Muhammad Ali Center Shining a Light International Photography Contest 2025

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About Muhammad Ali Center Shining a Light International Photography Contest

This year the Ali Center is asking participants to submit photographs that illustrate the various ways individual women inspire others and build up their communities. At the end of the contest period, the Muhammad Ali Center will produce a documentary-style exhibition featuring approximately 30 selected photographs, beginning on International Women's Day, Saturday, March 8, 2025.

CONTEST THEME 

"Shining a Light: Iconic Women, from Everyday Life to Global Heroes”

Icon (noun) - a person or thing widely admired especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere.

Throughout recorded history, women have been forced to live within systems that actively work to suppress them. According to a 2020 study by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, gender-based inequalities that limit women’s access to education, secure and durable housing, and ownership of property directly result in an in overrepresentation of women in impoverished urban areas around the world. Contrarily, when the opposite occurs and women are empowered to pursue educational opportunities and take on leadership roles, individuals and communities around them benefit exponentially.

Despite global progress toward a more just and equitable world, the United Nations Women organization cites a “lackluster commitment to gender equality” as the number one reason that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will not be met by 2030. To usher in a new wave of progress and empower women globally, the world must recognize women fighting for change, locally and internationally.

A few examples of internationally iconic women:

• Mother Teresa - Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, widely regarded as one of the most notable humanitarians in history.
• Malala Yousafzai - Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize.
• Amelia Earhart – American women’s rights activist and the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

EXHIBIT INTENTION

In the resulting documentary-style exhibition in 2025, the Muhammad Ali Center will recognize women who have contributed to making the world a better place. By “shining a light” on the work of these known and unknown heroines, the Ali Center hopes to inspire viewers to create change for the better and support the women who already do.

• Sponsor Organisation: Muhammad Ali Center

Benefits of Muhammad Ali Center Shining a Light International Photography Contest

PRIZES 
A monetary prize will be awarded directly to contestants by the Muhammad Ali Center in recognition of placing first, second, or third.  
1st Prize    — $1000 
2nd Prize   — $750 
3rd Prize    — $500

The monetary prize will be awarded in the form of a digital Swift transfer. Should you be awarded one of the above-listed monetary prizes, you will need to send the appropriate bank information to [email protected] the transfer.  
Information required of winning photographer: Personal bank Swift number, bank name, bank address, name for individual account and account number. Upon notification of award, more information about the transfer of funds will be provided. Please see the Swift website for more information: https://www.swift.com/.

Prizes will be sent within 4 weeks of the notification of placing first, second, or third.

If you live in the countries identified on the current U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, Sanctions Programs and Country Information list, you will not be eligible to receive prize money from this contest; however, you are not precluded from participating in this contest by submitting photographs. Follow the link to see the current OFAC list: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information. 
 
Other Recognition:

• Press Release
• Website
• Social Media

Muhammad Ali Center Shining a Light International Photography Contest Requirements

This contest will accept photographs that illustrate the following themes:

• The direct, positive effect women have on their families and communities.
• Women performing acts to make the world a better place, for themselves and for others.
• Women professionals in fields that are typically deemed “male dominant.”
• Internationally known contemporary and historical women leaders, inventors, educators, and advocates.
• Lesser-known contemporary and historical women leaders, inventors, educators, and advocates.

RULES AND LEGAL CONDITIONS

By submitting a photograph and participating in the “Shining a Light” photo contest, you agree to the following rules and legal conditions:

• Eligibility: All photographers, both amateur and professional, are welcome to participate.
• Age Requirement: Photographers under the age of 18 may participate but must submit a Parental Consent Form along with their submission.
• Submission Limit: Each participant agrees to submit only one (1) photograph. Submissions of more than one (1) photograph will result in only the first submission being considered; all subsequent submissions will be discarded.
• Usage Rights: By submitting a photograph, you grant the Muhammad Ali Center the right to display, publish, and/or use the photograph and your name on its websites, social media platforms, and at other venues for an indefinite period, with appropriate credit given.
• Ownership and Usage: Participants retain ownership and all rights to future use of their photographs, except for the rights granted to the Muhammad Ali Center and other exhibition venues as described above.
• Photo Sale: Photographs submitted to this contest will be used for display purposes only as described above and will not be sold for profit.
• Notification and Credit: Participants will be notified and credited if their photograph is chosen for exhibition by the Muhammad Ali Center or other venues.
• Verification of Eligibility: The Muhammad Ali Center reserves the right to verify, at its sole discretion, the eligibility of contest winners.
• Modification of Rules: The Muhammad Ali Center reserves the right to modify contest rules if necessary. Participants will be notified of any changes through the contest website or other appropriate means.
• Photograph Warranties: Participants guarantee that their photographs are original, do not infringe on any third party’s rights, and that they have obtained all necessary permissions from any third party that appears in the photograph.
• Disqualification: The Muhammad Ali Center reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it finds, in its sole discretion, that any of the above conditions have not been met.
• Judgment: All decisions made by the Muhammad Ali Center and its judges concerning the photo contest are final and binding.

Application Date and Process

• Click on the link to the application website to apply.

CONTACT

For additional information about the photo contest, rules, awards, exhibitions, and venues, please email [email protected] or visit www.alicenter.org.

Application Deadline

31 December, 2024

Scholarship Application Portal

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