World Photography Contest

Focus on a global food

"Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness."
W. Eugene Smith
Photographer

See also: Rice 2004

The IYP World Photography Contest follows the example of the photography competition held in 2004 for the International Year of Rice. Entries were received from 53 countries. See the winning photographs here...

The IYP World Photography Contest, Focus on a global food, supports two key objectives of the International Year of the Potato: to increase awareness of the importance of potato as a food in developing nations, and to promote research and development of potato-based systems as a means of contributing to achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The contest is an invitation to reflect on the potato's key role in agriculture, the economy and world food security, to offer new insights into potato biodiversity, cultivation, processing, trade, marketing and consumption, and to contribute to a free and international exchange of information on this globally important food crop.

The following is a brief outline of the photography contest. Be sure to print and read carefully the contest rules before submitting entries. Entries close on 1 September 2008. The short list of the nominees and winners of the contest will be published on the IYP website (www.potato2008.org) on 16 October 2008.

1. Categories: Professional and amateur

The contest is divided into two categories: Professional photographers (people who make their living from photography) and Amateur photographers. All entrants must be over 18 years of age.

2. Entries: JPEG images

Photographs must be submitted as digital files in JPEG format. Each entrant may submit either a single JPEG image or a "photo story" of from 4 to 8 related JPEG images. Images must be 300 dpi resolution, and 20 cm x 30 cm. They may be taken with a digital camera, or may be scans in JPEG format of negatives, transparencies or prints.

3. Selection panel

The Selection Panel is composed of:

  • Chairman: NeBambi Lutaladio, IYP Coordinator
  • Manuel Antonio Alvarez Espinal - Permanent Representative of Peru to FAO
  • Lucy Conticello - Photo editor
  • Adrian Evans - Director, Panos Pictures
  • Steve McCurry - Photographer (Magnum Photos)
  • Andrea Sonnino – Senior Agricultural Research Officer, FAO
  • Maria Wood - Picture Editor, Time, Asia edition
  • Francesco Zizola - Photographer (Noorimages)

4. Prizes

Professional photographers category:

  • 1st place - US$4 000 and a Nikon D300 kit (D300 body + AF-S DX Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR lens)
  • 2nd place - US$2 000 and a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR lens
  • 3rd place - US$1 000 and a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR lens

Amateur photographers category:

  • 1st place - $US2 000 and a Nikon D60 kit (D60 body + AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR lens)
  • 2nd place - $US1 000 and a Nikon D40 kit (D40 body + AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 G II lens)
  • 3rd place - $US 500 and a Nikon Coolpix S600 camera

5. Sponsors

The IYP World Photography Contest, Focus on a global food, is proud to be supported by Nikon Europe and Irfe Colore Srl, Rome.

For further information: IYP-Photo@fao.org