Competition
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026, Adult Competition (entry fee waived for residents of listed African countries)
Natural History Museum, London
At a glance
- Deadline
- Closes 3 December 2026, 42 days leftThe posting gives a date, not a time. Days left are counted in Lagos time.
- Fee
- No fee to apply
- Who may apply
- live in a country on the museum's fee-waiver list (evidence of residency may be asked for), which includes most African countries
- aged 18 or over on 3 December 2026
- Where
- Remote. Online entry, from anywhere
An international photography competition where adults send in their own wildlife photographs, with a chance to have the work judged and shown by the Natural History Museum in its Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The entry fee is waived if you live in one of the listed countries.
The facts
- What you get
- Free to enter for residents of listed countries (otherwise 35 pounds)
- Where
- Online entry, from anywhere
- How long
- Photographs entered online before the closing time
Where you stand
This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.
What they ask for
- live in a country on the museum's fee-waiver list (evidence of residency may be asked for), which includes most African countries
- aged 18 or over on 3 December 2026
- photographs you took yourself in natural situations, with a camera and a way to upload them
Get ready to apply
Built only from what this listing states.
The application takes real work, by our reading.
1. What to get ready
It asks for something outside the usual documents; read it below.
In their words: “Your own photographs, entered on wildlifephotographeroftheyear.com”
2. Dates
- Closes 3 December 2026, in 42 days.
- Aim to send it by 30 November 2026. Websites slow down near a deadline, and data runs out. Our advice
Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp
The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.
No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.
Tips for applying for a competition
General advice from us, the same for every competition. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.
- Read the rules and the judging criteria first, and write to them.
- Check who owns your work after you enter. The rules usually say.
- Submit a day early. Upload pages are often slow near a deadline.
If there is an interview or a test
- If there is a final or a pitch, practise out loud and time yourself.
All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.
How to apply
You apply on Natural History Museum, London's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.
More like this, open now
How we checked this
This was opened and verified at Natural History Museum, London's own website on 11 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.