require a complex project description. The main focus here is on the series itself and the visual logic of the project.
The deadline for applications is 1 June 2026.
