Competition – Photo Ambassador for 2014 – Mobile!
Following a survey commissioned by Celebrity Cruises* that a staggering 67% of people now take pictures on their mobile on holiday, the leading luxury cruise company has launched a search – alongside worldwide known and award-winning photographers – for the best travel photo ever taken on a smartphone.
Surprisingly, Samsung is the leader in the mobile camera market with a 24% share of the overall market – 4% of those questioned were more likely to use the brand over an iPhone. Despite the much-hyped recent launch of the Lumia 925, Nokia and HTC proved the least popular at 6% each. The dominance of Facebook and Twitter seems to be a factor for this increasing trend – with 38% citing the ease of sharing images on social media platforms as a reason for leaving the digital camera at home.
Marking this significant change in the photographic landscape, Celebrity Cruises is working alongside esteemed photographers Stuart Franklin (Former President of Magnum, who took what is lauded as one of the most iconic images of all time: the World Press photo Award-winning picture of a man defying a tank in Tiananmen Square, China); Ian Berry, Art Wolfe, Massimo Vitali and Oliver Lang to find the best smartphone travel photo ever taken.
The winner will be appointed as Celebrity Cruises ‘Photo Ambassador for 2014’ and embark on a 14-night Scandinavia & Russia cruise in May 2014. Taking in the spellbinding sights of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Berlin and Paris, there will be spectacular scenery and cities for the winner to capture the essence of the each destination through their smartphone. As well as the cruise, the winner’s photographs will then be exhibited on the Celebrity Cruises blog.
Jo Rzymowska, AVP & General Manager of Celebrity Cruises said “Celebrity Cruises prides itself on offering its guests an enriched experience in the destinations we visit. Through our smartsnaps competition we are looking for photography enthusiasts to capture the essence of the destination through their smartphones. We are delighted to be working with such a stellar judging panel and very much hope these budding photographers take inspiration from some of these photographers great work”.
Five lucky runners-up will be treated to a personal photography tutorial with Stuart Franklin on board Celebrity Eclipse in Southampton in Spring 2014 which will include lunch and a tour of the ship.
The smartsnaps competition coincides with the appointment of writer and broadcaster Ben Fogle as Celebrity Cruises ‘Destination Expert’. An authority on global adventures, Ben will be offering Celebrity Cruises guests tips and advice on where to go and what to do in a variety of cities.
To enter simply submit your image via www.celebritycruises/smartsnaps or via social media, using the hashtag #smartsnaps. Closing date 15th November 2013. For full terms and conditions visit www.celebritycruises/smartsnaps
The Judging Panel
Stuart Franklin – Magnum http://www.stuartfranklin.com/
Former President of Magnum Photos, the worldwide known British born documentary photographer Stuart Franklin won the coveted World Press Photo Award (1989) for his celebrated photo of a man defying a tank in Tiananmen Square, China – which has been revered as one of the most iconic images of all time. His photographic career began working for the Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph Magazine (London), and later with Agence Presse Sygma (Paris). During his time at Sygma (1980 –85) he absorbed the skills of news photography, and also followed Henri Cartier Bresson’s approach to photography; as he puts it, ‘curious, gentle, surreal with beautiful compositions – his work influenced just about everything I attempted.’
Stuart’s published books include: The Time of Trees, La Città Dinamica, Sea Fever, Hotel Afrique, Footprint: Our Landscape in Flux, and Saint – Petersburg. His latest body of work, Narcissus was published earlier this year – and contemplates the landscape in a small region of Western Norway.
Ian Berry – Magnum http://www.ianberrymagnum.com/
Ian Berry made his reputation as a photojournalist reporting from South Africa, where he worked for the Daily Mail and later Drum magazine. He was the only photographer to document the massacre at Sharpeville. While based in Paris he was invited to join Magnum by Henri Cartier-Bresson. He moved to London to become the first contract photographer for the Observer Magazine. He has covered, conflict in Israel, Ireland, Vietnam, Czechoslovakia and Congo, famine in Ethiopia and apartheid in South Africa. He has also reported on the political and social transformations in China and the former USSR.
Awards include Nikon Photographer of the Year (twice), Picture of the Year award from the National Press Photographers of America, and British Press Magazine Photographer of the Year (twice). Arts Council Award, Art Directors’ Club of New York Award.
His books include The English, two books on South Africa and Child Slavery in Ghana.
Exhibitions in London, Paris, Hamburg, Brussels, Bradford Perpignan, Aix en Provence and Lowry Gallery.
Art Wolfe http://www.artwolfe.com/
During his 40-year career, Art Wolfe has championed the environmental cause through his conservation photography – winning numerous awards for his work. Art has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations; and his photographs are recognised throughout the world for their mastery of colour, composition and perspective. Wolfe is the host of the award-winning television series “Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge,” an intimate and upbeat series that offers insights on nature, culture, and the realm of digital photography. Wolfe has released over eighty books, most recently The New Art of Photographing Nature and The Art of the Photograph. His work is available to view at Art Wolfe Gallery in Seattle, Washington; and the Rotella Galleries, located in Las Vegas and SOHO, New York City. “Art Wolfe’s photographs are a superb evocation of some of the most breathtaking spectacles in the world.”—Sir David Attenborough
Massimo Vitali http://www.massimovitali.com/
Massimo Vitali lives and work in Lucca, Italy, and in Berlin, Germany. He worked as a photojournalist in the early Sixties; it was during this time that he met Simon Guttman, the founder of the agency Report, who was to become fundamental in Massimo’s growth as a “Concerned Photographer.”
Massimo’s series of Italian beach panoramas, starting in 1995, began in the light of drastic political changes in Italy. Massimo started to observe his fellow countrymen very carefully. He depicted a “sanitized, complacent view of Italian normalities,” at the same time revealing “the inner conditions and disturbances of normality: its cosmetic fakery, sexual innuendo, commodified leisure, deluded sense of affluence, and rigid conformism.” (October Magazine 2006, no. 117, p. 90, How to Make Analohies in a Digital Age by Whitney Davis).
Oliver Lang http://oggsie.com/
Oliver Lang started photographing with a mobile phone in 2007. His images have been exhibited in galleries in Berlin, New York and Sydney. In 2013 he won the Street Photography category in the Mobile Photography Awards.
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)
