Commons:Photo challenge

Photo Challenge

The Photo Challenge inspires photographers to take great pictures and upload them to Commons. Monthly thematic competitions encourage participants to try new subjects, new photographic or processing techniques, and to develop skills while improving the Commons repository of free images. Photographs entered into a competition must be new to Commons and taken by a Commons user.

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Formal things

Challenges

Challenges are based on a theme and run for a month. The theme may be a concrete subject, an abstract concept, a photographic technique or artistic style.

Participation

Everybody can participate in challenges open for submission. You simply

  1. Choose one or all of the current challenges
  2. Read the challenge description(s), which may vary in their rules (e.g., some place restrictions on when the photos are taken)
  3. Take picture(s) for the challenge(s) during the challenge period (or, if allowed, select from your own existing pictures that are not yet on Commons)
  4. Upload your picture(s) during the challenge period
  5. Submit your candidates at the top of the current challenge gallery during the challenge period. To do that you click the [Edit] button of the Entries section of your chosen challenge and insert the File name above the last entry (or above File:-Insert image here-.svg for the first entry).
    Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:
    Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron
    For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.
  6. Do not sign your submission(s)
  7. If you want, you can have a look at previous challenges and Vote

Challenges are open to any Commons user. Submissions must be your own work, not previously uploaded to Commons prior to the challenge date and should illustrate the challenge theme in the opinion of the photographer. Please read the challenge descriptions, as there may be additional rules or explanations for specific challenges. There is no limit on the number of submissions per user (unless specially so restricted in the challenge), but please choose from among your best and most varied images.

To submit pictures, you edit the gallery of the contest and add your candidate(s) to the top of the list.

New themes can be proposed and discussed here.

Assessment

After the challenge has closed to new submissions, the pictures will be assessed by popularity voting in the subsequent month. You are allowed to vote for images submitted by others if your Commons account is at least ten days old and has more than 50 edits or if you participated in one of the challenges. Challenges open for voting can be found here.

Winning

The best three pictures will be awarded first, second and third place. They will be displayed on the Photo challenge page and may use the template {{Photo challenge winner}} on the file description page.

Table of contents

New media viewing experience

Please note users can disable the media viewing experience for all images on Commons when logged in (uncheck "Enable Media Viewer" under Files and click Save in Preferences, Appearance).

Challenges open for submission

2026 – April – Wooden bridges

The new challenge features Wooden bridges.

Ideally, each submission should contain a summary description of the subject in the file information, including the location of the subject, and relevant categories should be added to the files to enable other Commons users to find them and use them. Please take care not to violate copyright in respect of non-free creative works, and observe our educational project scope and the personality rights of identifiable people, or your files may be subject to deletion.

The challenge will remain open for submissions throughout April UTC.

Checklist for this theme:

  • Photographs must be the work of the nominator.
  • Photographs must be newly uploaded to Commons during the challenge submission period i.e. April 2026 UTC (but may have been taken earlier).
  • Submissions must be added to the top of the "Entries" section below.
  • Please do not nominate lots of similar photos; instead choose just your best and most varied images.

Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron
For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.
  • Restriction: A maximum of four entries can be submitted per photographer.

There are 26 days 17 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)


Examples

Entries

2026 – April – Fair grounds

The new challenge features Fair grounds.

Ideally, each submission should contain a summary description of the subject in the file information, including the location of the subject, and relevant categories should be added to the files to enable other Commons users to find them and use them. Please take care not to violate copyright in respect of non-free creative works, and observe our educational project scope and the personality rights of identifiable people, or your files may be subject to deletion.

The challenge will remain open for submissions throughout April UTC.

Checklist for this theme:

  • Photographs must be the work of the nominator.
  • Photographs must be newly uploaded to Commons during the challenge submission period i.e. April 2026 UTC (but may have been taken earlier).
  • Submissions must be added to the top of the "Entries" section below.
  • Please do not nominate lots of similar photos; instead choose just your best and most varied images.

Add your entry between the <gallery> tags as indicated. Gallery entries are placed each on a new line, and consist of the filename, a vertical bar |, and a description. For example:

Electric steam iron.jpg|An electric steam iron
For help on the syntax of entries in a gallery see Help:Gallery tag. Please do not add square brackets [[ ]] or include a thumb parameter or the full URL. The File: prefix is not required, but harmless.
  • Restriction: A maximum of four entries can be submitted per photographer.

There are 26 days 17 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)


Examples

Entries

Challenges open for voting

Voting is open to all registered contributors who have held accounts for at least 10 days and made 50 edits, and also to new Commons contributors who have entered the challenge with a picture. Users cannot vote for their own picture. Voters may select up to three photographs in each theme to award points and can give praise to other photos without awarding points. Voting will be open for one month. The votes not complying with those requirements will be removed or converted to praises. In some cases users might be asked to correct their votes after voting ends.

March 2026

Previous challenges

January 2026

Brutalist architecture: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleArchitectural detail on The National
Theatre in London.
beautiful brutalism in MetzEverson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New
York, 1969, currently digitized
AuthorJulian HerzogKaiBorgeestFoeniz
Score291212
Peace: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleSignpost in Christiania (Copenhagen).Artistic peace symbol at Toronto
Distillery District
Menhire für den Frieden
AuthorGzzzMuzzudanFischer1961
Score1099


December 2025

Factory interiors: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleMetallurgical furnace in operation
inside an industrial foundry in
Guwahati, Assam, India, showing molten
metal being poured and workers engaged
in the smelting process.
In the historic compressor hallSilk factory, throwing: female workers
gain filaments from silk moth pupas and
combine them to treads wound on weels
with machine help, Dalat, Vietnam
AuthorDonvikroMensch01Lusi Lindwurm
Score361211


Herders: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleHerder die kudde
door bos drijft
Shepherd in the pastures of Văcarea
(Romania)
A sheep herder herding sheeps from
Dhauladhar mountain, Himachal Pradesh
AuthorGer HagensPierre André LeclercqGannu03
Score211613


November 2025

Parking: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleNearly empty parking lot of Atomium,
Belgium
Detail eines
Parkhauses in Bordeaux
Zone di parcheggio a Narni con ascensori
che portano al centro storico
AuthorLusi LindwurmVan de SchaufelAlbarubescens
Score161512


Glaciers: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleMorteratsch Glacier Ice Cave - 07Seals on floating ice on lake
Jökulsarlon in Vatnajökull National
Park,Iceland,Europe
Glacier du Nigardsbreen en Norvège
AuthorRoy EgloffKarel Stipek AustriaDaragon Photos
Score371710


October 2025

Freight cars: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleAssembly train at the construction site
of the new Nuremberg-Ebensfeld line
Freight train near EltmannГрузовые поезда в России 2H1A5430WI
AuthorErmellErmellKora27
Score131210


Dyeing: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleTanneries. Large open-air vats of color
dyes with tannery workers amongst them
in Fez
Tanneries. Large open-air vats of color
dyes with tannery workers amongst them
in Fez
mit blauer Tinte
gefärbte Rose rose
colored with blue ink
AuthorWowan1978Wowan1978Pedemann
Score251610


September 2025

Bricks: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleOasis de montagne de Chebika, en Tunisie, au petit matin du mois de janvierMember of the Bhil ethnic group in southern Rajasthan in front of fired bricks, which the Bhil traditionally produce by hand, often in slave-like conditionsBricks for construction
AuthorLouhaeunLusi LindwurmSaral Shots
Score12108


Gold: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleGold colors fireworks from Dadaocheng, Taipei on 2025-08-20Золочёные фигурные купола Церковного корпуса Петергофского Дворца 2H1A4248WIChimor gold ear and head ornaments
AuthorJunyu-KKora27WMrapids
Score1697


August 2025

Home interiors: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleTime to milk the cows.Old style Chinese decorationContemporary blue and white
bathroom
AuthorMagnolia677Pauloleong2002OKJaguar
Score1097


Bark: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleAndrews Mare, Lyndhurst, New Forest,
Hampshire, England, UK
Willow trees on the bank of
the river Windrush at
Witney, Oxfordshire, UK
Tree on Lake Gunn Nature Walk in
Fiordland National Park in Southland on
South Island of New Zealand
AuthorJoanaImagesScampzKarel Stipek Austria
Score171410


July 2025

Waterside structures: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleDe Adriaan Windmill in
Haarlem, Netherlands
Seen on a tour of Norfolk Harbor,
these massive dockside cranes
will work on naval vessels.
Blick von der 580 Meter hohen Steilklippe
„Cabo Girao“ auf die am Ufer liegenden
Terrassenfelder in der Nähe der
Ortschaft Câmara de Lobos auf Madeira.
AuthorJoanaImagesJoannaPoeOtto Domes
Score151413


Vending machines: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleSelecta vending machine in
Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland.
Ticket machines in the concourse
of Nuremberg Central Station
Sake, øl og whisky i
byen Fuji i Japan.
AuthorW8Kp3mZr1jErmellOdd Roar Aalborg
Score1186


June 2025

One stands out: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleOne purple Tulip surrounded
by a few white Tulips.
Flamingos, one shakes itself after a bath,
Parc Ornithologique de Pont de Gau,
Camargue, France
a goose surrounded by ducks
AuthorMikeBurnsPhotosMozzihhChrissieminton
Score171511


Steam: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleTreno a vapore nella
stazione di Pontassive in
occasione della Befana
Sinter terraces full of steam in the morning sun,
Lower Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone
National Park
Vasca e sorgenti di acqua calda sulfurea al
Parco della Mola di Oriolo Romano
AuthorRepuliLusi LindwurmAlbarubescens
Score13108


May 2025

Flowers: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleSunflower field in BurgundyWaterlilyHasenglöckchen eingerahmt
AuthorIbex73PeterdownunderEnglandfan~commonswiki
Score1288


Flags: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleRettungsschwimmer im Parque
Natural de Corralejo,
Fuerteventura
Flag of Namibia on
an airplane winglet
Parachuter with the
national flag of Italy
AuthorFischer1961MozzihhMarcxosm
Score1875


April 2025

Meadows: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleA hill dreamSunset over a green meadow
with forest in foreground
and layered mountain
silhouettes in the distance,
under a glowing orange sky.
Fioritura a Castelluccio
di Norcia. Italia
AuthorAnna.MassiniMartinovmejlRepuli
Score14129


Camelidae: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleCamel at toni's zoo - B&WKamel am Strand in Ägypten.Ägyptische Motive mit
Kamel. Strand des
Grand Makadi Hotels
am Roten Meer.
AuthorRoy EgloffKora27Kora27
Score161110


March 2025

Hiking: EntriesVotesScores
Rank113
image
TitleSilhouette of a female hiker
in front of the Massif du Mont-Blanc
A hiker on the last meters before
reaching the summit of the
Schneespitze in the Stubai Alps
A picture of three people hiking
the path called "Dragon's Back"
in Brecon, Wales. Taken by
Lauren Moon in June of 2024.
AuthorStephan SprinzMilseburgLighting-design-lila
Score151511


Newspapers: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleNewspapers are living historyNewspaper reader
in Naples, Italy
Rolled up newspaper delivered
to a home in Redan, Victoria.
AuthorSindugabMozzihhPeterdownunder
Score141210


February 2025

Absence: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleAbsence of essenceAutomatic river lighthouse.
Yenisei River, Krasnoyarsk
Linden alley at Kalevankangas
Cemetery in Tampere, Finland
AuthorTn.kuvatVSerebrenikovXannima
Score181712


Healthy living: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleHeal thy life.Sun salutation for
healthy living
Young athletic girl
AuthorTn.kuvatSneha G GuptaVSerebrenikov
Score121110


January 2025

Leatherwork: EntriesVotesScores
Rank122
image
TitleTanners at work in
one of the old tanneries
of Fez, Morocco
Pilot with Leather
Aviator Helmet
Handmade shoes
AuthorLusi LindwurmRoy EgloffAK-Bino
Score241111


Ovals: EntriesVotesScores
Rank123
image
TitleHorseshoe Bend (Arizona)Underpass of
Michelinstraße in Hallstadt
Fontana in un
giardino storico
in Roccalvecce (Viterbo)
AuthorGzzzErmellAlbarubescens
Score151211


Previous years

Category:Photo challenges