Cazenove+Loyd Leica Travel Photographer of The Year

Cazenove + Loyd is a bespoke (aka luxury) travel company based in the UK started almost 20 years ago by Susie Cazenove and Henrietta Loyd, which has teamed up with Leica to offer a photographic competition celebrating exploration and adventure.

The Cazenove+Loyd Leica travel photographer of the year competition 2011 is looking for photographs taken in one of the company's three areas of expertise, Africa+Indian Ocean, South+South East Asia, Central+South America.

The Travel Photographer of the Year 2011 will win a new Leica X1 and accessories, plus an X1 Akademie Workshop at the Leica Store Mayfair. From January to December 2011, an entrant can win a monthly prize of a new Leica camera, Leica sports optic or Leica Akademie workshop at the Leica Store Mayfair.

Images submitted don't have to be photographed with a Leica, and the copyright remains with the photographer...but the company and Leica have the right to use the winning images from the date of entry to 18 months after the closing date of the Competition.

Planet Magazine: 2011 Global Travel Contest

Photo © Terri Gold-All Rights Reserved

Planet magazine has announced the winners of its Global Travel Contest (General Category), and in which I was pleased to see that Terri Gold was named as one of the runners-up with its above infra-red images made during my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition, which took place in January 2010.

Terri Gold's distinctive infrared images can be seen on her website Terri Gold World Imagery.

I was also pleased to see that Claudia Wiens was recognized with her portrait of a Syrian woman in the contest's Portrait Category. Claudia is a terrific photojournalist based in Istanbul and Cairo, and an alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City.

POV: Blurb's Photo Book Now 2011

Blurb has announced Photography Book Now 2011, an international juried competition which promises it'll celebrate the most creative, most innovative, and finest self-published photography books – and the people behind them, and recommends that all Blurb users submit their best photography books for a chance to win $25,000 and worldwide recognition.

I was tempted to enter my two photography books Bali: Island of Gods and Darshan, which I spent so much energy on, but frankly the submission fee of $35 per book put me off.

The sales of both books have surpassed my wildest (but modest in monetary terms) volume expectations...and I'm happy with the degree of recognition these still constantly receive.

The submission fee is probably to cover administrative costs etc, but Blurb is earning quite a nice margin and fees from its publishing business, and while I don't begrudge it its business model, I also think that charging a fee to enter such a competition is cheeky. Yes, I know...no free lunches anymore.

That's my take on it.

National Geographic 2011 Traveler Photo Contest

Photo © Robin Moore-Courtesy National Geographic Traveler

If you're the kind of photographer who likes participating in contests, then the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2011 could be of interest.

The submission period runs from April 5 to July 11.

The magazine tells us that 3,700 photographers entered nearly 11,000 images in last year's competition, which consisted of an assortment of places, wildlife, and people that make traveling memorable. This is the 23rd year that the Traveler is inviting readers to share their photos of the world around them.

The four categories are:

Travel Portraits. Outdoor Scenes. Sense of Place. Spontaneous Moments.

There's an entry fee, and winning images will be featured in the November/December 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine. There are also a number of prizes.

As always, I counsel a careful reading (and wide-eyed acceptance) of the contest's applicable rules, especially those that relate to the License, which starts as follows:

By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: ......

Gul Chotrani: Leica Oskar Barnack 2011 Contest

Photo © Gul Chotrani-All Rights Reserved

Gul Chotrani lives in Singapore, and joined my recent recently completed In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™. Originally an international corporate banker for most of his career, Gul also set up his own business consultancy, providing corporate financial advisory services to European and Asian firms seeking to do business in South East Asia.

Notwithstanding these achievements, he relinquished the fast-paced corporate life for a faster-paced life in photography, becoming a full-time photographer, and traveling to the four corners of the world to nurture his passion.

He just completed his entries in the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2011 Contest which he titled "Faith Along The Way". His images wre made in Haridwar during the 2010 Kumbh Mela, in Ujjain, in Varanasi, and a couple from Gujarat made during the photo~expedition (as the one above of the woman in trance in one of the Sufi dargahs).

I know it sounds biased...but I hope he wins!!!

POYi: Adrees Latif: First Place Freelance

Photo © Adrees Latif/Reuters

I'm gratified that one of the photographs that I deemed to be outstanding last November , has just won its photographer first place in the 2011 POYi's Freelance category.

Adrees Latif, a Pakistani photographer with Reuters, has been awarded Photographer of the Year Freelance/Agency with his excellent photograph made during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan.

I'm also really "chuffed" that the work of non-Western photojournalists/photographers are recognized in such a manner. Recognition has been long in coming for such professionals, but it's here now, and it was about time. As I've suggested in a previous blog post, I am still disappointed at the absence (or paucity) of imagery by local indigenous photographers being featured by the international press in the events such as the Egyptian uprising, the Tunisian revolt and the ongoing events in Bahrain. This has to change.

And while I'm am chagrined that photojournalists are blogging about being roughed up by thugs in Cairo and elsewhere, I'd remind them that it's not about them...so get a grip, fellas...and stop moaning about how you lost some hard drives, how someone stole your satellite phone or whether you had a black eye...you were in a "war" zone, where people were/are making history. Your images may too.

In Focus: The Atlantic's New Photo Blog

Photo © AP Photo/Altaf Qadri-All Rights Reserved

Another great addition to the stable of newspaper/magazine photo blogs is The Atlantic's In Focus whose editor is Alan Taylor (previously with Boston Globe's The Big Picture).

It recently featured the photographs which won recognition at the World Press Photo Contest 2011. The top honor went to Jodie Bieber for her image of Bibi Aisha, a disfigured Afghan woman, taken for Time magazine. However it being shown on the magazine's cover spoiled its impact insofar as I'm concerned...it was a blatant use of photography as propaganda since it was accompanied by the title of ‘What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan’. A hypocritical and cynical misuse of Aisha's misfortune. And by the way, her name is not Aisha Bibi...Bibi is just a title of respect given to South Asian women.

Don't get me wrong...it's a powerful image which highlights the plight of tribal women in Afghanistan and deserves recognition for doing so. What spoiled it for me was its appearance on the magazine pushing a political agenda.

Having said that, my top favorite of the lot is by Kashmiri photographer Altaf Qadri of a funeral in Pattan, Kashmir. It was awarded the 1st prize in the the People in the News singles category at the 2011 World Press Photo awards. To me, this powerful photograph is what photojournalism is all about.

The photograph shows the sister of Feroz Ahmad (who was killed by Indian forces) wailing in grief as she clings to the platform carrying the body of her brother during his funeral in Pattan, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Srinagar, India.

National Geographic Photo Contest 2010

Photo © Chan Kwok Hung- Courtesy National Geographic

The National Geographic 2010 Photo Contest winners were announced. More than 16,000 photographs were submitted from around the globe, and 3 earned top honors in the people, places, and nature categories.

The winner in the People category is photographer Chan Kwok Hung of Hong Kong, who captured the photograph of an Indonesian farmer and his buffalo charging through the mud in a buffalo race called "makepung".

I also liked the photograph of a Xhosa boy crying during a circumcision ceremony by Robin Utrecht which garnered the Honorable Mention in the People category.

Travel Photographer Of The Year 2010

Photo © Larry Louie/Courtesy TPoTY

 The Travel Photographer Of The Year Competition has named its winner for 2010, and it's Larry Louie with his wonderful black & white photographs of Djenne in Mali.

Larry Louie is a Canadian optometrist and a photographer, who is using his photography as a platform to highlight the work of an eye care charity, as well as other issues and challenges in a world facing rapid urbanization and globalization.

I'm glad that black & white photographs have won this contest...as I think color imagery is seen as a "sexier" form for travel photography contests. Readers of this blog will know that I'm going through my own black & white phase, so I'm indeed glad.

Having also seen the remaining entrants, I have to say another photographer considerably impressed me (and certainly the competition's judges) with his lovely work...and that is Richard Murai of the United States who won the World In Motion category.

Photo © Richard Murai-Courtesy TPOTY

Richard Murai teaches creative photography in Northern California, and is interested in documenting sacred sites of the world. He traveled to locations within India, Peru, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and across Asia and Western Europe. His sepia-like images of Bhuddist tsechu dancers are just ethereal.

I suggest you drop by the TPOTY website...there's quite a number of excellent work by travel photographers.

The Big Picture: National Geo Contest 2010

Photo © Ario Wibisono-All Rights Reserved

The Boston Globe's photo blog The Big Picture is showing off some of the submissions to The National Geographic annual  photo contest. The deadline for the submissions is November 30. The Big Picture editor chose 47 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature.

No one asked me for my opinion, but I'll give it anyway. My favorite of those shown is the one of the two Indonesian boys playing with roosters in the village of Suradita, near Serpong in West Java. The photographer is Ario Wibisono who's based in Jakarta.

Ario's caption informs us that this was not a real cockfight. I'm confused by their dress as I took them to be Balinese children, but they're not...they're Javanese.

I also liked another one (#5) also by Ario Wibisono of the musician in Tenganan Village in Bali, playing the bamboo flute to a disabled child. I spent a couple of hours with this man during my Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™, photographing him playing his various instruments (including a sort of didgeridoo) and recording some of the pieces he played.

Lonely Planet's 100 Million Competition

Photo LP's 100 Million Competition/Sreesailam Pasupula -All Rights Reserved
Lonely Planet's competition celebrating its 100 millionth guidebook has ended, and the winning entry was this lovely photograph by Sreesailam Pasupula which features five women on a performance stage at the famous Pushkar Mela.

The competition received over 130,000 photos from around the world, and some of the editors' favorites are featured here.

The Telegraph newspaper in the UK also published results of the competition.

Many of the photographs featured by LP are really very well chosen, and I couldn't help noticing that 13 of the 55 photographs that are featured are of India. About 17% of the total. This is remarkable but I'm not surprised...India is India.

Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest

The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) has announced its 2009 international travel photography awards. TPOTY is run by photographers for photographers, judged by photography experts, and provides prizes, including foreign travel, photographic equipment and photography tuition.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

Whilst on the subject of photo contests, Bob Krist has just uploaded this post on his Photo Traveler blog.

PDNedu Student Photo Contest

PDN has announced the results of its Student Photo Contest which saw more than 1,350 submissions. The judges were Jen Bekman, David Laidler and Jill Waterman.

The Travel category was won by Alessandro Penso from Italy, The Fashion|Portraiture by Kimberly Halverson of Minnesota, the Documentary by Michael J. Mullady of California, Fine Art by Felicia Genevieve Bawolek Carpinella of Michigan, and Still Life by Chris New of Georgia.

2009 Sony World Photography Awards

© Wojciech Grzedzinski (Courtesy Sony World Photography Awards 2009)
The Independent featured winners of the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards as revealed yesterday. Each of the photographers on the list, along with the runners-up in the professional categories, will be exhibited at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, on Thursday 16 April.

Of the 12 professional category winners, one photographer will be the recipient of the L’Iris D'Or, the Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year. On the night they will be awarded $25,000. The winning amateur photographer, selected from the eight category finalists, will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

Wojciech Grzedzinski of Poland won the award for Professional Photojournalism and Documentary - Current Affairs, with his photograph of a Catholic priest blessing a soldier in full combat gear. Since time immemorial, religion has been used to absolve the sins of war...and why not, since most religions were, and are, the cause for violent conflict.

Smithsonian 6th Annual Photo Contest

Photo ©Wahid Adnan-All Rights Reserved
The Smithsonian Magazine selected the finalists from their 6th Annual Photo Contest. There are ten for each of the five categories; People, Americana, Altered Imnages, Natural World and Travel. From these 50, five category winners and a grand prize winner will be chosen.

Viewers can determine the winners by voting for their choice. The winning entries, including the chosen winner, will be published in the print edition of Smithsonian magazine during summer 2009.

My choice is the above photograph by Wahid Adnan of Chittagong in Bangladesh. Not to take away anything from Wahid, but G M B Akash won first place in the 2007 Gordon Parks International Photo Competition with a similar photograph of a young girl riding a train in Bangaldesh.

NGS: International Photo Contest 2008

The National Geographic announced the 2008 winners in its International Photography Contest. Frankly, the NGS lumped so many contests together that I lost track of what is what but in any event, here's another one.

The winner of the International Contest is Ilvy Njiokiktjien of the Netherlands for a photograph of elderly women in Mozambique. Quite a nice photograph with everything coming together, as one of the judges said.

Travel Photographer of the Year 2008

Photograph © Charlie Mahoney-All Rights Reserved
TOPTY has just published its winners of its annual competition to crown the travel photographer of the year. Entries were received from photographers in 61 countries, and shortlisted entrants from 33 countries went through to the final judging round. Category winners for 2008 come from Australia, Italy, the UK and USA, with photographers from Kenya, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland among the other prizewinners.

The Young Travel Photographer of the Year category was won by Daniel Rooney of the UK, while Charlie Mahoney, the American photojournalist who won the TPOTY New Talent category in 2007 has returned this year to win the Life portfolio category.

Congratulations to Canadian landscape photographer Darwin Wiggett for deservedly winning the TOPTY crown, but well deserved kudos to Charlie Mahoney for his beautifully evocative series involving two Irish brothers and an intimate insight into their lives as farmers. His photo essay, Ancestral Calling, was featured on this blog in September, and the post is here.

In the post, I wrote : "The photographs in this gallery are just superbly composed, and the Irish light is perfect." I'm glad the contest judges agreed with me.

NG's Traveler: 2008 Photo Contest Results

The National Geographic Traveler announced its annual photo contest winners. The photo contest received over 14,500 entries from 4000 "amateur shutterbugs" (The Traveler's terminology, not mine).

Traveler's Photo Contest Winners

Not to diminish the quality of the winning photographs, but had I been the judge, the above photograph would have won first prizes.



Separately, in the National Geographic International Photo Contest, the Viewers Choice (which is picked by viewers, not by judges) is the above photograph which seems to have been manipulated to add the clouds' reflections.

Update: NGM.com just posted a statement on the above photograph, which essentially says that it appeared altered, which is against the rules of the contest. It has now been taken down.


The Winners of the Viewers' Choice

National Geo's Photo Contest: Results

Photograph © Van Nguyen/Courtesy NG-All Rights Reserved
The National Geographic's website just featured the winners of its International Photography Contest. Its categories were People, Places and Nature. However, to see all the submissions, one needs to download some program called Silverlight from Microsoft...which is not compatible with Power PC Macs. Too bad...and sort of shortsighted from National Geographic's deciders.

The above photograph is my favorite amongst those I could see on my treasured Power PC Mac. It combines a compassionate and candid moment by photographer Van Nguyen of a Vietnamese girl during a journey to America for medical treatment....she's probably a burn victim.

PhotoBurst

Photoburst is a travel photography daily contest, where the best photograph submitted by its contributors is uploaded, and showcased for that day. At the end of each month, the photographer of the best photo of the day is awarded with a B&H US$100 gift card.

Gastão Bettencourt, Pedro de Sousa and Pedro Patrício are the three photographers behind this project, which has attracted hundreds of travel photographers and their submissions. I've seen remarkable quality amongst the submissions, from well-established photographers with professionally-built websites, and from emerging photographers with Flickr galleries. The submissions range from landscapes to environmental portraiture, from candids to posed photographs.

The terms and conditions are simple and straightforward however, as in all contests make sure you carefully read them. Whether one takes part in the contest or not, Photoburst is a good location to get a daily travel photography fix.