Can you capture the “spirit of York” in just one photograph? That’s the challenge YorkMix is throwing down to the nation’s photographers as we launch the York Open Photography Competition 2013.
It will be the biggest photography contest the city has ever seen. The overall winner can be amateur or professional, any age, and from anywhere in the UK.
Our winner will scoop the title of York Photographer of the Year, a cash prize of £250 and a pair of first class return rail tickets for any destination on the East Coast main line.
In addition to the main open category prizes, the title of York Young Photographer of the Year is also to be awarded to the best entry from a photographer aged under 18.
A host of other awards will include prizes for the best entries from a York-based photographer (adult, and junior), special editor’s awards, selected by the editor of YorkMix, and several highly commended and commended award certificates. There will also be a people’s choice award, to be voted on by readers.
All prize-winning and commended entries will be featured in a special two-week exhibition in October, at City Screen’s prestigious Sky Gallery, overlooking the Ouse.
Our competition partners are York Photographic Society whose president, Allan Harris, will chair the panel of judges.
How to enter
The competition is to find the best photographs taken in York – within the Outer Ring Road – between September 7, 2012 and the closing date of January 6, 2014.
Click here to upload your photo via our online entry form.
There is an entry fee of £2 for up to three pictures. You can enter more photographs but the same fee applies to every further submission of up to three images. The winners will be chosen by our judging panel below.
The full rules, including maximum photo size, can be found here.
For some tips on how to take a better photo, click here.
Sponsors
Our partners and sponsors for the competition and exhibition are:
- East Coast Main Line Company Limited – the York-based train operating company running high-speed passenger services
- York Digital Image – York’s only independent city centre photographers and printers
- Fulford Framing – bespoke framers of prints, posters, photographs and more
- City Screen – York’s premier cinema recently reopened after a £300,000 refurbishment
The closing date for entries is noon on January 6, 2014.
The judges
Chair: Allan Harris, President of York Photographic Society
“I’ve been a photographer for more years than I care to admit, using a camera since I was 13. Since joining York Photographic Society in 2005 I have become even keener than I was before due to the stimulation and competition with the other members and our series of lectures and demonstrations.
“I view myself as an amateur, one who loves his craft, but a prolific one. I have exhibited as part of the Yorkshire Photographic Union exhibitions but my main outlet is with Flickr, the online photographic hosting site.”
York-based professional freelance photographer Eloise Ross
Eloise specialises in community and art-based projects, having worked for York Museums Trust, City of York Council and York Theatre Royal. last year, Eloise curated the York Mystery Plays 2012 exhibition in the Museum Gardens. Among other curating and photography work, Eloise was also closely involved in the Tracey Chevalier Exhibition at York Art Gallery, and undertook commissions for York800 and Illuminating York.
She is currently working on a music-based arts project with St Paul’s Nursery School. Last year she was the judge of York Photographic Society’s annual black and white photography competition. Later this year, she will act as judge for both York Camera Club and York Photographic Society.
Jayne Dwyer, Visual Arts curator, YorkMix
Jayne admits to a career path that has taken many twists and turns: “My very first job was as a black and white printer at a local photographers. My day was spent in the darkroom. I loved the pure magic of seeing a picture emerge in the developer tray. Digital photography had not been invented.
“In those days, a ‘good print’ was heavily dependent upon a ‘good neg’ but some of the most engaging pictures I printed were from the original glass plates of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. They were difficult to print from, but every image was beautifully composed and his portraits iconic.
“In this competition, it would be wonderful to find some pictures that epitomise York in the 21st century, as powerfully as Meadow Sutcliffe epitomised Whitby in the late 19th and early 20th century.
“In this digital world, it seems that everyone can take a picture and that everybody does. However, a good photograph still needs something of that innate understanding of ‘the moment”, of composition and light.”
The prizes
Open category
(any age, amateur or professional, from any UK address)
1st: Title of York Photographer Of The Year
£250 plus a pair of First Class return tickets (from York to any station served directly by East Coast or from any station served directly by East Coast to York).
2nd: £100 cash.
3rd: £50 cash.
The title of York Young Photographer Of The Year will be awarded to the best entry from a photographer aged under 18.
Other prizes
York prizes (for entrants from the city of York)
Over 18: East Coast Prize Rail Tickets for Two
Under 18: £25
Editor’s Award
Over 18: £25
Under 18: £25
People’s Choice Award
To be voted on by readers of YorkMix.
£25.
Certificates for highly commended and commended entries will also be awarded. Full details in the competition rules.
All winning and commended entries will also be featured on YorkMix.
Competition sponsors
Click on the logo to find out more
