The Royal Photographic Society – Urban Photo Competition
The Royal Photographic Society, Urban Photo Fest (UPF), now in its second year, is a festival of events taking place with international contributors and partners throughout London involving photographers, artists, filmmakers, urban researchers and anyone with an interest in the representation and evocation of urban life. This year’s theme is Urban Materiality, a concept embracing the physical fabric of the urban environment.
Urban materiality is about the ‘stuff’ we find in urban spaces – and it’s everywhere. It can be architecture or the surfaces of buildings, objects deposited in the street, things that draw our attention away from everyday consciousness and are visually interesting. There is a truly breath-taking range of stuff out there, some of which can be explained – they have what archaeologists call ‘biographies’ – and things that resist explanation and remain a mystery.
Although all the festival events are being held in London, the competition images can be taken in any urban environment worldwide.
Each individual may submit one image for each category of the competition, (a total maximum of 4 images). The categories are; • Abstraction • Architecture • Environment • Object
Prizes
The best twenty images will be professionally printed and will form a month long exhbition at the Linear Gallery, London, SE10, 8RS in October 2013.
THE GOLD PRIZE
The overall winner will be awarded an RPS London Gold Medal, theopportunity to be represented byPhoto Democracy (an arm of Chris Beetles Gallery) and the choice of EITHER a place on the Urban Photography Summer School OR an Olympus PEN E-P5 camera.
Urban Photography Summer School
A place on the two-week 2014 Urban Photography Summer School organised by the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths College, University of London.Value: £1,100.
Olympus PEN E-P5 camera
A newly-released Olympus PEN E-P5 camera with a 17mm new pancake f/1.8 lens and a VF-4 high-res viewfinder. RRP Value £1,349.
THE SILVER PRIZE
The second prize is an RPS London Silver Medal, theopportunityto be represented byPhoto Democracy (an arm ofChris Beetles Gallery) and the remaining prize of either a place on theUrban Photography Summer School or theOlympus PEN E-P5 camera.
THE BRONZE PRIZE
The third prize is an RPS London Bronze Medal, theopportunityto be represented byPhoto Democracy (an arm ofChris Beetles Gallery) and one year’s membership of the Royal Photographic Society.
Contest Prize & Terms
PRIZE DETAILS: The overall winner will be awarded an RPS London Gold Medal, the opportunity to be represented by Photo Democracy (an arm of Chris Beetles Gallery) and the choice of EITHER a place on the two-week 2014 Urban Photography Summer School OR an Olympus PEN E-P5 camera with a 17mm new pancake f/1.8 lens and a VF-4 high-res viewfinder
The second prize is an RPS London Silver Medal, the opportunity to be represented by Photo Democracy (an arm of Chris Beetles Gallery) and the remaining prize of either a place on the Urban Photography Summer School or the Olympus PEN E-P5 camera.
The third prize is an RPS London Bronze Medal, the opportunity to be represented by Photo Democracy (an arm of Chris Beetles Gallery) and one year’s membership of the Royal Photographic Society.
The best twenty images will be professionally printed and will form a month long exhibition at the Linear Gallery (Linear House, Peyton Place, Greenwich, London SE10 8RS) in October 2013.
ELIGIBILITY: International / 16+
Images should be a maximum size of 10Mb in JPG format & in RGB colour space.
COPYRIGHT: The entrant must be the sole author and owner of the copyright and all other rights in all images, which they enter.The copyright of all entries remains with the photographers.
USAGE RIGHTS: The RPS and UPF 2013 reserve the right to reproduce, without payment, any images for their respective websites for up to two years from 31 December 2013 as well as for publicity and promotion purposes in connection with the competition and The Society’s activities, including within The Society’s Journal. The photographer will be credited if the image is used by The RPS and UPF 2013.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
