IMA next - International Photo Competition

ABOUT IMA next

IMA next is a photography competition open to anyone who wishes to participate. Every month, one theme will be announced and judged by a professional in creative industry. The winner will be awarded with a cash prize along with a feature on IMA ONLINE, IMA magazine or with possible opportunities to exhibit his/her works at other occasions organized by IMA.
This is essentially a platform that offers the chance for one of your photographs to open its wings and learn to fly away into the world of art photography.
It may be your carefully designed and thought-through photographs taken with your favourite camera or it may also be an accidental shot with your smartphone that turned out to be a great image. Anything is welcome. Our aim is to discover new talents from all over the world through IMA next.

COMPETITIONS
OPEN FOR ENTRIES

2023MAR

THEME #43

ANONYMOUS

JUDGE:
Shingo Wakagi

DEADLINE:
Until May 16th

LEARN MORE

2023FEB

THEME #42

CREATURE

JUDGE:
Charlotte Dumas

DEADLINE:
Until April 24th

LEARN MORE

STEPS FOR ENTRY

Entry Form

Please provide the necessary information and upload you're images for your entry. See guidelines for more details.

Payment

¥2,000 per entry (tax inc.).
Payment by credit card only (except JCB).

Confirmation of Entry

Once the payment has been processed, you will receive an entry confirmation email.

Judging

It will take about two months until the result announcement. This may vary depending on the number of entries and the availability of the judges.
Note that we will not be communicating on an individual basis about the state of the judging process.

Result Announcement

The Grand Prix and shortlists will be announced on this website, All relevant participants will be informedbeforehand via the email address provided during the entry process.
Please be aware that we will not be responding to inquiries about the result.

PRIZE

Grand Prix	100,000 JPY Cash Prize – Portfolio Review by either IMA or the jury (Please check each theme page for more details) – Exposure on IMA ONLINE and IMA official social media
Shortlist	– Exposure on IMA ONLINE and IMA official social media – Portfolio Review by IMA
All Contestant	– Exclusive live streaming by IMA editors or judges
Others	The content of the prize may vary depending on the theme. Please check the page of each theme for details.

GUIDELINES

IMA next is a photo competition that aims to support emerging photographers to succeed in the art photography world.

How to apply	– Please chose the theme you would like to enter for and fill out the appropriate submission form. Make sure you chose the right form as it is different depending on each theme. – 1～5 photographs can be uploaded for each entry, however in that case, all your photographs in the entry will be judged as 1 series. If you would like to submit multiple series, please make another entry. There is no limit to the number of entries per theme. – Please read the Terms of Use before applying. By submitting your application, we will assume that you agree to the Terms of Use.
Who can apply?	The applicant must be older than 16 years old. Otherwise, anyone is welcome! We have no restriction in terms of your nationality, age, gender or experience (Professional/Amateur).
Submission period	For each theme, there will be about 2 months submission period. Once every month, a theme will be announced and the submissions will open.
Application fee	2,000JPY per entry. We accept credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and Alipay.
Image requirements	– All submissions need to be still photographs, no moving images will be accepted. All sorts of post-production processes are allowed. – DVD/Blue-Ray submissions will be rejected. – If the submitted work is deemed non-photographic, it may not be judged. – The submission of 1 ~ 5 images of 10MB each are possible for 1 entry. – Any work that violates the rights of a third party (copyright, trademark right, portrait rights) cannot be submitted. If the work includes anything created by a third party (art work, films, photographs, music…etc.) and if it may concern any other rights, there is a need for you to have gotten permission from all party involved before you enter.