Awards Categories

Nominations for the 2024 Awards are open until 26 April 2024.

1) Find a suitable category for your award nominee below

2) Fill in the nomination form here

The RPS International Awards are offered annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to the art and science of photography. Awards are given in each of three main pillars:

• The Art of Photography and Moving Image 
• The Science of Photography and Moving Image
• The Knowledge and Understanding of Photography and Moving Image

Nominations are also open for the RPS Member Awards recognising outstanding contributions to the RPS over a sustained period.

 

Pillar 1: The Art of Photography and Moving Image

The RPS Centenary Medal and RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the art of photography or moving image.

RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of a significant personal achievement in the art of photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Achievement in the Art of Photography
Awarded to a photographer in recognition of a notable personal achievement in the art of photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Achievement in the Art of Photography (under 30yrs)
Awarded to a photographer under the age of 30 (at the time of nomination) in recognition of a notable personal achievement in the art of photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Editorial or Documentary Photography
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in editorial or documentary photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Photojournalism
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in photojournalism whether in photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Fashion, Advertising and Commercial Photography
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in photography or moving image.

Fill in the nomination form here

 

Pillar 2: The Science of Photography and Moving Image

The RPS Progress Medal and RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of any outstanding invention, research, publication or other contribution which has resulted in an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography or moving image.

RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of a significant personal achievement in the science of photography or moving image.

RPS Award for Scientific Imaging
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in the promotion of public knowledge and understanding of scientific imaging, or in the application of scientific imaging (still or moving image) to creative practice.

RPS Award for Environmental Responsibility
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable use of stills photography or moving image that highlights or contributes to demonstrable improvement in public awareness of environmental issues.

RPS Award for Technology of the Moving Image
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable personal achievement in the technology of the moving image.

Fill in the nomination form here

 

Pillar 3: The Knowledge and Understanding of Photography and Moving Image

The RPS Eastlake Medal and RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the public appreciation, enjoyment or understanding of photography through education, criticism, research, curatorship or publishing.

RPS Honorary Fellowship
Awarded in recognition of a significant personal achievement in the public appreciation, enjoyment or understanding of photography through education, criticism, research, curatorship or publishing.

RPS Award for Photography Education
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in the field of photography education.

RPS Award for Photography with Young People
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in the field of promoting or encouraging photography with young people (under 18).

RPS Award for Photography Curatorship, Criticism or Research
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in the field of photography criticism or research Including but not limited to historical research).

RPS Award for Photography Publishing
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable achievement in the field of photography publishing.

RPS Award for Social Impact
Awarded in recognition of sustained excellence or a notable use of stills photography or moving image that highlights or contributes to demonstrable improvement in public awareness of social issues.

Fill in the nomination form here

 

The RPS Member Awards

The RPS President’s Medal with Honorary Life Membership
Awarded in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the Society over a sustained period. This is not normally a reward for service on a committee but it does not exclude committee members where an outstanding contribution can be cited.

The RPS Fenton Medal with Honorary Life Membership
The award is made to a member or non-member who has made an excellent or notable contribution to the work of the Society. Usually, no more than four RPS Fenton Medals are awarded each year.

RPS President’s Commendation
This is a personal award from the President given on behalf of the RPS in recognition of particularly long and meritorious service by a volunteer. It carries no honorary distinction and is intended to formally acknowledge and record the thanks of the RPS.

Fill in the nomination form here

 

Additional information

The Society has adopted a wide definition of photography which refers to the art or science of the recording of light or other radiation on any medium on which an image is produced or from which any image may by any means be produced.

Category Descriptions and Glossary

Where a team or group is put forward, the nomination should show the role of each person concerned and to what extent and in what way each contributed to the initiation, development and exploitation of the subject of the proposal. 

Nominations will continue to be considered by the Awards Committee for three years after the first submission.  Should further information relevant to a nomination, where an Award has not been made, become available during this period the Awards Committee would like to be informed so that it can take it into consideration.  Nominators should be aware that when an Award has not been made during this three-year period a fresh nomination may be made, but should realise that a further significant contribution to photography during the intervening period needs to be shown.