The photo competition invites young people from as many different social groups as possible to submit photo stories on a topic relevant to them.
The deadline for entries was April 17, 2026.
The competition is aimed at individual participants or teams of up to ten young people between the ages of 10 and 18. By working in teams, collaborative development and a diversity of perspectives are supported. If the teams wish, they can receive organizational support from a coach of their choice from their personal environment (school, street worker, sports club, youth club, refugee aid facility, etc.).
Both smartphones and cameras can be used and submissions are accepted regardless of previous experience in photography or journalism.
It is a new and particularly low-threshold journalistic format that promotes young people’s media skills and empowers them to voice their concerns through their own actions. This motivates them to engage with new topics and opinions and to enter into an effective dialog with others.
The competition is thematically open and makes it possible to put the idea of “living democracy” into practice. The aim is to create a documentary photo series that represents a personal concern of the young people and points out a problem or a particularly positive aspect of their lives. This creative form of participation allows them to raise their voices and draw attention to social issues. Photography is a perfect medium for this, as smartphones with cameras are firmly anchored in young people’s everyday lives.
All submitted photo series are first viewed by an expert awards team. The pre-selection is then curated and evaluated by a top-class jury.
Other members of the jury are:
Tina Ahrens
Head of Picture Editing ZEIT ONLINE
Erol Gurian
Photographer, photojournalist and lecturer
Julian Janssen
TV presenter (Checker Julian) and photo enthusiast
Katharina Klapdor Ben Salem
Director of the German Youth Photo Award and the German Multimedia Award at the German Children’s and Youth Film Center.
André Lützen
Photographer and lecturer
Barbara Stauss
Photo editor, curator and founding member of the cultural magazine mare.
Prizes are awarded to projects in two age groups.
The prizes of €500, €300 and €200 will be awarded in May 2026.
Selected competition entries are made accessible to the general public in an exhibition. Workshops for school classes and youth groups on media skills and basic photojournalistic knowledge will also be held in this context.
A longer-term presentation takes place via the award website.
“Jugend fotografiert Deutschland” aims to promote media skills and interest in photography and journalistic work among young people through teamwork. It is therefore not in competition with the renowned German Youth Photography Award, whose main aim is to discover individual young photographic talents and support them in developing photography as a personal and artistic form of expression.
