The 2024 CMAG Secondary School Photography Prize is NOW CLOSED!

Are you an ACT student in year 7-12? Submit your best photos to the 2024 CMAG Secondary School Photography Prize for a chance to share in a $700 prize pool, have your photos displayed at CMAG and win a mentoring session with a professional photographer.

Entry is free, submit your photos before midnight 25 August.

What You Need to Know

Categories

There are two categories: Year 7–10 and Year 11–12

Closing Date

All entries were due by 11:59pm on Sunday 25 August 2024

Announcement of winners

Prizes will be awarded and announced on Saturday 7 September 2024.

Prizes

Two prize categories: Year 7–10 and Year 11–12.

Prizes include:

• First Prize: $200 gift voucher + Exhibition Catalogue. Year 11-12 catagory  first prize will also include a mentoring session with Photographer Cassie Abraham
• Second Prize: $100 gift voucher + Exhibition Catalogue
• Highly Commended: $50 gift voucher + Exhibition Catalogue
• Encouragement Award: a $30 gift voucher + Exhibition Catalogue

How to enter

Entry is FREE. Please enter the CMAG Art Prize via this link.

• You may enter up to four works.
• Photographs can be colour or black and white.
• Entries must be submitted as digital files through the online entry form.
• The maximum file size is 10MB.
• Entries must include the student’s surname and title of the photograph on the file (eg SmithCivicSquare).
• If an entered work includes the facial image of another person under 18 years old, the student participating must attach signed permission from the subject’s guardian/parent with their entry.

2024 Theme: Materiality… But Not As We Know It

This year’s theme, "Materiality," connects with the current Materiality… But Not As We Know It exhibition at CMAG. We encourage you to get creative and think outside the box! How can materials around you be seen in new, surprising ways? Use your camera to capture the unexpected and show us your unique perspective.

In the Materiality… But Not As We Know It exhibition, Canberra artists have explored materials like glass, textile, wood, metal, and fibre in surprising ways. From glass coolamons and boomerangs to glowing plasma and deconstructed furniture, the exhibition showcases the power of imagination. Visit the exhibition for inspiration and then create your own artistic take on "Materiality."

What the judges will be looking for

When selecting the winners, the judges will be considering:

• technical (exposure; depth of field; colour or tonal rendition; contrast; and lighting)
• visual and aesthetic appeal
• content (mood; emotion; relevance; subject; impact)
• general characteristics (originality; style; context; photographic vision)
• capturing the theme of the competition (clarity of thought; expression of theme)

Terms and Conditions

• Entry is open to all secondary school students enrolled in Years 7 through 12 of High School in the Australian Capital Territory in 2024.
• Student entering the Photography Prize must submit their own work. Do not submit photographs or works created by someone else or generated by AI. These entries will be disqualified from being considered for the Photography Prize.
• Immediate family of Cultural Facilities Corporation employees are ineligible to enter.
• By participating in this competition, students, teachers, parents, and carers understand that student work will be used for current and future promotional purposes. Appropriate artist credit will be given when used for promotional purposes.
• CMAG reserves the right to display selected works only. Captions will include the student’s full name and school.
• The work may be produced as part of study or school requirements, but this is not a pre-requisite. Participants do not need to be studying art or a photography related course.
• No responsibility will be taken for digital files submitted. Digital files will not be returned.