UNDP and partners launch photo contest

Thursday, 25 June 2009 07:12

A new photo contest – titled “Picture This: Caring for the Earth” – is seeking out positive images documenting ordinary people on the African continent and their work to mitigate or prevent the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently announced.

The photo contest – jointly sponsored by the UNDP, the Olympus Corporation and the AFP Foundation – is organized to highlight how the people of Africa are working towards Millennium Development Goal 7 by mitigating the effects of climate change and environmental degradation in their countries, cities, and communities. It is part of a number of awareness-raising initiatives in the run-up to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December.

The aim of the contest is to raise the visibility of solutions as opposed to capturing environmental damage – and as such, to portray the people of Africa as stewards and protectors of their environment – and photos submitted for the contest must illustrate this theme. Special attention will be given to photos that take into account the role that women can and do play in this regard.

According to the contest website, achieving MDG 7 – ensuring environmental sustainability – has now more than ever become a crucial component of UNDP’s development work, as the probable destructive impacts of climate change are becoming clearer. This is especially true in Africa where water scarcity, crop failures and health risks associated with temperature changes are already visible. But while the poorest in developing countries are often the first to feel the effects of climate change, they are also the true experts and potentially the most powerful advocates for protecting their own environmental future.

Photos submitted for the contest should be taken with a journalistic sensibility and tell a human story. They could profile a breaking news story, or an on-going project; they could also profile a particular African and her or his work, or a community and its work.

There are two categories: individual photos (up to 5 entries per person) and photo essays (one photo essay, 4-10 photos per essay, per person). You may only enter one category. You must enter as either a professional or an amateur, and must have lived in a country of Africa for at least the past 12 months.

The website states that the top three winners in each category will receive Olympus cameras, while the winning photos and photo essays will be displayed on the websites of all three sponsors and shown in at least two exhibitions in Africa and the United States, and the first prize winners will be flown to New York for an awards ceremony. One first prize winner in the professional category will also be eligible for a fellowship through the AFP Foundation.