2nd edition
1 November, 00:00Closes on
30 November, 11:59 pmApplications
are closed
Snow · ice · cold
International photo contest of snow, ice and cold
The photo contest of the cold
An international photo contest hosted by Images & Neige, the only photography festival in Europe devoted entirely to snow, ice and cold. Winners are exhibited at the festival, in the Alps, in the heart of winter.
2026 calendar
The 2025 edition in numbers
“An immediate success.”
“This contest was the first to give me constructive feedback on the selected images without my having to ask for it. This approach stands apart from most other contests.”
Why enter
4 exhibition places, 3 podium prizes, 11 category prizes and 6 free photos.
- 4exhibition placesThe Exhibition winners’ photos are printed by us and exhibited at the Images & Neige festival, in the Alps.
- 3podium prizes1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes for a single image, exhibited at the festival and published in the book with the jury’s analysis.
- 11category prizesIn each of the 11 categories, one single-image prize and one series prize.
- AnonymousjudgingYour photos are judged without your name: anonymity is guaranteed by the entry platform. Your details only serve to present the winners at the festival and in the book.
- 6free photosYour first 3 single photos are free in Sport, and 3 more in Urban.
- Freeportfolio reviewFrom €20, your entry receives written comments, for you alone.
- Easy entryNo resizing needed: upload your photos as they are, the IMAGORA platform resizes them automatically.
- A jury that explainsEvery winning photo is published in the contest book with the jury’s written analysis.
11 categories
Each category rewards a single image and a series (at least three images). Click a category to see what it covers and what the jury looks at.
01Snowy or icy landscapes
Mountains, plains, forests, frozen lakes, glaciers: landscapes shaped by snow and ice, from wide views to close details.
What the jury looks at: Light and atmosphere, composition, and the way snow or ice reveals relief and textures. A well-known place can win when it is seen differently.
02Scenes of winter life
Everyday life in winter: gestures, traditions, work and gatherings, indoors and out.
What the jury looks at: An authentic moment, the truth of a gesture or an expression, the bond between people and their winter surroundings.
03Urban environments shaped by cold or snow3 free
Towns and villages under snow, frost or ice: streets, architecture, lights, passers-by.
What the jury looks at: What the cold changes in the city: light, silence, lines, the way people live in it. Your eye on architecture and passers-by counts as much as the snow itself.
04Winter sports and leisure3 free
Skiing, mountaineering, skating, sledging, snowshoeing, snow games: movement and gesture in the cold.
What the jury looks at: The decisive moment, energy and movement, but also the effort, the waiting or the emotion around the gesture. No sporting feat is needed: a snowball fight can win.
05Wildlife and plants in cold environments
Animals and plants in snow, ice and cold, observed in their environment and without disturbing them.
What the jury looks at: The presence and behaviour of the animal or the plant in its cold environment, and the patience of the eye. The jury values images made with respect for wildlife and its habitat.
06Human, social or environmental consequences of cold
What cold does to people and places: hardship, adaptation, climate, melting ice, memory.
What the jury looks at: The strength of the testimony and the fairness of the point of view: what cold does to lives, places and the climate. You can give the context in the caption.
07Poetry and reverie
A sensitive, dreamlike reading of winter: atmospheres, mists, light, imagination.
What the jury looks at: Emotion, imagination, freedom of interpretation. Blur, motion, black and white or multiple exposures are welcome when they serve your intention.
08Minimalism, graphics and abstraction
Lines, shapes, textures and empty space: snow and ice as graphic or abstract material.
What the jury looks at: Economy of means and the strength of shapes, lines and contrasts. A simple image is not an empty one.
09Macro and close-up
Technique category: crystals, frost, bubbles and textures seen very close up. Every winter theme is welcome.
What the jury looks at: Precise detail, light, and the revelation of a world the naked eye misses: crystals, frost, bubbles, textures.
10Smartphone
Technique category: any photo taken with a smartphone, whatever its theme.
What the jury looks at: The same eye as anywhere else: the look comes before the device. The jury does not hold a phone’s limits against you; it values what you make of them.
11Drone
Technique category: any photo taken with a drone, whatever its theme.
What the jury looks at: The view only the sky allows: patterns, scale, the graphic lines of the winter landscape. The strongest images offer more than a view from above: a composition, a story.
Smartphone, Drone and Macro are technique categories: they welcome every theme. A photo taken with a smartphone or a drone can also compete in a theme category instead. Each photo is entered in one category only, so you choose where it competes.
What makes a series
A series is at least three photos that are stronger seen together: each one holds on its own, and together they say more than the sum of the images. The rules speak of artistic, narrative, documentary or thematic coherence.
- A common thread: a subject, a question, a story or a place.
- Visual unity: light, palette, framing or processing that echo one another.
- A sequence: an order that carries the eye forward, with a beginning and an end.
- Complementarity: each image adds something, none repeats another.
- An author’s eye: the series carries your point of view, not just an inventory.
- A title and a few lines of introduction help the jury enter your work.
For every category, single images and series alike, the jury relies on the indicative criteria of the rules: interpretation of the theme, artistic quality, originality of the eye, technical command, narrative or emotional strength, and coherence of a series.
Who can enter?
- Your photos compete as single images, as series (at least three coherent images), or both.
- You are the author of your photos and keep the original files.
- Each photo has an identifiable link with snow, ice or cold.
- Not eligible: the organiser, the jury members and the people involved in the pre-selection, nor their household where there is a conflict of interest.
2025 winners
For each awarded image, the jury explains why it was chosen. Click a photo to open it full size with the jury's comments.
Jury prizes
Winners exhibited at the festival
The Images & Neige festival
Founded 16 years ago in Cluses, Haute-Savoie, by Frédéric Boiteux, Images & Neige is the only European photography event devoted exclusively to snow, ice and cold.
Works are shown indoors and outdoors, sometimes in very large formats, exposed to the real winter cold. The festival also offers talks, screenings and workshops.
In 2025, it opened to the world with Snow Much to See: the winners’ photographs were printed on aluminium Dibond, framed and exhibited at the festival.
“This outdoor display has become one of our distinctive features, placing the images face to face with the very element they depict.”
The rules in brief
The essentials of the contest rules. The full rules, which apply, are on imagora.
Calendar
- Applications open on 1 November 2026 at 00:00 and close on 30 November 2026 at 23:59 (Paris time).
- The jury examines the photos and votes online from 1 to 14 December, then deliberates between 15 and 20 December.
- Results are announced on 21 December 2026. Selected entrants are informed individually by email.
Entry fees
- €5 for up to 3 photos, €10 up to 10, €15 up to 20, then €2 per photo beyond 20. Each photo counts, including within a series.
- Fees are paid online when you enter, before the closing date.
- They are not refundable, except if the contest is cancelled.
How to enter
- Entries are made online only, on the imagora platform.
- You give your name, contact details, country, amateur or professional status, and a title for each photo or series.
- Captions and texts can be written in French or in English.
Files
- JPEG files, ideally at least 3,000 pixels on the longest side. No need to resize: the IMAGORA platform resizes your images automatically when you upload them.
- No watermark, logo, signature or added frame, and nothing in the image that identifies you.
- Selected entrants will be asked for high-resolution files for printing and the book.
Editing and AI
- Usual editing is welcome: cropping, exposure, contrast and colour, black and white, dust removal, panoramas, exposure blending and focus stacking from your own shots.
- Photomontages are accepted when clearly declared as part of an artistic approach.
- Images generated by artificial intelligence are not accepted. AI tools may only be used for minor technical corrections. The original file or EXIF data may be requested.
Content
- Photos respect the law, human dignity, privacy and the right to one’s image.
- No photo may be taken by putting people, animals or the environment at risk.
Jury and selection
- The jury brings together professionals of photography, images and culture.
- Each member votes individually, then the jury deliberates collectively.
- Criteria include the interpretation of the theme, artistic quality, originality, technical mastery, narrative or emotional strength and the coherence of a series.
Your rights
- You keep all your copyright. Entering transfers no rights.
- For selected photos only, you grant a free, non-exclusive permission to show them to promote the contest and the festival, in the exhibitions, the contest book and the archives, for five years (the book and archives without time limit).
- Your name is always credited. Any other commercial use requires your separate agreement.
Personal data
- Your data is used only to run the contest, the jury, the exhibitions and the book.
- You can access, correct or delete it by writing to [email protected].
Applications open from 1 to 30 November 2026
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