2026-02-02 |***Reading Time: 12 minutes***

Intro

There is a specific kind of silence that happens when you sit down to judge an international photography contest. You aren’t just looking at pictures; you are looking at thousands of hours of effort, travel, and creative risk. Especially in the era “quick & easy solutions”, a.k.a. AI image generation, this means a lot to me.

I am honoured to announce that I have been invited back to serve on the international jury for Fotoaward 2025 for the 3rd consecutive year.

Having been through this process before, I can tell you that being a juror is a sobering responsibility. In a competition like Fotoaward, which is uniquely invitation-only and lacks rigid genre categories, the bar is exceptionally high. You aren’t competing against a “category”; you are competing against the best possible version of the photographic medium.

Photography Credit: Alexander Rudny, Winner 2024

What Happens Behind the Judging Table?

Most photographers think contests are won by the sharpest lens, the most expensive sensor or the latest camera body. I’m sorry to dissapoint you, but they aren’t. As a judge, I don’t see your metadata or EXIF (and I don’t have to even if I could), I just see your vision & creativity.

When a jury looks at a “mountain” of incredible images, the ones that survive the first cut aren’t just technically perfect, they are unforgettable. Here is what I am personally looking for this year:

1. Real Photos vs Image Generation

In an era where anyone have access to AI image generation, just try to create what you envisioned in reality, no matter if it is technically perfect or not.
AI can generate “perfect” images in mere seconds. However, these images do not have a soul, nor a background. The photographer didn’t witness that breathtaking sunrise from the peak of the mountain, or that unforgettable sunset from a hill just above his house.

What I’m trying to say is that as a juror, I am looking for the human thumbprint. Generative AI can simulate light, but it cannot simulate the experience of waiting for it. The feelings that the photographer experienced while pressing the shutter.

I am looking for photos that carry the weight of an actual moment in time, a physical location, and a human eye. Now more than ever, it is crucial for photographers to explore new creative ways to deliver results that AI simply cannot replicate: the imperfect and the authentic.

Photography Credit: Yuri Nezdoyminoga Winner 2024

2. The “Third Dimension” of Storytelling

A beautiful landscape is common. A landscape that tells me something about the passage of time, the fragility of the environment, or the solitude of the creator is rare. I’m looking for images that make me ask a question, rather than just provide an answer.

Photography Credit: Nikolai Mozgunov, Winner 2024

3. Technical Mastery as a Silent Partner

I’ve written before about “The Gear Trap” and it applies here more than ever. Technical excellence, focus, dynamic range, composition, should be so perfect that it becomes invisible. If I’m noticing your post-processing before I notice your subject, the image has already lost its impact.

Photography Credit: Olga Rudchenko Winner 2024

4. Authenticity over Trends

Every year, juries see clones of the previous year’s winners. If a specific style of drone shot or long-exposure sea-scape won last year, we see a thousand versions of it this year. The images that move forward are the ones that break the mold, the ones that feel like the photographer was shooting for themselves, not for a trophy.

Photography Credit: Ira Ogiy, Winner 2024

How to Prepare Your Own Work

Whether you have been invited to Fotoaward or are entering other global competitions, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide on my blog: Mastering Photography Contests: Insights from Behind the Judging Table. It covers the common mistakes I see from the jury seat and how to select images that actually stand a chance.

Photography Credit: Alexander Chorny, Winner 2024

A Final Note on the Craft

Judging these awards reminds me why I love teaching. Seeing the world through so many different eyes is the ultimate inspiration. It reinforces the fact that the most valuable thing you own as a photographer is your presence in the field, and that is something that AI can never replace.

If you want to move beyond the technical “rules” and start finding your own unique visual voice, I’d love to work with you in person. My upcoming London Travel Photography Workshop is happening in less than 2 months, and we will be focusing specifically on the kind of “intentional shooting” that catches a judge’s eye.

Explore the Fotoaward 2025 Jury here: fotoaward.org/2025/jury/

Let’s see what we can create this year.