Mountain Photo Essay Competition 2024

The Mountain Photo Essay Competition is a program of Mountain Culture at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The competition’s goal is to showcase the best in mountain-themed photo essays – to recognize the best stories told through a series of still images. Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity invites photographers to submit photos to illustrate their mountain related stories whether culture, adventure, wildlife, sport, environment, or natural history. The jury is seeking a sequence of images that conveys a compelling story or message – with each image strong enough to stand on its own while conveying a greater narrative when viewed in the photographer’s desired sequence.

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Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity promotes understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by creating opportunities for people to share and find inspiration in mountain experiences, ideas, and visions. The competition format is the photo essay. At its simplest, the definition of a photo-essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke emotions in the viewer. Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity invites photographers to submit curated photo essays to illustrate their mountain related stories that fall under the sub-categories of culture, adventure, wildlife, sport, environment, or natural history.

Entries will be judged on the basis of effectiveness in conveying the mountain story through composition, technique, content, and originality of well-edited images. Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity suggests you include only those images required to tell your story – unnecessary images may reduce the overall impact of your submission. All entries will be viewed by a selection committee chaired by the Director, Festival and World Tour. Finalists chosen by this committee will be viewed by an independent jury who will choose the Grand Prize winner which will be announced in June 2024.  The Entrant acknowledges and agrees that all matters will be decided by the organizers.

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Benefits of Mountain Photo Essay Competition 

• The Grand Prize winner will receive $3000 CDN.
• The winning essay will be displayed as part of the 2024 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival exhibitions. Finalists may also be displayed during the Festival.
• The winning essay may be reproduced in third party content (e.g., sponsor website) for competition promotion. Artists are to enter into a separate commercial contract with third parties interested in printing photo essay images not in relation to competition promotion.

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 Eligibilities

• The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers.
• Submissions will be accepted in the form of photographic essays only.
• Images can depict any mountain story consisting of culture, adventure, wildlife, sport, environment or natural history.
• Only digital image files will be accepted.
• You must be the author and sole owner of the copyright for all images you enter.
• Images must have been taken within the last two years (2023 – 2024).
• Each photographic essay of up to five (5) images constitutes one entry.

Selection Process

• All entries will be viewed by a selection committee chaired by the Festival Director
• Finalists chosen by this committee will be viewed by an international jury
• The Grand Prize winner will be announced in June 2024