Entries invited for Commonwealth Photographic awards

Entries are now being invited for the 2006/7 Commonwealth Photographic Awards organized by the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU).

The overall theme for the Awards this year is ‘Achievement’. This is an open competition for all Commonwealth residents. The photographs will be judged on the interpretation of the theme as well as technical quality.{{more}}

The awards offer a view of how people in the Commonwealth, with its mixture of races, creeds, cultures and ways of life, see themselves and others.

In addition, there are two new categories:

The Canberra Times/CPU Young Photographer Award will be offered to a young person (aged 21-25 on 17 January 2007) from a developing country. The prize is a three-week photographic residency at the newspaper’s offices in Canberra, Australia.

‘Three Pictures – One Story’ invites entrants to create a storyboard. The purpose is to tell a story of achievement in three pictures. The prize for this Award is £250.

The overall winner of the Commonwealth Photographic Awards will receive £1000 sterling, and further prizes will be awarded to the regional winners.

“We organise the Commonwealth Photographic Awards for many reasons, one of them being that we believe photography to be vital to the success of a newspaper. We hope that we will play a part in encouraging newspapers to use photographs more on their pages and young photographers to take better pictures. By supporting photographers – whether amateur or professional, young or old – we are encouraging an independent view, press freedom and democracy. We therefore endeavour, via these Awards, to promote photography as an important form of media,” CPU Training Director, Jane Rangeley said.

The CPU is an association whose membership includes over 1,500 newspapers and news agencies. It aims to monitor and oppose any measures or proposals likely to affect the freedom of the press; work to improve facilities for reporting and transmitting news; and promote the training of all involved in the Commonwealth’s press.