• Category winners will be awarded £500 and those commended receive a prize of £100
• Nearly 400 entries exhibited in last city region photo awards

Entries open today for the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards with cash prizes for the best images across six categories.

The competition, delivered by Open Eye Gallery with the support of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, is seeking photographs depicting celebration, connection, futures, shared spaces, movement and care.

Winning entries chosen by a panel of independent judges will be displayed as part of the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards 2025 exhibition at Open Eye Gallery in November, where an image from every single entry will be featured in our Digital Window Gallery.

Category winners will be awarded £500, while those commended receive a prize of £100.

With its varied landscape, dynamic communities and urban areas, Liverpool City Region is a paradise for photographers with the last competition attracting hundreds of entries from across Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

Councillor Mike Wharton, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Business, Investment and Trade said:

“There is such power in a photograph. It can tell a story, communicate beyond language, and connect instantly. We’ve already seen this in action with our Cultural Events Programme this year, which involves six diverse groups including refugees and asylum seekers, members of the LGBTQI+ community and D/deaf and BSL users working with socially engaged photographers.

“Photography is a great tool for successful community cohesion and bringing people together, and I hope that will be one of the benefits of the competition.”

This year’s categories support that cohesive theme. Images can be taken anywhere at any time, but entrants must currently live in the Liverpool City Region. They will then be considered by arts and industry professionals who will shortlist the winners.

Declan Connolly, Liverpool City Region Photo Awards Lead at Open Eye Gallery, said:

“After the success of the first Liverpool City Region Photo Awards in 2023 and the 380 local artists we exhibited, we’re over the moon to be running Liverpool City Region Photo Awards again and hoping to see even more people submitting work this second time around.

“Over the summer, we will have opened exhibitions in Halton, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral and Knowsley in the lead up to this open call and it’s been incredible to see the work of brilliant local photographers that we are somehow only meeting for the first time.

“Photographic talent is very much alive in the Liverpool City Region and happening every day and in every postcode – in group chats, in home darkrooms and on the street. That is what the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards are all about. We want to see it all.”

Jane MacNeil, winner of the 2023 Liverpool City Region Photo Awards, said:

“Winning the Liverpool City Region Photo Awards was a recognition to keep going and helped further my photography practice with exhibitions and publishing. There’s a thriving photography community in Liverpool, the awards are an opportunity for all to be a part of it and unlike most photo awards in the industry, there was no submission fee.”

Categories

Celebration

Something we celebrate is something we’re publicly proud of – is there something not enough people celebrate? What do you want to tell absolutely everybody about?

Connecting

We connect to people, places, animals, plants and objects everyday, some more meaningful than others. How do you feel about these connections and how would you show them?

Futures

We all experience our climate and think about the future of our planet. What around you do you see as a positive? What would you like to keep for the future, and what would you like to change?

Shared space(s)

Where we choose to spend our time reveals a lot about a person and when shared, it can begin to represent the ideals or wants of a community. Your town, cafés, your friend’s house, your favourite bench – every place holds hundreds of stories. Which stories will you choose?

Movement

Running clubs, dancing, travelling or the passing of time. Think creatively – what moves you?

Care

Care and caring looks different to each person. We can care for our friends, we can care for our communities, we can care for our environment. We can feel cared for. What does care look like for you?

Entry is free and open to anyone living in the city region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral).

SUBMIT YOUR WORK

Closing date: 14 September 2025