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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Contents
Challenges open for submission
Challenges open for voting
Previous challenges
Themes suggested for future challenges

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

Choose one or all of the current challenges
Read the challenge description(s), which may vary in their rules (e.g., some place restrictions on when the photos are taken)
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)
Upload your picture(s) during the challenge period
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.
Do not sign your submission(s)
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.

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 – July – Disaster Rephotography

The new challenge features Rephotography of Disasters. Please submit a pair of photos for each entry where only the second one has to be your newly uploaded photo.

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 July AoE.

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. July 2026 AoE (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 pairs of photographs can be submitted per photographer.

There are 18 days 10 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

1945
2020
1937
2020
1980-05-17
1980-09-10
1978
2013

Entries

Submit your photos

The scene of a fire in Kokurakita Ward, Kitakyushu City, Japan. Photo taken in 2024.
2025
Tornado damage on Route 169 in Southbridge, Massachusetts, June 2011
View from Route 169 in Southbridge, now in July 2026
rues des Ponts de Comines et Faidherbe après le siège de Lille en octobre 1914
rues des Ponts de Comines et Faidherbe lors de la braderie de Lille en 2019
1911.- Station balnéaire du Bourg d'Ault en 1911
2021.- Recul de la falaise entre 1911 et 2021
Redecorated Home at Diwali after floods at Vadodara in October 2019
Vehicles immersed in water logged street in front of the home during floods at Vadodara in July 2019
Cleaned and redecorated Home garden after flood water is receded at Vadodara in October 2019
Water logged street in front of the home during floods at Vadodara in July 2019
1918.- Place du Vieux marché aux Chevaux, rue du Molinel, Lille Nord
2013.- Place du Vieux marché aux Chevaux, rue du Molinel, Lille Nord
2023
2026
To submit your photos please click here

2026 – July – Puddles

The new challenge features Puddles.

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 July AoE.

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. July 2026 AoE (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 18 days 10 hours left before this challenge ends. (refresh)

Examples

Entries

Submit your photos

Delleboersterheide, nature reserve of the It Fryske Gea. Wooden bench in a pool of water. Currently best reached barefoot.
The unnamed pond on Shuangyuan Riverside Park in blue hour at dawn.
Following a heavy downpour in the Leiberger Forest near Büren, D
Tiny puddle on the rock 'Battert' mirroring the sky, Baden-Baden, D
Puddles as remains of the last flood, Juist, East Frisia, D
Puddle at Ustka seaside resort beach
Flat Puddle on stone bench in front of Burda Museum Baden-Baden, D
Reflection of a pine tree forest on a puddle
between puddle and pond
Bog on the Teriberka Peninsula
The tide was here
Whoever drinks from me will become an all-terrain vehicle
In a field in East Holstein with young cereal plants, rainwater forms puddles in the tractor tracks, Ostholstein winter 2000
Two white metal chairs seen from above stand in a puddle
A Canada goose stands in a puddle on melting ice
A young stray cat drinks from a puddle, Venice 1981
Raindrops on a well-polished car roof
One of the torii gates at Nasu Yuzen Shrine in Japan. A dirt path that has been worn down by foot traffic tends to collect water.
Wild swans at Lake Wendouree, Victoria
The pigeons are bathing to cool off in a puddle on the tiles of a bicycle path in the summer of Taipei
Pfütze, in der sich die Kuppel der Isaakskathedrale in St. Petersburg (Russland) spiegelt.
Yerevan Opera House. After the rain
Shadow of festive lights seen in a puddle during Diwali in West Bengal, India
Riflesso di un ippocastano in una pozzanghera in autunno. Parco urbano di Villa Ada, Roma
Cancelli dei giardini di Villa Borghese riflessi in una pozzanghera
Puddle after rain reflects mosque and park entrance lights at night in Oskemen
Eine Pfütze in St. Petersburg, am Leutnant-Schmidt-Ufer. Russland.
Puddles on harbour quay in Ustka seaside resort
Zugefrorene Pfütze im Winter. Erzgebirgskreis, Sachsen.
Pfütze im Winter. Erzgebirgskreis, Sachsen.
Dans les hortillonnages d'Amiens (Fr)
Mount Eglinton on mirror lake (NZ)
Swans in a puddle
Water from car tyres on a concrete ramp.jpg
Sky reflected in a small puddle
Simple serene beauty of sky captured as a reflection in roadside puddle -(Ru)
Is it grass or the tree, oh that's just a reflection of tree in the puddle surrounded by grass!
The field grass is filled with water puddles after thorough watering
The path to Bali North Breakwater Beach is blocked already by a large puddle.
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Puddle — 25-year-old puddle on Pacific Street
Pozzanghera che sommerge una panchina,nel pratone del parco di Villa Ada (Roma)
Farizon C10M at Daqingxi Bus Terminus
Puddles in Väätsa, Järva county
A cigarette butt in a puddle in Freedom Square, Tallinn
Street lights and trees reflecting from puddles containing tree leaves in Magdaleena street, Tallinn
Orange slice in a puddle during Tallinn Maritime Days
To submit your photos please click here

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.

June 2026

Previous challenges

May 2026

Horizontal lines: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Unterführung Essen Hauptbahnhof_Lichtinstallation	YvoBentele	18
#2	Rain, autumn rain - water drops on clotheslines	BogTar201213	15
#3	Ecocathedral in Mildam municipality of Heerenveen, Part of surplus building material stacked in a special way.	Agnes Monkelbaan	14

Oceanography: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Pacific sea nettles at the Vancouver Aquarium.	The Cosmonaut	13
#2	African penguin colony at Boulders Beach in Simon's Town, South Africa	Krigore	7
#3	Shell Collection	Pedemann	6

April 2026

Fair grounds: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Giradabo at Tibidabo amusement park in Barcelona	IM027	13
#2	Lunapark, Krynica Morska, Poland	BogTar201213	13
#3	Swing ride at the Wurstmarkt Dürkheim	F. Riedelio	10

Wooden bridges: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Bridge on the beach	Nocomentapapun	13
#2	Pont en bois sur une rivière entre le Dorgun nuur et le volcan Khorgo, Mongolie, Juillet 2008 - Wooden bridge over a river between Dorgun nuur and the Khorgo volcano, Mongolia, 7/2008	Jean-Marie Vugnon (2)	9
#3	Wooden Bridge over the Elz in Wittenweier, Germany	Kmtextor	7

March 2026

Three-wheelers: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Child with a tricycle in Reggio Emilia 1982	Ermell	32
#2	BMW Kneeler team BJ.1973 at the mountain race in Würgau	Ermell	15
#3	War es so in der Steinzeit?	Mensch01	11

Town entrances: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Solitaire, Namibia	Choinowski	22
#2	Entrance of Marigny in Jura department, France	Spielvogel	12
#3	Town sign of the city of Stralsund with common buzzard, Stralsund, Germany	Mozzihh	11

February 2026

First aid: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	A labrador retriever of the search and rescue dog unit of the Austrian Red Cross. Vienna 2025, Austria.	Aciarium	20
#2	Lifting a person in a rescue basket.	Julian Herzog	12
#3	REGA rescue team	Roy Egloff	9

Orange: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Woman in traditional orange dress called Buhara sun, Buhara, Uzbekistan	PetarM	14
#2	Fire burns, but makes you warm and relaxed	Maryam Yazdanisheldareh	11
#3	People viewing trees across the pond, illuminated by the setting sun.	Ka23 13	9

January 2026

Brutalist architecture: Entries • Votes • Scores
Rank	Title	Author	Score
#1	Architectural detail on The National Theatre in London.	Julian Herzog	29
#2	beautiful brutalism in Metz	KaiBorgeest	12
#3	Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, 1969, currently digitized	Foeniz	12