The competition is open to entrants of all skill levels and is free to enter. Entrants must be 18 years old by April 15, 2025.

Each entrant can submit a maximum of three photographs, and each submitted work must be accompanied by a photo description (within 100 words), which will also be a key aspect in evaluating the entries.

Entrants are required to upload their images via the World Harmony Photography Awards website and follow the on-screen instructions carefully.

Photo competition staff and judges are not allowed to enter the competition.

Conservation rules will be strictly observed. Flora and fauna should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo.

Submitted works must have been taken within the two years prior to the end of the submission period (from April 16, 2023, to April 15, 2025), and must not have received any awards in any public competitions.

Judging is based on each submitted entry.

Entrants retain all copyrights to their images. The organizers of World Harmony Photography Awards retain the right to publish the contest entries in any format to congratulate or feature the winners and their respective images, and to promote future harmony events. Winning images will be included in a press release for third party websites and publications in the context of congratulating and/or featuring the winners and winning images, and to promote future harmony events. Winning images can be used by the Harmony Photos, the organizers and their partners for promotion, preservation, and the advancement of the concept of harmony.

Submissions must be digital files. Entries may have been taken from any camera, digital or film (as scanned slides). Entries must be saved in JPEG format and should be sized to be between 2,000 and 6,000 pixels in the longest dimension. Please limit your submitted image files to within 5MB (no smaller than 1MB). Images may be viewed on a large monitor and should be saved in the sRGB color model and EXIF data must be left in the image file.

All shortlisted entrants must be able to provide high-resolution images suitable for exhibition printing.

Please do not include any watermark or borders on your images. These elements will detract from the image’s impact. We will keep the display of winning images consistent, and when your image is displayed, it will be clearly labelled as your image. If an entrant does not update their entry to a watermark-free version within ten days of the organizers’ request, their entry will be disqualified.

Entrants should retain high-resolution and RAW files of their submissions. In the event your submission is selected, you will be asked to submit a RAW file to check if adjustments made to the image comply with the rules and a high-resolution file for printing and display. Entrants will also be asked to provide a caption (subject, location, story).

Entrants must retain the original digital file. When reviewing submissions with disputed post-production, the organizers have the right to disqualify any entrant who cannot provide the original file with EXIF data.

Your entry may feature manipulation, but where entries are manipulated, the extent of which must be described in the image description section when submitting. For the avoidance of doubt, all entries must originally be from either an analogue or digital photograph which may have then been manipulated. Computer generated content cannot be the origin of the entry. Should a question arise through the judging process regarding the extent of your entry’s manipulation you may be requested to submit the original photograph and image file to verify.
It is acceptable for entrants to make minor adjustments to their submitted works, such as burning, dodging, color correction, and moderate cropping. For detailed specifications on digital adjustments:
a. We want to see the world through your eyes. Excessive post-processing, artificial intelligence editing tools, or pre-set photography scenes may result in a deduction of points.
b. Black and white images: acceptable.
c. Cropping: acceptable.
d. Image stacking (e.g., panoramic photos, star trails): not acceptable.
e. High dynamic range imaging (HDR): not acceptable.

Any image modifications not mentioned above, once discovered, may result in disqualification from the competition.
 

The organizers reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to disqualify and remove any entry that does not comply with the following requirements, even after the entry has been submitted on the website. You warrant and represent, in respect of each entry submitted by You (“Entry”), as follows:
a.​You are the sole owner and author of each Entry.
b.​You have the right to make your Entry available to the competition and the organizers.
c.​Each Entry does not contain personally identifiable information about you or any other person(s).
d.​Each Entry does not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libellous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content.
e.​Each Entry does not contain any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
f.​Each Entry does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, contract rights, or any other intellectual property rights of any third person or entity, or violate any person’s rights of privacy or publicity, including: trademarks owned by third parties; copyrighted materials owned by third parties (including movie dialogue or musical compositions); names, likenesses, voices or other characteristics identifying celebrities or other public figures, living or dead.
g.​Entries does not contain any commercial content that promotes any product or service other than that of the Harmony Photos.
h.​No animals were harmed or manipulated in the making of the image.
i.​You agree to fully indemnify the Harmony Photos and the organizers in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of your breaching any of the foregoing.
j.​You confirm that each person depicted in the entry has granted permission to be portrayed as shown. Any costumes, props or other materials used must be rented or borrowed with the permission of the owner, and all other relevant permissions must have been obtained.
k.​All shortlisted and winning entrants will be contacted by email. If the organizers do not hear from the entrant by the date specified in any correspondence and is therefore not able to ratify the Entry that entrant will be disqualified and replaced by another entrant.

Provided that no laws are violated, submitted photos may include sculptures, statues, paintings, or other types of artworks. Entrants including such subjects must provide authorization from the original artist as described in the “Authorization” section of these competition rules. In cases where submitted photos include other people’s work, those works must be presented as objects within the environment and not as a full-frame close-up.

Submitted works must be the sole creation of the entrant. By entering, the entrant agrees that they have not violated any agreements with third parties, guarantees that the submitted work is their original creation, and that it does not infringe upon the copyright, trademark rights, personality rights, privacy/publicity rights, or intellectual property rights of any other individual or entity. They also guarantee that no third party has any rights, ownership, claims, or related interests in the submitted work, and that no other laws have been violated.

Submitted works must not contain any obscene, provocative, defamatory, pornographic, violent, racist, or any other offensive or inappropriate content. The organizers reserve the right to disqualify any such submission at its own discretion.

Submitted works must include a complete title that adequately conveys the situation in which the photo was taken. Falsifying or misrepresenting the source of the photo’s content will result in disqualification.

Entries for landscape and wildlife photography are strictly prohibited from using props for staging, baiting, or featuring subjects confined in cages or trapped.

The organizers reserve the right to inspect original works/source materials to confirm compliance with the competition rules.

Any matters not covered in these rules will be in accordance with the details and award descriptions. In case of any discrepancies between the Chinese and English versions of the rules and explanations, the Chinese version shall prevail. The organizers reserve the right to interpret, modify, and supplement these competition rules herein, details and award descriptions.

By entering this competition, you agree and acknowledge that the organizers are permitted to receive your registration data. All personal information will be used by the organizers in accordance with their Privacy Policy.

By entering the competition, you hereby accept these Competition Rules and the Terms and Conditions.

The organizers reserve the right to select which images from within the winning series that will be featured within the curated exhibit and such curation is made in our sole discretion.  Associated series descriptions may also be edited to fit within the context of the exhibit.

All entrants must compete using their real names, and all entrants are responsible for providing this information accurately. This award aims to provide individual entrants with opportunities for exposure. Therefore, we do not present awards anonymously or under pseudonyms.

Any photos used by the organizers must be credited with the author’s name. Failure to provide this credit within a reasonable period after notification, as long as the organizers make reasonable efforts to correct it, will not be considered a breach of contract.

The organizers shall not be held responsible for any errors, inaccuracies, or incompleteness of information, whether caused by website users or any equipment or programs related to or used in the competition. The organizers disclaim any liability for any technical, hardware, or software failures related to the competition, network connections lost, computer transmission errors, other technical malfunctions, or problems. The organizers are not responsible for any errors, omissions, damages, interruptions, deletions, defects, operational or transmission delays, communication line failures, theft or destruction, unauthorized access or alterations to competition entries. The organizers are not responsible for any failure of electronic mail sent to the organizers due to telephone network or line issues, computer online systems, servers, computer equipment, software problems or technical malfunctions, or any combination of the above due to technical issues, human error, traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, including failures related to participating in or downloading any competition materials, or any harm or damage caused to your computer or any other person’s computer due to participating in or downloading any competition materials. The organizers shall not be held responsible if an entrant’s entry cannot be viewed or executed as planned for any reason, including computer viruses, errors, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, or technical failures.

In no event shall the organizers, their parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries, related companies, event partners, advertising or promotional agencies, or their senior officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives, or agents be liable for any form of damage or loss (including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages) incurred by any entrant accessing and using this website. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all content on this website is provided “as is” without any form of express or implied warranty, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation.

All entrants must be able to supply a high-resolution image suitable for printing in media and an exhibition should the image be required.

The winning works have the opportunity to be exhibited at the ASEAN SDG-SSE Forum in Malaysia in May this year, as well as at the side event of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July (or on similar occasions). They may also be showcased at exhibitions organized by Harmony Photos or the organizers. The displayed images must comply with the regulations set by the organizers, and the final decision regarding the exhibition rests with the organizers.