Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize — MPB Photography Award 2026

The Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is an annual contest run by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, an Australia-based publication, with the photography track now in its 9th year. The 2026 Photography Award is sponsored by MPB — the used-camera retailer founded in 2011 that recirculates over half a million cameras annually.

Eligible work is representational photography (analogue or digital), with only minor post-processing allowed; heavily manipulated work belongs in the prize's separate Digital Art track. AI-generated work of any kind is excluded — the prize publishes an unusually direct enforcement policy: AI violations result in forfeiture of prizes plus a five-year entry ban.

Cash prize structure: $3,000 first place, $1,000 second, $500 third. All three winners receive Epic Print printing credits sized to support an actual print order ($150–$250), exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, a magazine feature in the December 2026 issue, an in-depth interview, a 12-month listing on the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory, and a magazine subscription. First-prize additionally receives a FocusPoint 30L backpack and a glass trophy.

Entry fee is $40. The 2026 deadline is July 17, with results announced in September. The current photography juror is photographer Franz Szony.