Territory: Worldwide
Theme: Open
Eligibility: Open to professional women photographers, regardless of their age and nationality.
Entry Fees: Free
Prize: Cash Prize
The Virginia Prize, an international award given to a female photographer, has been presented every two years since 2012 to a professional photographer of any age or nationality for a photographic work, excluding press and advertising commissions, that is original and has not been published in France.
The 2026 Virginia Prize, worth €10,000, will be awarded to its winner in November 2026.
Recognizing, supporting, and mentoring women photographers
Born into a family of female artists—painters, sculptors, and musicians—photographer and visual artist Sylvia Schildge wanted to pay tribute to them by creating, in 2012, one of the first photography prizes reserved exclusively for women.
By naming it after her pianist grandmother, Virginia, Sylvia Schildge conveys her family values through a professional award and thus contributes to the recognition and promotion of a different perspective.
A jury of professionals, renewed for each edition
Committed to ensuring the Virginia Prize maintains unquestionable quality and professionalism, Sylvia Schildge, together with Lucy Conticello, director of photography for M, Le Magazine du Monde, assembles a jury of eight prominent figures from the world of photography and visual arts for each new edition.
Participants since 2012 include:
• Jacques Audiard, film director
• Adelaide Delgado, founder and director of Women Photographers International Archives (WOPHA)
• Marta Gili, former director of the National School of Photography in Arles
• François Hebel, director of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation and former director of the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival
• Marin Karmitz, president of the Institute for Photography, founder of mk2, and film director
• Laurent Le Bon, former president of the Picasso Museum in Paris and current director of the Centre Pompidou
• Lekgetho Makola, director of the Market Photo Workshops in Johannesburg
• Azu Nwagbogu, founder and director of the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) and the Lagos Photo Festival
• Anna Planas, artistic director of Paris Photo
• Hripsimé Visser, curator of photography at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam
Image: Jennifer Sakai, winner 2024
