Photography News | Issue 31 | absolutephoto.com
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Competition
National Geographic Traveller Photography Competition Exploring the world throughphotography This year’s National Geographic Traveller competition had over 2000 entries from across the world. We spoke to Chris Hudson, Group Art Editor at National Geographic to find out more
©MattParry
Top left Grand prize-winning image by Jeremy Flint titled Fisherman on Inle Lake, Burma. Top right Emma Muir focused on this dancer’s feet to capture a different perspective and also photographed reindeer herders in Yarnal, Siberia and made the shortlist with his strong portrait. Above right Matt Parry found a reflective surface and captured a dramatic, mono image of Paris in the rain. incorporated movement. Above left Simon Morris
With so many competitions in the photography industry, what makes yours stand out from the rest? It’s hard to stand out in a crowded market, but we’re really here to simply celebrate great photography. We’re not looking to use images for our own gain. I’d like to think that the range of great prizes we have to offer across all the categories, means it has a wide-ranging appeal to everyone, amateur or professional. What were the requirements for submitting images? We have several categories that all have their own criteria, but generally we like to keep the brief open to interpretation. We like to see creative approaches to photographing subjects and by leaving the criteria open, we hope to get everyone
Which category was the most popular and was that reflected in the overall winning image? We’re most proud of our portfolio category, which exceeded expectations in its first year. It helped raise the level of entries throughout the competition and I think this was due to the fact that more professional photographers felt compelled to enter. It’s a great category because it allows the photographer to tell a story with four images instead of just providing a great capture with one. Our magazine is all about narrative in photography and the portfolio category echoes this. In what way did the grand prize- winning image stand out? Despite the portfolio category being very strong, we found that the people
submitting varied work. Submission is through our website, where the work is moderated and appears in galleries to help new entrants gauge the standard of the competition. What categories were there for photographers to submit work to? We restructured the competition slightly this year, having four photography categories instead of our usual six: people, urban, nature and action. These categories had been themost successful in previous years. This allowed us to introduce three new categories – portfolio, mobile and video. Every category had a winner, and the overall photography, portfolio, mobile and video winners all received destination prizes, as well as our grand prize winner, which was chosen from one of the categories.
Interview by Jemma Dodd
What is your role within the competition, Chris? I’m the Group Art Editor at National Geographic Traveller magazine and I’m responsible for all of our creative output in the public eye. I head the judging panel for the photography competition and it’smy responsibility to curate a set of images for our judges to deliberate over, fromwhichwe pick the final winners. When was the competition set up and what are its aims? The competition is in its fifth year. Our aim is simple – to encourage our readers to get involved and share their travel experiences through stunning photography.
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