Archifoto, European Awards of Architectural Photography – Call for Application

For its 8th edition, the Archifoto architectural photography competition is once again bringing together two Strasbourg-based organizations: the European House of Architecture – Upper Rhine (MEA) and La Chambre, an exhibition and training space dedicated to photography.

Archifoto, European Awards of Architectural Photography, is an original competition that highlights the strong links between the fields of architecture and photography. By favoring a free and subjective perspective, it rewards photographers whose images contribute to the understanding of architecture, the urban landscape, and the world.

Since 2010, several hundred photographers have submitted series responding to a theme that resonates with current issues in architecture. This theme also corresponds to the central focus of the Architecture Days, organized each year by the European House of Architecture – Upper Rhine in October. The Archifoto winners’ exhibition is part of this event and is initially shown at La Chambre, then at various partner venues.

For the first time this year, one of the winners will be chosen from among architecture students in the Upper Rhine cross-border region.

2026 Theme

With the theme of Architecture & Landscape this year, a vast field of exploration opens up to the participants of the Archifoto competition. But it is also a real challenge to respond to it through photography, while avoiding clichés. Because, precisely, landscape is no longer taken for granted: having become a portmanteau word, it goes far beyond the simple aesthetic dimension to encompass political, social, environmental, and cultural realities. Faced with climatic, demographic, and ecological changes, it is emerging as a strategic framework for thinking about metropolises and territories. So, how can we combine architecture and landscape, reveal their complementarities or tensions, discern their capacity to shape territories and people, and capture their essence?

Applying

The competition is open to all photographers, regardless of age or reputation. Applicants must be based in the European Union or in one of the following countries: Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

Each photographer is invited to submit a coherent series of 5 photographs accompanied by a short descriptive note.

Application deadline: June 1, 2026, midnight

Registration for the competition is done online at the website www.la-chambre.org