Montier Photo Competition

What you will actually pay

Entry costs, explained.

Free entry in the 2026 competition, including the younger age group and the video route.

There is no paid upgrade described in the rules. A winner who needs a physical prize posted rather than collected pays the shipping cost. Visiting the November exhibition is a separate personal expense, so free entry should not be confused with a funded trip. [3]

Nature, observation and exhibition

AFPAN l’Or Vert organises this competition within the Montier-en-Der festival. The 2026 call offered ten categories spanning wildlife, plants, landscapes, human relationships with nature, sequences, film and creative reinterpretation. The breadth allows different ways of working, but the common requirement is a defensible relationship with the natural world. [2][3]

The category choice should follow the picture’s method and meaning. A formally beautiful wildlife photograph still needs an honest account of its circumstances; a constructed image belongs in the creative route. Ethical information is part of what judges evaluate, not an administrative detail to supply only after success. [3]

Independent reporting and a substantial selection process

Phototrend’s March 2026 report described the free call and its connection with the twenty-ninth festival, including physical and online presentation of selected photographs. This provides outside corroboration of the opportunity’s public setting. It does not measure the business benefit to an individual winner, but it is more concrete than a promise of unspecified exposure. [6]

The organiser’s July results update recorded 1,800 photographers, 18,324 photographs and 97 videos, with 2,891 works reaching the jury after preliminary screening. Maxime Briola chaired the named panel. Those numbers indicate serious competition even without an entry charge: a tight submission is more persuasive than using every available slot simply because it is free. [5]

An exhibition is verified; a monetary package is not

Selected work is published on the official results page, while the final prizes and distinctions are due to be revealed during the 19–22 November 2026 festival. No complete, reliably priced cash or equipment schedule was available in the reviewed material. We therefore attach no invented prize valuation to the listing. [7]

For a photographer who values seeing a print in context and reaching a nature-focused audience, selection itself can be worthwhile. Someone choosing competitions chiefly by expected financial return lacks the information needed to make that calculation here. These are different objectives, and the entry decision should make the distinction explicit. [6][7]

Field ethics, image provenance and age groups

The call is open to individual photographers, excluding the organising team and jury. Minors need parental consent. The rules prohibit generative AI throughout, including Nature Revisited. Wildlife practices must avoid harmful disturbance or dependence; plants must be photographed in their natural setting. Previously selected or awarded AFPAN work is ineligible; success elsewhere is discouraged rather than absolutely barred. [3]

There is no stated capture-date window. Eight single-image categories allow three photographs each; the sequence route takes 3–5 related images. One nature film of 30–90 seconds is allowed. Keep original camera files and component frames: the organiser can ask for RAW, native JPEG or video originals and for evidence supporting a composite technique. [4]

Selected-work permission with a defined purpose

The licence concerns selected photographs and films for competition promotion and the resulting exhibition, including touring, catalogue, press and online uses. Other use requires prior written consent, and third-party assignment is excluded. There is no fixed expiry. Withdrawal is limited to the period after closing and cannot undo publicity or printing already completed; decide on that continuing visibility before entering. [4]

Follow the binding French specifications

The 2026 deadline was 30 April at midnight UTC/GMT. Initial photographs required JPEG, 3,000 pixels on the long edge, at most 6 MB, in sRGB. Selected prints require a TIFF of at least ten megapixels without resampling, in Adobe RGB 1998. The English translation differs on the initial colour space; the French rules control. [4]

Prepare the required IPTC circumstances, technique, location and species information while editing. Check the final print size before committing a tight crop, and retain a clean original separately from the submission export. No next-edition dates are inferred from the annual pattern; use the closed 2026 rules as preparation and recheck the next official call when published. [4][1]