The Picture Editors' Awards were established to recognise and reward the best of photographic journalism throughout the UK and Ireland, and to promote the interests of press photography. The Awards were founded by a group of newspaper picture editors in 1993 as a non-profit organisation, and each year since have set the benchmark against which editorial photography is judged. The assessment panel is drawn from working picture editors across the UK and Ireland.
The annual Awards Ceremony, held in the Great Hall of London’s Guildhall, is a major event in the journalism and publishing calendar; the Awards enjoy widespread and enduring print and broadcast media coverage.
The Awards especially aim to encourage newcomers to press photography. Over the years, it has funded and assisted young photographers in undertaking major projects in Africa, India, South East Asia, and Australia via the Alan Harper Bursary. It also offers a Student Award (for photographers on a photojournalism course) and a Young Photographer Award for under 25's.
The Awards' website is the largest existing online archive of contemporary editorial photography. Although entry to the Awards is restricted to photographers working in the UK & Ireland (or UK/Irish citizens living anywhere in the world), over 9,000 professional images in the site's Galleries can be accessed by anyone.