American Photographic Artists National
Our Judges will select 46 APA Award Winners this year from 15 categories and one Best of Show.
APA Awards 2026 - we are now accepting entries in our National contest - here are the details:
The submission deadline is June 29, Noon PDT.
Not an APA member? Now is a great time to join and earn a nice discount on every image you submit to our annual competition.
Femi is a creative leader by trade and a brand builder and storyteller by obsession, with deep experience where creativity, culture, and innovation drive real-world impact and growth. At Rescue, Femi leads award-winning, large-scale behavior change initiatives for public health organizations across the United States, leveraging branded marketing approaches to deliver integrated, multi-channel campaigns powered by insight-led storytelling and culturally resonant creative. Prior to Rescue, Femi served as VP, Brand Creative at NBCUniversal, where she played a key role in the global rebrand for Universal Destinations & Experiences, associated brand campaigns, and upfront planning for the launch of EPIC Universe. Earlier in her career, she was Head of Creative at Little Dot Studios Americas, shaping modern, short-form storytelling and brand engagement for brands including Google, Disney, and Expedia. Her broader experience spans technology, entertainment, and retail. She lives in Los Angeles.
Sean is currently Creative Partner/Director for Echo Designlab and ACOMPANY. 2 Studios in NYC focussed on Creative Design, branding, packaging and digital marketing for Luxury, Entertainment, healthcare and Tech clients. Prior to starting his studio, Sean was Vice President/Creative Director for Virgin and Capitol Records where he developed brand and package campaigns for Lenny Kravitz, Courtney Love, Rolling Stones, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Gorillaz and Iggy Pop to name a few. Smith has won awards for branding and design and is published in numerous design and photo books around the world. He has also been inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame.
Julie Maxham is a Senior Integrated Art Producer with extensive experience leading multi-channel creative production across print, motion, CGI and experiential campaigns. She currently works as a full-time Senior Art Producer at Omnicom Production, partnering with healthcare clients including Sanofi, Novartis, Eli Lilly and Acadia Pharmaceuticals.
Throughout her career, Julie has worked with numerous ad agencies including TBWA\Chiat\Day, Ogilvy and DDB to name a few, as well as Sarah Laird & Good Company and Annie Leibovitz. Some of her past brand experience includes Pfizer, Clorox, Harley-Davidson, Boeing, Nissan, and Aldi. When she is not wrangling a team on production, Julie can be found enjoying a long walk on the North Shore of Chicago or eating soup dumplings.
Guilherme Possobon is a Creative Director at VML New York, with over 20 years of experience creating global ideas for some of the world’s most relevant brands.
His career began in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, and has taken him through São Paulo and Dubai before continuing in New York, where he works on projects at an international scale. Throughout his career, he has worked on and led campaigns for brands such as Coca-Cola, Nissan, Peugeot, Citroën, Gatorade and Visa, among many other global brands across different categories and markets.
In recent years, Guilherme has played a consistent role in Coca-Cola’s global platforms, collaborating closely with the brand’s evolving creative direction and helping build communication that is more coherent, relevant, and culturally connected across different regions. This work contributed to Coca-Cola being named Client of the Year and WPP Creative Company of the Year at Cannes Lions 2024, with special recognition for the “Thanks for Coke-Creating”, the most awarded campaign in Coca-Cola’s history.
His work has received more than 200 recognitions across the world’s leading creative festivals, including D&AD, Cannes Lions, Clio, LIA, New York Festivals and The One Show, among others.
Guilherme focuses on ideas that are culturally grounded in real people and genuine behavior, designed to resonate with those who truly live that reality. His approach to craft has become both his niche and his strength, using it as a tool to bring truth to ideas, amplify meaning and create authentic connections between brands and communities.
Alongside his advertising work, Guilherme develops personal work as a photographer and visual artist, drawing from human narratives, urban culture and everyday observation to shape his creative language.
More announcements coming soon.
SONY CAMERA AND LENS Sony a7RV (a7R5) Mirrorless Camera | ILCE7RM5 Sony - FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS Standard Zoom Lens | SEL24105G/2 State-of-the-art AI processing uses detailed information about human forms and postures to dramatically improve the camera's subject recognition accuracy
Adobe 12 Month Creative Cloud subscription. The Adobe Creative Cloud Pro Plan unlocks all of Adobe’s premium creative apps (including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro), cloud collaboration, and generative AI tools designed to help creators work smarter and create more.
Agency Access One-year Membership North American Database Powerful Directory Search — designed specifically for creative industry prospecting — allows you to find and target over 100,000 contacts with laser precision.
Blazing Editions 24”x36” Dye Sub Aluminum Print with an Inset Backing of the winning image Blazing Editions has become a leader in the Fine Art Printmaking industry offering unique custom solutions for professional photographers. Dye Sublimation is an innovative archival process that produces incredible image quality without needing protective acrylic or glazing.
Capture One One-year subscription Capture One is professional photo editing software trusted by photographers across every genre. It gives you easy-to-use tools to refine your images with precision, collaborate directly in-app, and deliver exceptional quality images. Whether you're working solo or as part of a team, Capture One supports your creative process from start to finish.
Cradoc fotoSoftware fotobiz business software Developed by photographers for photographers, Cradoc fotoSoftware has been helping photographers streamline business and simplify workflow for over 30 years and is considered the industry standard for freelance photographers. Programs provide pricing, quoting, invoicing, keywording, and complete, end-to-end business management and workflow.
Found One year portfolio membership Found Artists Connecting advertising agencies, magazines and brands to the very best photographers, illustrators and production artists working today.
ImageRights Search and Copyright Enforcement ImageRights International provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.
PhotoShelter Two-year Pro Account More than 80,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their photography business. Offering websites with e-commerce, searchable galleries, client log-in, reliable cloud storage and essential Internet marketing tools; PhotoShelter is the industry's leading resource for serious photographers looking to have their images found, sold and delivered online.
Tether Tools AeroTrac Workstation System ($300 value) Tether Tools helps simplify digital photography workflow by offering modular workstation solutions and elegant connection tools to create a seamless tethered workflow. With versatile gear designed to improve your process, you can worry less about your tech and focus more on capturing the perfect images.
Think Tank $50, $100, $200 certificates to various winners to purchase products online Think Tank designs and creates high-quality travel gear for the world’s venturing observers. Our sophisticated travel gear raises the bar in carrying solutions — durable across the miles and versatile in every situation. Armed with insights from our community of photographers, Think Tank’s product designers meld form with function so that what you carry is a help, not a hindrance.
All winning photographs are included in the APA Awards printed edition.
Interested in making a purchase from one of our APA partners? Take a look at APA benefits page and check for an APA member discount.
Anyone can enter the APA Awards:
The APA Awards is established as one of the world’s most respected photo contests for professional photographers.
By entering The APA Awards Annual Photo Competition, Entrants:
Sign in or register to enter
Home Page