Thomson Reuters Foundation and Nokia Launch Global Photography Contest
Call for powerful photo submissions capturing women’s empowerment around the world
The Thomson Reuters Foundation and Nokia have launched a new international photography contest aimed at empowering women around the world through the power of images.
The contest which was announced yesterday evening at the Trust Women Conference, an annual event organized by the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International New York Times – invites creative individuals and aspiring photojournalists to submit photos to document the many aspects of women’s empowerment on the ground exploring themes such as: leadership, courage, passion, opportunity, innovation and motherhood.
Photo entries will be submitted to the public vote and judged by a distinguished line-up of experts from the world of photography, journalism and women’s rights, including: Reuters Photographer and World Press Photo Winner Finbarr O’Reilly; Journalist, Author and Chime for Change Managing Editor Mariane Pearl, Thomson Reuters Foundation Editor-in-Chief Tim Large, and Nokia Imaging Technology Marketing Manager Kristina Bjorknas. The judging panel will be looking for submissions that are able to both spark debate and inspire others.
Ten finalists will be chosen from the pool of entries and asked to put the new Nokia Lumia 1020 to the test by using the smart phone to create a portfolio of photos that capture the empowerment of women.
I would just like to point out that:
The Thomson Reuters Foundation uses its unique set of skills to help women worldwide know and defend their rights. They run a number of groundbreaking programmes aimed at empowering women through news, information, free legal assistance and media development. Their ‘Our Trust Women Conference’ is dedicated to putting the rule of law behind women’s rights.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation do not give grants. Instead they use their unique set of skills to run programmes that trigger change and empower people: free legal assistance, media development and in-depth coverage of the world’s under-reported stories.
They stand for human rights, women’s empowerment, better governance, greater transparency, and for the rule of law. They strive to provide concrete solutions”.
The winner of the competition will receive the first Thomson Reuters Foundation–Nokia Photography Award, which includes: an all expenses paid trip to attend a week long professional training on mobile journalism organized and run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone, full promotion across Talenthouse’s global platform and the opportunity to have his or her work published on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s award-winning website.
“This Award is an opportunity to give those on the ground a creative platform to showcase women’s empowerment in its very different forms”, said Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO, Monique Villa. “A picture of a woman driving a car can have a very different meaning depending in which country they drive, and this contest aims to showcase precisely that.”
“People use their cameras to explore the world around them and in this way they become tools of change”, stated Carla Eid, Global Head of Social Engagement at Nokia. “By capturing the best possible images on a small device such as our Lumia 1020, which is always with the photographer, we can empower through the eye of the lens.”
Submissions are open until February 11, 2014 and participants can enter the contest via the Thomson Reuters Foundation website, the Thomson Reuters Foundation Facebook page or via Talenthouse.com. Entries will be submitted for the public to vote between February 12 and February 19. The shortlisted candidates will be notified on March 5, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 2.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
