The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with the Afghan government and TOLOnews, has launched its biennale photo competition entitled "Rebirth”.
The competition is open for entries and the public is encouraged to send in their photos that depict Afghanistan's beauty, culture and heritage.
According to a UNESCO representative in Afghanistan, Afghans from around the country can enter this prestigious competition.
Patricia McPhillips, Country Director and Representative of UNESCO in Afghanistan, said the competition is aimed at removing negative images portrayed about Afghanistan.
“The idea is really to promote the positiveness in Afghanistan. We don’t want to negate the great challenges that Afghanistan is under, but within those challenges there is a great spirit of positiveness, spirit of moving forward and the spirit of beauty that we would like to promote throughout this exhibition and competition.”
Meanwhile, Associate Program Manager of the Culture Unit at UNESCO in Afghanistan, Chunnoon Song-e Song, said participation in the competition is free but that the photos should have a story about Afghanistan.
“This year, our theme is about rebirth of Afghanistan. So if people have their story inside their photos and if people can speak about their emotions through their selfies, we think it is also acceptable this year. But each photo they submit we advise them to have the story behind; the story that tells the positive hopes of Afghanistan, the potential of the future of Afghanistan and the rebirth of Afghanistan,” she added.
The competition will be divided into two different categories: Camera Photo category and Mobile Photo category, each category will be judged separately.
All photographs must be in digital format.
Any expenses incurred during submission for both sections are to be borne by the entrants.
Participation is free of charge and there will be cash prizes for the winners in each category.
Entries should present and illustrate the photographer’s free and personal interpretation of the theme of “Rebirth” for Afghanistan.
Each participant may submit up to 10 entries per section.
Photos must have been taken within the last three years, (i.e. after July 2014). Photos can be colour-corrected or have filters applied, but should not be digitally manipulated in terms of content and context.
How To Submit
Entry to the Camera Photo category is determined by sending the photos to the e-mail [email protected] using file-sharing platforms such as WeTransfer or Dropbox.
Entrants for this section shall title the files with the name of the photographer, a number from 1 to 10, and the city where the photo was taken. For example, the file names for the photos taken by Masoudi in Jalalabad and Kandahar should be Masoudi1Jalalabad and Masoudi2Kandahar.
The photos submitted in this section are required to be 20 megabytes or smaller. They must be in JPEG or JPG format, and must be at least 300 dpi at 2,000 pixels on the longest side.
Entry to the Mobile Photo category is determined by posting the photos on the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/kabul.photobiennale
The photos submitted in this category should be taken by a mobile device or tablet.
All entries should indicate the information requested below in the following order:
The photo section they are competing (Camera/Mobile)
- Name of photographer;
- Name of the place the photo is taken and the year;
- If possible, a short explanation of why the photographer associates the image to the theme of “Rebirth”.
Any entry submitted into the incorrect section will be automatically disqualified (i.e. Camera photos submitted to Mobile Photo category through Facebook page/ Mobile-phone photos submitted to Camera Photos category through e-mail).
Submission Deadline
The deadline for submissions is September 13, 2017 (23:59 PM Kabul time). Entries submitted after the deadline shall not be considered. UNESCO shall not bear any responsibility for late or lost entries due to network failure or other reasons.
Judging
A Jury comprised of renowned photographers and artists will select the winning entries for each category.