East African Photography Award 2025 - Stories

By participating, entrants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless FOTEA Foundation, Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA) and each and all of their respective partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their submissions to the East African Photography Award (EAPA), competition-related activities and/or the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.FOTEA/UPPA assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorised access to Contest entries or entry forms. FOTEA/UPPA are not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading, or downloading of any materials related to the EAPA.

By submitting the photographs to the East African Photography Award (EAPA) competition you agree and acknowledge the following terms and conditions. These terms and conditions of use constitute a legal agreement between you, FOTEA/UPPA. Please read the agreement before submitting your work for the EAPA. By submitting your work, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

a. TERMS

Submissions to the EAPA are accepted up until the deadline of July 20th 2025.

b. WINNERS

The EAPA winners and the finalists will be notified by email at their email of record. Winners will be announced at the exhibition opening, on the site and in media releases.

c. WHO MAY ENTER

The EAPA competition is open to all photographers from 18 years of age who are citizens of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Members of FOTEA/UPPA, the judging panel and any family members cannot enter the Contest.

d. LICENCES AND RELEASES

The photographer retains the copyright to all material submitted to EAPA, or has permission to submit the material by the copyright owner.Photo submissions must be original photos created by the photographer, and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights (except as expressly permitted below).

If the photograph contains any person, material or element that is subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the publication, exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these official rules without additional compensation. If any person, from whom a release is required, is under the age of consent in the state in which they reside, the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.

e. CONDITIONS

FOTEA/UPPA are not responsible for late, lost, incomplete or misdirected entries. Entries are void if FOTEA/UPPA determines the entry to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error, obtained through fraud or theft or in violation of any of the terms and conditions contained herein.

Participants also agree to be bound by these rules; that the decisions of the judges are final on all matters relating to the EAPA and finalists; and if he/she wins, that FOTEA/UPPA and its partners and sponsors may use the winning photographs and each winner’s name and photograph in any publicity, exhibitions or advertising relating to the EAPA competition or future promotions without compensation or approval.

f. RIGHT TO CANCEL OR SUSPEND CONTEST

If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the Organizers that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Competition, FOTEA/UPPA reserves the right, at their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Competition. If the Organizers elect to cancel or terminate the Competition, the Organizers will not retain any rights to the submitted photographs.

g. AWARDING OF PRIZES

All prizes are awarded at the discretion of the judging panel. Any cash prizes may be subject to subject tax in accordance with the Tax Act of Uganda. All prizes are non-transferable.

h. FOTEA and UPPA STATUS

Conceived in 2012 with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA) initially aimed to promote and support photojournalism in Uganda. Over the years, its role expanded significantly to embrace a broader educational focus. This includes offering photography training, portfolio reviews, and a range of other activities designed to cultivate a new generation of visual storytellers in Uganda.

This growth led to the establishment of the FOTEA Foundation in 2016 as an umbrella organization. FOTEA now supports this expanded capacity, with UPPA as a key initiative. Other prominent programs under the FOTEA Foundation include the Young Photographer's Award and the Emerging Photographer Mentorship Programme. Crucially, this expansion also saw the introduction of the East African Photography Award, extending FOTEA's reach beyond Uganda. This regional focus provides a vital platform for documentary photographers across East Africa, fostering a broader community, elevating diverse perspectives, and promoting a rich visual dialogue that reflects the region's shared experiences and unique narratives.