Rules

The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest is an annual international photography competition, open to photographers of all nationalities, whether amateur or professional, who must own all rights to submitted images.
All details of the image, even the smallest, must have been photographed by the submitting author.
Images created totally or in part, by means of what is commonly called Artificial Intelligence, are not permitted.

The competition is under the patronage of the FIAP (Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographique) and the AAPMC (Académie de l’Art Photographique de Monte-Carlo).
The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest is organised by Il Teatro della Vita – 7, Avenue Saint Roman 98000 – Monaco – Principality of Monaco – email: info@montecarlophotocontest.org

The rules comply with FIAP document 048/2025 E, therefore the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest classifications are valid for FIAP honours and distinctions.

Patronage

Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique FIAP 2026/351
Académie de l’Art Photographique de Monte-Carlo AAPMC 2026/MC2

1 – Themes

The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026 is divided into four themes:

Theme 1 – Glamour & Beauty
Theme 2 – World in Focus*
Theme 3 – Landscape
Theme 4 – Free Theme

*World in Focus is the FIAP section that includes Street, Travel, Architecture, Culture, Events, Portraits, Food, etc.
A WORLD IN FOCUS image expresses the spirit of an era, the essence of a place or a culture, whether shown in an authentic or organised scene.

Participants may submit a maximum of 4 works in digital format per theme, for a maximum of 16 photos.
Photos submitted in one theme may not be submitted in other themes. Works selected in previous editions are not accepted.

Approved FIAP platform ‘’HiHo’’ is used for registration, photo submission, judges’ voting, rankings and reports.

2 – Participation procedure

To participate, each photographer must:

Register on the montecarlophotocontest.org website,
Pay the registration fee according to the chosen categories,
Follow the instructions provided to submit the photographs.

For each photograph, the title must be specified.
Each participant may submit a maximum of 4 photographs per theme.

File format: All files must be digital in JPEG format, saved in sRGB colour space, with the longest side minimum 1,920 pixels, maximum 3,000 pixels and 300 dpi resolution.
The size of each file must not exceed 4 MB.
Photos with signatures, watermarks and frames are not accepted in any category.
Photos in all categories can be in either colour or black and white.

Photos Accepted:

– Images made from several shots with different exposures (HDR)
– Images taken from multiple shots with different focus (focus stacking)
– Images taken from multiple shots with different focal lengths (focal blending)
– Images created from several shots taken at different times but in the same place and in a reasonably short time (time blending)
– Images in which post-production has not significantly altered the image content (removal of disturbing elements)

Permitted editing (Note 1 below) and prohibited (Note 2 and 3 below).

Permitted editing: includes editing tools that perform transformations, enhancements, or corrections based exclusively on the existing pixel data captured in the author’s original photograph without introducing externally sourced content.

Prohibited editing: All parts of the image have to be photographed by the author who is holding the copyright of all works submitted. Offenders will be sanctioned for life!

Prohibited AI editing: includes any AI-assisted processes for synthetic image gneration that incorporate external image data, visual elements, textures, objects, or scenes not originally present in the author’s photograph are prohibited.

Photos Not Accepted:

– Composite images created from several shots taken in different locations

3 – Copyright and disclaimer

Images must have been taken by the author.

The participant guarantees being the author of the photos submitted, and the sole owner of the rights associated with the image. If recognisable persons appear in the photo, the author must have obtained their consent and, if the subject is a minor, the consent of the legal representative.

4 – Participation fees

The participation fees are euro 38 for one theme, euro 4 for each additional theme as follows:

One theme (max 4 photos) euro 38
Two themes (max 4 photos per theme) euro 42
Three themes (max 4 photos per theme) euro 46
Four themes (max 4 photos per theme) euro 50

5 – Jury

The jury will be composed of photography experts:

Jury President Riccardo Busi– President FIAP, MFIAP, EFIAP/p, HonEFIAP
Paolo Mosti– President AAPMC FIAP Monaco, AFIAP
Romain Nero– EFIAP/d2, HonEFIAP, HonFLPA
Ioannis Lykouris – MFIAP, EFIAP/p, PFIAP, HonEFIAP
Jesús M. García Flores – MFIAP, EFIAP/b, ESFIAP

The jury meets online to select the winners in each category.
The jury’s decisions on the acceptance of photos and the awarding of prizes are final.

6 – Prizes

A ‘Light Blue Pin FIAP’ will be awarded to the best overall author of the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026.

Theme 1 – Glamour & Beauty

1st Prize: FIAP Gold Medal
2nd Prize: FIAP Silver Medal
3rd Prize: FIAP Bronze Medal
4th and 10th Prize: FIAP Honourable Mention Diploma
11th to 30th Place: ‘Jury’s Special Mention’ Diploma

Theme 2 – World in Focus*

Theme 3 – Landscape

Theme 4 – Free Theme

*World in Focus is the FIAP section that includes Street, Travel, Architecture, Culture, Events, Portraits, Food, etc.
A WORLD IN FOCUS image expresses the spirit of an era, the essence of a place or culture, whether it is shown in an authentic or organised scene.

A total of 121 prizes will be awarded

FIAP Honours – In accordance with the FIAP rules on honours, the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest classifications are valid for AFIAP, EFIAP levels, and CAFIAP and CEFIAP distinctions.
Prizes are not cumulative in the same theme, but can be, in different themes up to a maximum of 2.
Cross prizes such as Best Author of the competition are excluded from the count.
Awarded works will be published in a digital catalogue that will be sent to all participants; publication in online magazines is envisaged.

7 – Duration and closing dates of the competition

– Competition opening – 15 June 2026
– Competition closing date – 4 October
– Jury voting – 18 October
– Announcement of winners – 25 October
– The prize-giving ceremony will take place on 4 November 2026 in Monte-Carlo (Principality of Monaco).

The digital catalogue of award winners will be sent to all participants from 15 December 2026.

8 – Announcement of results and award ceremony

The results of the competition will be published on the competition website and each participant will receive an individual notification, the winners will be contacted individually.
The prize-giving ceremony will take place on 4 December 2026 in the Principality of Monaco.

9 – Rights of use

All images submitted remain the property of the authors; however, by submitting images as indicated above, you implicitly grant the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest the right to publish them on its website or those of other organisations in the Principality of Monaco, as well as on various social media platforms.
Furthermore, the authors implicitly grant the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest the right to use the images for exhibitions or events, or in brochures, catalogues, videos, books, or other information or communications relating to the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest. There is no remuneration for the contestants, only the indication of copyright.

10 – Obligations

Registration in the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest automatically implies full acceptance of its rules. Failure to comply with the rules will result in the registration cancellation without a refund of the fees paid.
Photographers under 18 years of age must send, at the time of registration, the authorisation of a parent or legal guardian. Without this document, the candidate in question will not be admitted to the competition.

11 – Content of photos

Photographs must not depict violence, pornography and/or question the morals of people, places and institutions.

12 – FIAP provisions

By the sole act of submitting his/her images or files to the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026, the participant accepts without exception and with no objection that the submitted images can be investigated by FIAP to establish if these obey to FIAP regulations and definitions even if the participant is not a member of FIAP; that FIAP will use any means at its disposal for this undertaking; that any refusal to cooperate with FIAP or any refusal to submit the original files as captured by the camera, or failure to provide sufficient evidence, will be sanctioned by FIAP and that in case of sanctions following the non compliance with FIAP regulations, the name of the participant will be released in any form useful to inform the breaches of the rules. It is recommended to leave the EXIF data in the submitted files intact in order to ease eventual investigations.”

The participant, by registering for the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest 2026, expressly declares to accept the FIAP document 038/2023 E ‘Penalties for violation of FIAP regulations and red list’.

The participant also declares being aware of Chapter II ‘Regulations for International Photographic Events under FIAP Patronage’ of FIAP document 018/2017, which deals with Section II.2 and II.3 of the FIAP Rules of Participation, penalties for violation of FIAP regulations and the Red List .

13 – Organiser’s responsibilities

The Secretariat of the Monte-Carlo Photo Contest reserves the right to modify the present regulations, postpone or cancel the contest.
The Monte-Carlo Photo Contest is a registered trademark.