INDEPENDENT PHOTOJOURNALIST AWARD
This Award has been established to recognize and reward independent & freelance photojournalists who endeavour to gather images for the purpose of supporting news stories and bringing awareness to issues of impact from around the world.
Photojournalism is distinguished from other branches of photography by a requirement to comply with a rigid ethical framework that demands that the work be both honest and impartial whilst telling the story in strictly journalistic terms. Stories are presented mainly through photographs rather than words. Free inquiry, free expression, free speech, and a free press are basic principles for photojournalism to function well.
By collecting, editing and presenting visual material for broadcast or publication news stories are made. Visual documents should provide an accurate and fair representation of the scene the photographer witnessed. Therefore, besides keeping ethics in mind, the content of a picture must not be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame.
There are three categories in which to enter an essay of work comprising of a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 12 images
Prizes
Winner
The Independent Photojournalist of the Year will receive a $15,000 USD prize, plus a gallery space to display their work at the next edition of the Xposure International Photography Festival, flights, and accommodation to attend the festival with a friend or colleague. The printing, framing, installations, and building of the gallery space will be undertaken by Xposure.
The Runner-up to Independent Photojournalist of the Year will receive a gallery space to display their work at the next edition of the Xposure International Photography Festival, flights, and accommodation to attend the festival. The printing, framing, installations, and building of the gallery space will be undertaken by Xposure.
Entries
Online entries will be accepted from 1st August 2021 until 30th November 2021 at 23:00 GST – Gulf Standard Time (Standard Time) is (UTC +4)
* Finalists will be notified week commencing 20th December 2021 (see Awards Rules)
Who may enter?
This award is free to enter and open to all nationalities over the age of 18 who are currently holding a National or International Press Card issued by the International Association of Press Photographers (IAPP), International Federation of Journalist (IFJ), The UK Press Card Authority (UKPCA), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), News Media Association (NMA), European Press Federation (EPF), or other Internationally recognized association, issuing authority, gatekeeper bureau or recognized media bureau.
How to enter
To enter electronically, you must first register online. This process includes submitting your details and a photograph or certification of your press credentials. Your press card/credentials will be verified before your account is activated for your entry submissions.
Entries may only be submitted through our online awards platform at XPOSURE AWARDS using the Independent Photojournalist Login. You should submit your images in JPG format BUT only if the same mages can later be supported by the original RAW or out-of-camera image files.
Term
The award is open for online entries from 1st August 2021 until 30th November 2021 at 23:00 GST – Gulf Standard Time (Standard Time) is (UTC +4). All entries must be received by the Entry Deadline.
Detail for submissions
You may enter from five (5) to twelve (12) images into one of the three categories.
JUDGING
The panel of judges is looking to award the best photo essay submitted.
Judges will award:
Qualification
All submitted images will be screened by the Moderators. Submissions will either be approved or rejected at this stage. All photo entries must be appropriate to the category in which they are submitted and must have been made by the entrant.
Visual documents should provide an accurate and fair representation of the scene the photographer witnessed. Therefore, besides keeping ethics in mind, the content of a picture must not be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people and/or objects from within the frame. It is not permitted to alter the basic reality of a photograph.
Standard optimization as in reasonable adjustments to exposure, colour and contrast are permitted.
Judging Procedure
Photojournalism entries are judged singularly and in the context of the entire essay using the following criteria:
Round 1 Criteria
News Value
Information
Subject Impact
Consistency
Visual Storytelling
Relevance
Round 2 Criteria
Human Interest
Originality
Emotion
Photographic Quality
Essay Description and Captions
Round One Process
The Award Jury (the “Judges”) will independently review each essay and apply a rating of 1-9 on the basis of each of the Round 1 criteria. The collective ratings from this process form the round one score.
Short List Round One
The 5 highest ranked essays in each category will go forward to round two. In the case that two or more essays are in ranking position 5, all those images with the equal 5th point score will go ahead into round two.
Round Two Process
In Round Two the judges will apply a credit rating on the basis of Round 2 Criteria.
The Judges individually consider the criteria for each image and essay as a whole and allocate credits on each element. The collective scores will determine the ranking. Should one or more images be placed equally in ranking 1st or 2nd, there shall be a final “Tie-Break” round of judging.
Tie-Break Process
If a tie-break is required, the judges will consider the respective images once again based on the criteria of Essay Description and Captions. The Judges will apply a credit rating of 1 to 6 in the Tie Break process. Decisions of the Judges are final and binding.
The three categories for the Independent Photojournalist Award are as follows:
Spot News
Spot news or breaking news journalism focuses on situations that occur unexpectedly – stories witnessing news moments or immediate events.
Environmental
Environmental journalism captures the degrading of the environment. and changes that you see stories to highlight the change that mankind has directly or indirectly caused to the environment.
Solutions
Solutions journalism changes the frame of the story from “the negativity bias”. Rather than focusing on problems, solutions journalism looks for where people are already taking action to deal with difficult issues. A solutions story is the product of rigorous reporting on a response to a problem. (see examples)
Publication of Winning Images Images will be on exhibition at the annual festival, published in the next Xposure Year Book and also on the “Xposure” official website.
Rights Reserved Sponsors reserve the right not to award all prizes in the event an insufficient number of eligible entries meeting the minimum judging criteria are received, as determined by Organisers and Judges in their sole discretion.
Entrant Licenses & Releases
If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and if any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, before submission of the photo. Any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner outlined in these Official Rules without additional compensation.
Third-Party Licenses & Releases
Copyright holders retain the copyright of their work. For the award, nominated and shortlisted pictures, copyright holders grant the organisers unlimited, non-exclusive use of high-resolution images for activities promoting Xposure in all media. Awarded images will be published in the Xposure Yearbook and the Public Archive.
Limitation of Liability
By participating, entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless Sharjah Government Media Bureau, and each of their respective partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.
Organisers and Sponsors assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorised access to Contest entries or entry forms; Organisers are not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, online computer systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Contest.
Conditions This Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations of the United Arab Emirate. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries void if the Sponsor determines the entry to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.
Participants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final on all matters relating to the award contest; and (c) if he/she wins that Organiser / Sponsor may use each winner’s name, photograph, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertising relating to the Contest or future promotions without compensation or approval. Any International state and local taxes, fees and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. If the selected winner(s) of any prize are/is ineligible or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and Organisers, in their sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.
Prizes that are formed as Educational Programs or Workshops are only available on the date and time specified in the general entry information. Any other physical prizes of any type that may be awarded by sponsors or organisers, shall be collected at the Award Ceremony.
Right to Cancel or Suspend If for any reason the award contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the Organisers that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsors reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest.