2024 UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest

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About UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest

This program is an international photo contest from UNESCO for young people aged 14 to 25 years old from different countries. The primary aim of this contest is to encourage the contestants in visual arts and familiarize them with the Silk Road region’s culture. It also promotes photography as a tool for encouraging cultural interaction, promoting peace amongst the people living in the areas, and helping build mutual understanding among people connected by the Silk Roads.

The contest themes for the current year include Life Celebrations. Contestants may focus on either of these topics while concentrating on the mutual influences of people along the Silk Roads. This photo contest is part of UNESCO’s Silk Roads Program and the Social and Human Sciences Sector.

What to Submit?

Along the Silk Roads, photographers experimenting with the topic of “Life Celebrations” might catch the following images:

• Ceremonies for births and naming.
• Anniversary celebrations marked with deep emotion that represent the passing of time and the enduring strength of relationships.
• Symbolic ceremonies for rites of passage.
• Vibrant and joyous marriages and engagements that highlight local customs and the joining of families.
• Harvest festivals and other traditional and contemporary celebrations of seasonal changes, such as spring or fall festivals like Nowruz, symbolize the cyclical nature of life and the cycles of the natural world.
• Events and festivities: such as festivals, pilgrimages, and ceremonies that honor ancestry and spirituality.

Who Evaluate the Submissions?

An International Selection Committee comprised of the following photographers will examine and evaluate the submitted photos:

• Fatimah Hosseini (Afghanistan)
• GMB AKASH (Bangladesh)
• Liang Li (China)
• Gulnara Samoilova (USA)
• Mustafa Seven (Türkiye)
• Osama Silwadi (Palestine)

Dates and Details

• Contest Started: 2 May 2024
• Submission Deadline: 14 July 2024, at 23:59:59 (GMT +1)
• Winners Announcement (Online): Mid-September 2024
• Theme of the Year: Life Celebrations

• Sponsor Organisation: UNESCO

Benefits of UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest

The award has two age categories, including 14 to 17 and 18 to 25. In each age category, three photographs will receive recognition from the international members of the Selection Committee:

• First Award: Professional digital single-lens reflex camera with 18-55mm lens
• Second Award: Semi-professional digital camera
• Third Award: Digital camera

UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest Requirments

Applications are for the UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest 2024 is open to everyone between 14 and 25 years old. Applicants, regardless of their country, but UNESCO employees, the contest donor, China World Peace Foundation, and their family members are not eligible to apply.

As mentioned before, two age categories participate in the contest, and the selection committee will select six winners from these two categories (each category 3):

• 14-17 years of age
• 18-25 years of age

Note: Minors who wish to apply for this contest should provide their legal guardian(s) written permission. Minor applicants without written authorization are not eligible to apply.

Photo Requirements

All submissions should meet the following criteria:

• All photos submitted should be relevant to the year’s theme mentioned above.
• Applicants can only bring small changes and modifications to the photographs (g., aperture, dodging and burning, cropping, color balance) and should indicate it clearly in the image’s description.
• Photographs must not contain any personal information of the photographers
• Photos should have a high resolution and can be printed on different media for exhibitions if selected.
• The Organizer has the right to remove any submission that does not meet the criteria.
• Participants of the contest certify that they are the sole copyright holder of all submitted photographs and that their submissions originally belonged to them.
• The participant can fully authorize the use of the photographs.
• Participants of thecontest certify that submitted photos do not infringe or violate any existing copyright or any other third-party rights and contain nothing otherwise unlawful.
• Pictures should not contain elements that are offensive, pornographic, racist, defamatory, insulting, illegal, or contrary to good morals.
• Each applicant can send 20 photos in JPG or JPEG format and a minimum of 1500 pixels tall and wide.

Copyright Criteria

All images submitted should meet the following copyright criteria:

• The applicant must ensure that S/he owns the photo and has permission to send it.
• Each participant must have a license to use the photo sent
• The images do not violate the rights of the third person or party or any other law
• The participant should give the right to the competition organizer to use and republish the photos worldwide
• The applicant provides the right to the Organizer to use their name in ceremonies, programs, and advertisements related to the competition
• All the images are published © Photographer name/UNESCO

Note: Read other competition rules here

Application Date and Process

Applicants must send their taken photos via online application following the steps below:

• Read the terms and conditions of the competition carefully.
• Create an account on the competition website linked below
• Complete the application form in English and submit it with 1 to 20 photos at maximum.

Application Deadline

14 July, 2024

Scholarship Application Portal

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