The BBC celebrates its 'A Picture of Britain' documentary series with an interactive online digital photo competition
Latest update: A recent debate concerning the rather strictly worded terms and conditions for the A Digital Picture of Britain competition has been resolved by it being pointed out that the BBC is not trying to exploit entrants as the claim for free use by the BBC is only made on the low resolution image that the rules restrict entrants to submit. It's been a subject of discussion on the DPNow forum as well.
For the last couple of weeks, broadcaster and host of BBC TV's Question Time programme, David Dimbleby, has been touring Great Britain in a fascinating TV documentary series that explores the link between art and cherished places and situations across the land and sea.
To celebrate the series, the BBC has launched an online photo competition that it is called 'A Digital Picture of Britain'. According to the BBC, you are invited to: " Help build a digital picture of Britain in 2005. Submit your digital photographs of Britain's rural, urban and human landscapes for your chance to win a camera." Not only can you submit entries, but you can also rate images that have bee submitted via an online gallery.
There are eight regional categories and three themed categories. Each category winner is promised a camera to the approximate value of £500. A panel comprised of top photographers and BBC staff will select the winning entries. Winning entries may be may be featured in a Photographic Masterclass presented by Tom Ang on BBC interactive TV. They may also be exhibited at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in September 2005. Competition entries are being accepted until the end of July and rating will continue for one week further. The rules are quite specific about the kind of subject permissible and also the presentation, like the aspect ration of the image and its size. Only JPEG digital image files will be accepted – prints are definitely out!
As a bonus, journalist and photographer, Tom Ang, has bee hosting a series of programmes on Sunday evenings on BBC4, challenging fellow photographers to create images according to the competition rules.
A very healthy collection of entries is already in the online gallery waiting to be rated. You can search by region, category and even by the photographer's name. If you plan to enter or have already done so – good luck!
