These are a couple of very respected annual competitions –the prizes and recognition could launch careers, especially the $10,000 grand prize. There’s a lot of information, so check them out at the sites:
Submission deadline for both: April 30
The New York Photo Festival
May 12-16, 2010
The goal of the New York Photo Festival is to identify and document the future of photography in all its forms. Every year, a select group of internationally-respected curators are called upon to deliver their personal vision of the newest and most important trends in contemporary photography, each exhibited in their own pavilion and promising to draw the attention of the entire photographic community.
International Photography Awards
(Worldwide gallery showings throughout the year)
The International Photography Awards conducts an annual competition for professional, non- professional, and student photographers on a global level, creating one of the most ambitious and comprehensive competitions in the photography world today.
The overall winners of the eight main categories listed below will compete for IPA’s top award of International Photographer of the Year. Those finalists will be invited to attend the Lucie Awards at the Lincoln Center, New York, where one photographer will be announced as the International Photographer of the Year, earning the coveted Lucie Statue and a cash prize of $10,000 provided by AtEdge. The nominees in the seven non-professional and student categories will be invited to the Lucie Awards to compete for the title of the Discovery of the Year, a Lucie Statue and $5,000 cash prize. Six nominees comprised of all levels of profession will be invited to the Lucie Awards for the title of Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year, where the story behind the images are dually judged, and to compete for the coveted Lucie Statue and a cash prize of $5,000 provided by Blurb.