Free-To-Enter Wellcome Photography Contest Offers $70,000 in Prizes

What the report says

My Modern Met reports that entries are open for the 2027 Wellcome Photography Prize, a free-to-enter biennial competition focused on images that connect health, science and culture. The contest, now marking its 30th year, is run by the Wellcome Trust and offers a total prize fund of £52,000, listed by the publisher as about $70,000. Applications are open until October 21, 2026, through Wellcome’s website.

The 2027 competition is organized around three main categories: Striking Solo Photography, A Storytelling Series, and The Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging. According to the article, each category winner will receive £10,000, or about $13,300, while other finalists will receive £1,000, or about $1,300. The call for submissions emphasizes work addressing major health and science topics, including mental health, infectious disease, climate change and fundamental research.

My Modern Met highlighted past winners to show the range of approaches the prize recognizes. Steve Gschmeissner’s 2025 winning image, “Cholesterol in the Liver,” used false-colored scanning electron microscopy to turn a medical subject into a vivid, almost otherworldly image. Another 2025 category winner, Mithail Afrige Chowdhury’s “Urban Travel,” depicted a rooftop picnic in Dhaka against an artificial nature backdrop, linking urban life, shrinking green space and climate migration.

The prize is connected to the Wellcome Trust, which was established in 1936 from the will of pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Wellcome and supports health-related research and initiatives. The contest matters because it positions photography and scientific imaging as tools for making health experiences, discoveries and public challenges more visible and easier to discuss.