Are you 16–21 years old and interested in photography? Do you want to develop your skills, especially in analog photography and darkroom techniques? Apply now to the Young Photographer Award 2026!
Submit your application by Sunday, March 22, 2026, at 11:59 PM.
Participation is free of charge.
Competition Overview
The Finnish Darkroom Association and the Finnish Museum of Photography are organising a photography competition for young people in the spring of 2026. This is the second time the competition is being organised, and it is open to all photographers aged 16–21 (born 2005–2010) who live in Finland. To participate in the competition, applicants must submit a short text (maximum length half an A4 page) describing their interest in photography along with ten to twelve photographs, which may be created using either analog or digital cameras.
About the Festival
The Helsinki Analog Festival (HAF) continues the tradition of the Helsinki Darkroom Festival, held in 2022 and organized by Suomen Pimiötaiteilijat ry in collaboration with the Finnish Museum of Photography. In 2026, the festival expands beyond photography to include moving image and book arts. HAF celebrates analog and craft-based art, emphasizing materiality, embodiment, and sustainable collaboration. The festival theme in 2026 is BODY, reflecting HAF’s commitment to embodied practices and highlighting the importance of physical presence in a world increasingly dominated by virtual experiences.
200 Years of Photography
The festival celebrates 200 years of photography: the first surviving photograph was created in 1826, when Nicéphore Niépce successfully produced a permanent image using the heliography process on a bitumen-coated plate. This moment is considered the birth of photography. In Finland, the history of photography began in 1842, when district physician Henrik Cajander photographed the Nobel House in Turku in November. This marked the beginning of Finnish photographic practice, which has since grown into a significant part of the national cultural heritage and the international field of visual arts. The Young Photographer Award aims to showcase young people’s contemporary perspectives on photography and its significance in their lives.
The aim of the competition and awards
The aim of the Young Photographer Award is to inspire young people to explore the world of analog photography while also expanding their photographic expression. The competition grants its finalists the opportunity to develop their technical skills and try out different analog photography and darkroom printing techniques.
The jury will select three finalists, each of whom will be awarded with film photography products provided by our partners. In addition, all three finalists will receive free participation in a workshop of their choice, organized by the Finnish Darkroom Association at the Mörk darkroom in Helsinki. One winner will be selected from the finalists who will be awarded with the Young Photographer Award Diploma. The works of the three finalists will be published on the social media channels of the Finnish Museum of Photography and the Finnish Darkroom Association (Facebook and Instagram).
The partners of the competition are JAS Tekniikka Oy, Suomen Interfoto Oy, Telefoto Oy, Rajala Pro Shop, Kameratori Oy and Lomography.
Important dates
Submission deadline
22 March 2026 at 23.59
Decisions made
Beginning of April
Announcement of Finalists and Award Ceremony
April 18, 2026, at Oodi Central Library
Jury and Evaluation
The jury encourages applicants to present their work with courage, originality, and compelling narrative approaches. It is especially important that the applicant’s artistic vision and personal voice are clearly expressed in the portfolio. The jury hopes that the portfolio reflects the applicant’s views, interests, questions, or thematic concerns, but a cohesive theme is not required. In the evaluation process, attention will also be given to the applicant’s expressive potential and motivation to develop as a photographic artist.
The jury evaluates each portfolio as a whole. The photographs in the portfolio do not have to be from a single series, but the jury hopes the photographs are qualitatively consistent. The works do not need to relate to the festival’s theme of BODY.
The content of the portfolio is more important than the technical execution of the photographs, which is why the works may be created using either digital or analog cameras. The competition focuses on photography based on the applicant’s own photographic and working process. Works containing images produced by artificial intelligence (AI), or substantially generated with the assistance of AI, will not be accepted.
The jury of the competition is:
- Iina Gröhn, visual artist and the chair of the Finnish Darkroom Association
- Valtteri Heinonen, photographic artist and the educational curator of the Finnish Museum of Photography
- Natalia Kopkina, photographic artist and the artistic director of the Helsinki Analog Festival
- Karun Verma, photographer and the coordinator of the Photofuss youth group at the Finnish Museum of Photography
Copyright and liability
- Photographs submitted to the competition must be taken by the entrant themself.
- Entrants must have full rights to the images and their publication, such as permission to use the image from the models in the images for competition purposes.
- The organisers of the competition and the media have the right to publish the pictures of the finalists on the website, in the press and in the print media in connection with the results of the competition or the advertising of the competition for the coming years. Other uses of the competition photos will be agreed with the author.
- Copyright of the photographs remains with the photographer.
- A person under the age of 18 must have the consent of a guardian to participate in the competition.
More information and questions related to the competition: info@pimiotaiteilijat.fi