The Eyes of History Still Contest

About the Still Photography Contest

Eleanor Roosevelt with Winners
Photo from the WHNPA archive.
In 1943, the members of the White House News Photographers Association organized the first still photography competition. In those early years there was only a single Grand Award that was chosen as the one ‘best of the best’ image. It wasn’t until 1968 when the contest format changed to name a Photographer of the Year award based on a portfolio of work rather than a single photo. This format continues to this day, along with the additional awards of Political Photo of the Year and individual prizes awarded at the judges’ discretion in over fifteen individual categories. The Still Photography Contest, along with all Eyes of History Contest divisions, are open to active WHNPA members in good standing.

2023 Contest Information

Please watch this space for more information on the upcoming 2023 Eyes of History contests!

2022 Contest Results

Judging for the 2022 Eyes of History contest has concluded. Congratulations to all of our 2022 winners!

Brendan Smialowski of Agence France-Presse was awarded both the 2022 Photographer of the Year and the 2022 Political Photo of the Year.

For complete contest results, please click here.


Contest Archive

As we process hard copy archives of past contest winners, the archive of previous winning images will be updated here. Prior year versions of contest rules are provided for reference.