Reach photographers at the moment they decide.

Why photographers notice sponsors here

Most photography advertising arrives when nobody is thinking about it: a banner beside a news article, a pre-roll before a tutorial. Photographers First is different because of what people are doing when they visit. They are planning. Someone reading a listing for a portrait award is deciding which twelve images to send, whether to print them, and how much the whole thing will cost. Someone opening the Friday list is choosing what to work on this weekend. That is the moment a paper sample pack, a lab discount or a portfolio review is genuinely useful rather than an interruption.

Our audience today is 294 open calls deep. Those listings bring photographers who enter contests, apply for grants and residencies, submit to photobook prizes and pitch to magazines. They range from serious amateurs to working professionals, and they spend real money on their practice every year: entry fees, prints, framing, travel and equipment.

What a placement looks like

Every placement is designed to sit comfortably inside the editorial layout rather than shout over it. In the Friday list, your block appears after the first section, with your logo, a headline of up to seventy characters, sixty words of text and one link. In the directory, a card appears among the listings on contest pages and on the home page, with an image if you supply one. Season partners also receive a "Supported by" credit in the footer of every page for the length of the campaign.

We keep the number of sponsors small on purpose. At most two campaigns share a placement in any given week, and they rotate so each one gets a fair share of impressions. That scarcity is what keeps the placements effective for you and pleasant for readers.

Clear labelling, always

Every sponsored placement says so, with your company name. We never write sponsored content dressed up as our own recommendations, and we never let a sponsor influence which contests we list or recommend. Photographers use this site because they trust it to be straight with them. Keeping that trust is the reason your message will be read rather than skipped.

Reporting you can check

Your dashboard shows impressions and clicks per day and per placement from the moment the campaign goes live, along with the click rate. Every link carries UTM tags (source photographersfirst, medium display or email, campaign sponsor), so the same visits appear in your own analytics and you never have to take our word for it. Season partners also receive a written summary at the end with everything in one place.

Who we work with

We accept sponsors whose products or services help photographers make, show or sell their work. That includes paper makers and printing labs, camera, lens and lighting manufacturers, rental houses, editing and portfolio software, schools, workshops and mentoring programmes, festivals, galleries, publishers and magazines. We decline gambling, crypto schemes, get-rich-quick courses and anything that would embarrass us in front of our readers. Contest organizers have their own way to reach photographers: listing promotion, which puts a specific call in front of the right people.

How booking works

1. Choose a package and a start date. Newsletter blocks run on Fridays. Directory and season placements start on the day you pick.
2. Write your message. A headline, up to sixty words and a button. The preview updates as you type, so you see exactly what readers will see.
3. Upload your logo and an image. We strip the metadata and size everything for screens and email automatically.
4. Pay online. Card, SEPA and the other methods Stripe offers in your country. You receive a VAT invoice.
5. We review within one working day. If something needs changing we tell you exactly what. If we cannot run it, you get your money back in full.