“The closer your RAW is to the final vision, the stronger your work will be.”

We believe retouching should refine, not rescue.

Whether it's enhancing skin, balancing colour, extending a background or creating a complex composite, great post-production begins with great photography.

We're looking for photographers who create RAW files with intention - photographs that already feel complete, while leaving room for another artist to demonstrate their creativity, technical skill and craftsmanship.

Please submit your strongest photographs as JPEGs for the selection process. If your series is selected, we'll invite you to upload the original RAW files, which will become the official competition files for retouchers around the world.

Retoucher of the Year celebrates traditional photography and the craftsmanship behind every image. We do not accept AI-generated images.
Every submission must originate from a camera using the RAW file format and reflect the creativity, planning and collaboration that go into producing exceptional photography.

Categories

Each category is designed to challenge a different aspect of your creativity and photographic craft.

Rather than choosing what feels most comfortable, we encourage you to step outside your usual way of working. Experiment with a new technique. Explore a different genre. Push your creative boundaries.

Always wanted to experiment with movement, long exposures, coloured light or projection? Chromatic Dreams is your opportunity to create photography where colour and atmosphere become part of the story.

Dreaming of producing a cinematic concept with multiple elements and complex planning? The Alchemist invites you to think like a film director, creating not just one image, but an entire visual world for compositing artists to bring to life.

If you've always wanted to produce a complete editorial in documentary style that feels like it belongs in the pages of Vogue or Numéro, The Golden Era challenges you to tell a compelling fashion story through a cohesive series of images.

Want to refine your commercial lighting and styling? Objects of Desire encourages you to transform everyday products into extraordinary objects of desire through carefully crafted product photography.

Or perhaps you're passionate about portraiture and the subtle details that define exceptional beauty photography. The Art of Beauty celebrates light, skin, texture, expression and craftsmanship, inviting you to create portraits that reveal personality before perfection.

Whatever category you choose, don't simply create what you've created before.

Challenge yourself. Surprise yourself. Create the photographs you've always wanted to make.

The Art of Beauty

Beauty isn't about perfection. It's about the details that make people stop and look closer.

Explore light, skin, texture and expression to create a series that feels authentic, elegant and emotionally engaging. Whether your focus is skincare, cosmetics, editorial beauty or natural portraiture, we're looking for photographs that celebrate craftsmanship while leaving room for exceptional retouching.
We believe retouching should refine, not rescue. Great retouching begins with great photography.

Submit a cohesive series of 6–10 final images.
From your series, we'll select 4 official competition images:

• 1 Portrait
• 3 Beauty Close-ups (skin, makeup, hair or beauty detail)
• A short creative brief explaining your concept

Objects of Desire

Every product has a story. Your challenge is to make people want to reach out and touch it.

Experiment with lighting, composition, styling and materials to transform an everyday object into something irresistible. Whether you're photographing cosmetics, fragrance, jewellery or luxury products, every image should belong to the same beautifully crafted visual world.

Submit a cohesive series of 6–10 final images.
From your series, we'll select 4 official competition images:

• 1 Hero Still Life
• 2 Detail Images
• 1 Texture / Swatch Image
• A short creative brief explaining your concept

The Golden Era

Every great fashion editorial tells a story.

Create a series that feels like it belongs in the pages of an international fashion magazine. Think beyond individual photographs and focus on movement, styling, casting, location and atmosphere to build a complete editorial narrative with a strong visual identity.

Submit a cohesive series of 12–16 final images and a short creative brief explaining your concept.

From your series, we'll select 8 official competition images that tell one cohesive fashion story.

Chromatic Dreams

Have you always wanted to experiment with movement, long exposures, coloured light, projections or painterly photography?
This is your opportunity. Create a series where colour, light and atmosphere become part of the storytelling. Push beyond traditional photography and explore new techniques that create emotion before post-production even begins. The selected images will be interpreted exclusively in Adobe Lightroom or Capture One.

Submit a cohesive series of 12–16 final images and a short creative brief explaining your concept.
From your series, we'll select 8 official competition images for the Colour Grading category.

The Alchemist

Some ideas can't be captured in a single frame.

Imagine you're creating the key visual for a film, television series or game that doesn't exist yet. Build a complete visual world by creating one Vision Image together with a library of supporting photographic assets. Every background, reflection, shadow, texture and practical element you provide becomes another creative tool for compositing artists.

Submit:

• 1 Hero Image
• A Supporting Asset Library
• A short creative brief explaining your concept

Your Vision Image and Supporting Assets will become the official competition files for the Composite category.

Submission Requirements

Please submit:
- JPG files
- A short creative brief explaining your vision

If selected, your work will move into the next stage, where RAW files and a brief will be required.

What You'll Receive

Selected photographers and creative teams will receive:

• Full credit for the entire creative team whenever the images are published by Retoucher of the Year, ensuring photographers, stylists, makeup artists, hair stylists, assistants and every contributor receive the recognition they deserve.
• Visibility throughout the competition, with your work featured in competition announcements, finalist showcases, winner announcements and other official Retoucher of the Year publications.
• Editorial features and interviews across the Retoucher of the Year website, sharing the story behind your work and introducing your creative process to an international audience.
• Promotion across our social media channels, highlighting both your photography and the talented people behind the production.
• The final professionally retouched images for your portfolio and promotional use.
• Exposure to an international community of photographers, retouchers, educators, creative directors, agencies, studios and industry professionals.
• An invitation to join the judging panel as a Special Guest Judge for your own image set.

As a Special Guest Judge, you'll select the retouch that best reflects your original creative vision.

Your chosen retoucher will receive an additional point towards their final score, and you'll receive the selected winning retouched image for your own portfolio and promotional use.

More importantly, you'll become part of an international initiative that celebrates collaboration, recognises every creative contributor and showcases the craftsmanship behind exceptional photography and retouching.

SUBMISSION WINDOWS

You may submit multiple image series

REGIONAL COMPETITIONS

Submission Period
15 June – 6 September 2026

Selection Period
7 September – 15 September 2026

Selected image series will become official competition images for the four Regional Competitions.
All selected photographers will receive full credit whenever their images are published by Retoucher of the Year. Their work will be showcased to an international audience of photographers, retouchers, creative directors, agencies, studios, and other industry professionals.
Selected images will become official competition image sets, this means your work may be used by retouchers across multiple countries and viewed by an international audience of photographers, retouchers, studios, educators, and creative professionals.

Important

Images must remain unpublished until the official competition images are released.

Register Your Interest

Register your interest to receive the full submission guidelines, requirements, licensing information, and detailed category specifications.