Southfield Photo Prize

The annual Southfield Photo Prize, currently in it's 9th year, is a nationally recognized and award winning photography competition that aims to showcase the natural and architectural beauty throughout the City of Southfield while also creating an outdoor public art exhibition.

Submissions are initially reviewed by the Total Living Commission that selects the top 25 finalist entries that will be enlarged and displayed on the parks & recreation building for public viewing and voting.

    Southfield photo prize

    2025 Photo Prize Contest

    Entries for the 2025 Southfield Photo Prize are currently being accepted and may be e-mailed as an attachment to PhotoContest@cityofsouthfield.com by Friday, May 30, 2025.

    Criteria for Submission:

    • Photographer must live, work, worship or attend school in the City of Southfield.
    • Original digital color photograph of Southfield landmark or other subject matter shot within the City of Southfield borders taken in any season or format (color or b&w).
    • Photographs may be edited with dodging, burning, cropping and color corrections. No other obvious photo editing is permitted.
    • If cropping, please utilize a ratio of 4x3 or 3x4 for contest prints and calendar. City staff reserve the right to re-crop photos based on needs.
    • Photographs must be high resolution: at least 300 DPI (Dots Per Inch) and 2,000 pixels submitted in JPEG, TIFF or PDF file format (which can be achieved with most cameras and phones).
    • The City of Southfield reserves the right to use all entries in marketing and other materials – expressly the City’s 2026 calendar;
    • Each photographer may submit up to three (3) total shots for consideration per person; and
    • Submissions must be e-mailed as an attachment to PhotoContest@cityofsouthfield.com by Friday, May 30, 2025. Submissions may also be mailed on a CD or USB flash drive to: Southfield Community Relations Department, 26000 Evergreen Road, P.O. Box 2055, Southfield, MI 48037-2055. 
    • Submissions that do not meet the above criteria will not be eligible for the competition.

    For more information, contact Community Relations at communityrelations@cityofsouthfield.com or call (248) 796-5130.

     

    2024 Photo Prize Winners

    Over 159 submissions were received and initially reviewed by the Total Living Commission which selected the top 25 finalists that were placed on display and eligible for public voting. Over 3,750 unique votes were cast in the 2024 Photo Prize contest. The results were determined by the most overall online votes each finalist received.

    • First place was awarded to Robert Schmidt with over 1,650 votes for his photo of the Southfield Town Center.

    • Second place was awarded to Darren Hood for his photo of the SFLD sign on the Southfield Municipal Campus.

    • Third place was awarded to Michael Beneson for his photo taken of the Southfield Public Library.

    The community was encouraged to visit all of the entries and to vote online for their favorite photo on the City’s website from June 17 – August 31, 2024. The photo that received the most overall votes will be featured in the City’s 2025 calendar with a photo credit. Other finalists may also be featured in the calendar and other city marketing materials. All finalists receive their enlarged photographs from the exhibition as well as additional prizes for the top three winners. The results were announced at an awards ceremony in September.