Amateur Photographer of the Year 2014 – Your chance to enter the UK’s most prestigious competition for amateur photographers
**Entries must be received by 5pm (UK time) on the
closing date at the correct email address**
(Please do not send to the general AP email address)
Since AP’s Amateur Photographer of the Year competition was launched in its present format in 1997, it has gone from strength to strength. In those days, the overall prize was a Mamiya 645 Pro TL medium-format camera, worth £2,395. This year we’re offering £5,000 worth of Olympus equipment for the 2014 winner.
Photo by Emma Goulder
We receive thousands of entries from all around the world, and last year saw a very high standard of submissions. However, over the ten rounds one person emerged as the clear winner, with Dusica Paripovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina becoming 2013’s Amateur Photographer of the Year.
Photo by Gary Telford
APOY 2014 follows a similar format to last year, with ten monthly rounds from March until December. The competition is open to all amateur photographers and each month’s round follows a theme. Please note that entrants who live outside the UK who win a prize will be liable for any local customs charges. After the closing date of each round, the entries are narrowed down to a shortlist of 50, then the top 30, and finally the top three. Points are awarded to each image for creativity, technical excellence and how well the image fulfils the brief.
Photo by Martin Roberts
Judges are looking for original, imaginative and well-executed pictures that explore the theme in an exciting way. The names of the top 50 photographers from each round appear on our website, along with the images from the top 30. The top 30 images are also published in the magazine at the end of the following month. After the ten rounds, the person with the most points accumulated over all the rounds will be crowned Amateur Photographer of the Year 2014.
**Entries must be received by 5pm (UK time) on the
closing date at the correct email address
** Please do not send to the general AP email address)
The prizes
Prizes are awarded to the first, second and third-placed entrants for each round. This year we have great Olympus cameras on offer, worth a total each month of around £2,000. We also have a top prize of £5,000 worth of Olympus kit for the overall winner. That’s a grand total of £25,000 in prizes for APOY 2014, in association with Olympus.
Photo by Ian Webb
How to enter APOY 2014 by email
Image size
Your image must be at least 2,700 (3,000 maximum) pixels along its longest dimension, to be printed in the magazine. The file name of your image must be your first and surnames, for example Kate Windsor.jpg. The subject line of your email message must state the round name and your name once again – eg Street Life: Kate Windsor. Finally, in the body of your email, include the camera model, lens and exposure details, if known, such as Olympus OM-D E-M10, as well as a sentence describing what the image is. If your email does not meet these requirements, we will unfortunately not be able to enter it into the competition.
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*** Please note the following and send your email to
apoy@timeinc.com ***
Copy and paste the following into the body of your email and tick or mark “x” in the brackets below where applicable –
I earn no more than 10% of my total annual income or £5,000 annually from photography (tick to confirm) [ ]. This entry has not previously been published in a national UK photography magazine [ ] (tick to confirm). Amateur Photographer, published by Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, will collect your personal information to process your entry. If you would like to receive emails from Amateur Photographer and Time Inc. (UK) Ltd containing news, special offers and product and service information and take part in our magazine research via email, please tick here [ ] Amateur Photographer and Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, would like to contact you by post or telephone to promote and ask your opinion on our magazines and services. Please tick here if you prefer NOT TO hear from us. [ ] Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, may occasionally pass your details to carefully selected organisations so they can contact you by telephone or post with regards to promoting and researching their products and services. Please tick here if you prefer NOT TO be contacted [ ] If my entry is not successful, I would like the image to be considered for critique in the Appraisal column [ ]
Please see below for all the rules for entry, terms and conditions. We only accept entries in the form of prints, slides or emailed digital files – we cannot accept discs. Remember to include your address, a daytime telephone number and as many details about your image as possible so we can judge it accurately.
Photo by Nigel Farmer
Plan your APOY 2014 year
Below is a list of this year’s rounds, a synopsis of what we’re looking for and the dates they will be announced. When you are planning your entry, remember to take into consideration the criteria of fulfilling the brief, creativity and technical excellence on which you will be judged.
| Theme | Synopsis | Announced | Closes 5pm | Results |
| 1. Street Life | Street photography | 1 Mar | 28 Mar closed |
26 Apr |
| 2. Animal Planet | Pets and wildlife | 5 Apr | 25 Apr closed |
31 May |
| 3. World in Motion | Action/movement shots | 3 May | 30 May closed |
28 June |
| 4. By the Sun and the Moon | Portraits in natural light | 7 June | 27 June closed |
26 July |
| 5. Dawn and Dusk | Landscapes in dawn/dusk | 5 Jul | 25 Jul closed |
30 Aug |
| 6. Macro World | Insects, flowers & plants | 2 Aug | 29 Aug closed |
27 Sept |
| 7. In a Faraway Place | Travel photography | 6 Sept | 26 Sept closed |
25 Oct |
| 8. The World in Black & White | Monochrome images | 4 Oct | 31 Oct closed |
29 Nov |
| 9. Kept in the Dark | Night photography | 1 Nov | 28 Nov closed |
3 Jan 15 |
| 10. Building Blocks | Architecture exteriors | 6 Dec | 2 Jan 15 closed |
31 Jan 15 |
Rules
- Entrants may submit only one photograph per month, as an sRGB JPEG file that is 2,700-3,000 pixels along its longest dimension, an unmounted print (max size 210x297mm) or slide (no glass mounts please), in colour or black & white.
- The entrant’s name, address and daytime phone number must be attached to the slide mount, or the back of the print.
- You may only submit digital files by email (no CDs/DVDs). When submitting a digital file, the file name of your image must be your first name and surname, the subject line of your email message must state the round name and your name once again, and the body copy of your email must include your name, address, daytime telephone number, the camera model, lens and exposure details.
- Photos submitted must be your own work, must not be copied, must not contain any third-party materials and/or content that you do not have permission to use and must not otherwise be obscene, defamatory or in breach of any applicable legislation or regulations. If Time Inc. (UK) Ltd has reason to believe your entry is not your own work or otherwise breaches this rule, your photos will NOT be considered.
- Photos must not previously have been published in a national UK photography magazine.
- Copyright of all entries remains with the photographer, but Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Olympus and their associated group companies reserve the right to use, publish and republish entries in connection with the competition, without payment.
- By entering this competition you grant permission to Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Olympus and their associated group companies to reproduce your photos in electronic format and hard copy including for display at an exhibition, in Time Inc. (UK) Ltd’s Amateur Photographer magazine and on Time Inc. (UK) Ltd’s and Olympus’s websites and social media should they be selected to promote the competition.
- You grant Time Inc. (UK) Ltd and Olympus the right to use your name and town or city of residence for the sole purpose of identifying you as the author of your photos and/or as a winner or runner-up of the APOY competition.
- Each postal entry must be accompanied by the correct > entry form < with all sections completed. A photocopy of the entry form will be accepted. All submissions must be well packaged in a stiffened envelope (no tubes, please) bearing sufficient postage, and entrants wanting their picture back must include a stiffened SAE stamped of sufficient value for their return.
- This competition is open to bona fide amateur photographers and students only. That is, entrants should not earn more than 10% of their total annual income OR £5,000 annually from photography.
- Employees of Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Olympus and their families may not enter this competition. Entries are judged by AP staff.
- There is no age limit for entering, and international entries will be accepted.
- Prizes are as stated and no cash or other alternative can be offered to the monthly prizes or overall prize.
- Prize value correct at time of going to press. Overseas winners will be contacted about how to claim their prize, although entrants who live outside the UK who win a prize will be liable for any local customs charges and enter at their own risk. Olympus has the right to substitute a prize for a similar item of equal or higher value if the stated prize is not available. No money can be added to the overall prizes. The overall first prize for the APOY 2014 competition will be to win Olympus products to the value of £5,000 RRP as at the date of notification.
- Prizes are subject to Olympus standard terms and conditions for its products. Acceptance of a prize is deemed to be acceptance of those terms and conditions.
- Entries on behalf of another person will not be accepted and joint submissions are not allowed.
- No responsibility is taken for lost, delayed, misdirected or incomplete entries. Proof of delivery of the entry is not proof of receipt.
- No purchase is necessary.
- The overall winner must choose his or her prize within six weeks of being notified. In the event of a tie, the Editor will choose a winner. The Editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- By submitting photos you are accepting these rules.
- Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Olympus or their associated group companies shall not be liable for any loss, damage or injury of any nature howsoever caused, sustained by any entrant under this promotion. However, nothing in these rules shall have the effect of excluding or restricting liability for personal injury, death, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation caused by the proven negligence of employees or agents of Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Olympus or their associated group companies.
- Olympus shall not be liable for any failure to supply the prizes where such failure is caused by any supervening circumstances outside its control which amount to force majeure and which without the fault of either party renders performance impossible or incapable of satisfactory execution.
- These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales and any dispute in relation to them shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
- This competition is owned and run by Amateur Photographer/Time Inc. (UK) Ltd and all competition terms and conditions are bound by Amateur Photographer/Time Inc. (UK) Ltd rules.
**Entries must be received by 5pm (UK time) on the
closing date at the correct email address**
(Please do not send to the general AP email address)
Read the interview with Dusica Paripovic the 2013 winner and runner-up Dan Deakin’s story
Olympus Image Space
Olympus Image Space is the central hub for Olympus photography events, including experiences, touch-and-try and news. ‘At Olympus, we have started to talk about Image Space,’ says an Olympus spokesman. ‘It stems from how ubiquitous image creation is to all of us, and it refers to our pledge to provide opportunities for people to learn about photography and the
chance to get your hands on our great new cameras in more engaging environments. It can be a venue, a seminar, a training session or a walk on the wild side.
‘The message is that we all have an Image Space – whether that’s a specific location where you feel at one with a camera in hand, or something more abstract, such as a moment in time or a feeling. As photographers, we’re all unique individuals, each with our own special way of seeing the world around us, but there are some common denominators that bind us together: the things we like to shoot, the cameras we like to use, our passion for pictures. It’s a celebration of great photography and the creative geniuses behind the lens.
‘It’s also about empowering people to tackle exciting new projects with dynamic products, such as the Olympus OM-D range of system cameras and accessories. But more than anything else, it’s about the passion for photography and the relentless pursuit of better photos – the desire to capture at least one great image in a lifetime. This is our image space. What’s
yours?’
