Thank you to everyone who submitted photos to this year's contest! The submission period is now closed. Information regarding the judging and award announcements will be sent to participants by e-mail.
The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce that the submission period is open for its third annual digital photography contest: Untold Stories.
This year's contest seeks photographs with a story to tell about the people, places, history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. We particularly invite submissions that showcase underrepresented communities and traditions, and highlight the vibrant and diverse spirit of the region. Creativity in interpreting the theme is highly encouraged, and submissions from all genres and skill levels are welcome.
Please note that previously published material is not eligible.
Photos will be reviewed by a panel of volunteer judges who will select First, Second, and Third Prize winners, as well as a number of Honorable Mentions.
Prizes:
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First Prize - $500
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Second Prize: $250
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Third Prize: $150
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Honorable Mentions: $75 each
Winning photos will be exhibited at the Middle East Institute and auctioned at MEI's Annual Gala on November 12, 2019 in Washington, D.C. to support MEI’s arts and educational programs.
Please read all contest rules below before submitting. The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 19, 2019.
(Click here to see winners from last year's contest, including the honorable mention winner above.)
Contest Rules and Submission Guidelines
ELIGIBILITY
The Middle East Institute (MEI) Digital Photo Contest (“Photo Contest”) is open to all professional and amateur photographers who have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry. Board Members and Employees of The Middle East Institute, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) of those persons are not eligible to enter.
By submitting an entry to the Photo Contest, entrants certify that their participation in this Photo Contest is not illegal or in violation of any law, regulation, treaty or administrative act.
MEI reserves the right to reject any entry if, in MEI’s sole discretion, the laws of an applicable jurisdiction, including but not limited to the entrant’s jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry, would prohibit or limit MEI from proceeding with the Contest as intended.
MEI is unable to award prize money to winning entrants who live in countries under US sanctions. Individuals residing in such “Excluded Jurisdictions” are welcome to enter the Photo Contest, and if selected as winners will receive full recognition for their work, but by entering acknowledge that they are ineligible to receive prizes. Excluded Jurisdiction means any country listed on the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Active Sanctions Programs list available at https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/.
SPONSOR
The Photo Contest is sponsored by The Middle East Institute, 1319 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 (“Sponsor”).
ENTRY PERIOD
The Photo Contest begins at 12:00am EST on Monday, June 10, 2019 and ends at 11:59pm EST on Friday, July 19 (the “Entry Period”). Entries submitted before or after the Entry Period will not be eligible. Sponsor’s computer is the official timekeeping device for the Photo Contest.
WHAT TO ENTER
The Middle East Institute is committed to increasing knowledge of the Middle East among the citizens of the United States, and to promoting a better understanding between the people of these two areas. Our 2019 photo contest theme, "Untold Stories," seeks photos with a story to tell about the people, places, history and culture of the Middle East and North Africa (defined as the region from Morocco to Afghanistan, and including Turkey).
Please note that the subject matter of submissions must pertain to the Middle East, but photographs need not have been taken there.
Previously published material may not be entered.
When photographing the work of others (e.g. street art or architecture), it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person's art.
Photographers are limited to five (5) entries total. Additional entries will not be reviewed.
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Each entry must be a single photograph. All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Detailed captions are highly encouraged.
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Excessive adjustments to color, contrast, density, or saturation are not permitted, nor should any element be added to or removed from the photograph by any means. Photograph backgrounds may not be digitally altered or blurred; frames, borders, and added text is not permitted.
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Reasonable adjustments made for the purpose of retouching are allowed. Such adjustments include but are not limited to retouching to remove dust and/or artifacts, cropping, burning, grayscale, and normal color and toning adjustments as long as such adjustments are made with the purpose being to restore or preserve the authentic nature of the photograph.
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Entries may originate in any format—including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints—so long as they are submitted electronically in a .JPEG .jpg, or.png form. Multiple exposures that have been combined to produce a single "High Dynamic Range" image are acceptable.
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Judges reserve the right to see the original unaltered photograph (file) upon request.
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Photographs violating these rules will be disqualified and removed from the contest. Judges reserve the right to remove all submissions of a given photographer should one of the images submitted be found in violation of the rules set forth.
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Photographs captured with non-professional digital cameras (smartphones and/or point and shoot) are allowed provided that they a) meet the requirements for eligibility described above, and b) meet the given specifications for quality.
IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS
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Each image should be rendered as an RGB or Grayscale file. Do not use CMYK.
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Final individual image size should be at least 10-12.5 inches longest dimension at 250 DPI, or 2500-3000 pixels longest dimension. Uncompressed RGB file size should be about 10-15 megabytes. File size after compression would be about 2-5 megabytes.
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Save images as large JPEG files, and use Baseline (“Standard”) under Format Options when doing so.
Entries should include metadata if at all possible.
The following submissions are ineligible:
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Photos that violate or infringe upon another person's rights, including but not limited to copyright and photographs of persons without the necessary consent required by law in their jurisdiction. Waiver requirements vary by jurisdiction, and the entrant is responsible for obtaining a legally enforceable waiver from any photographed subject. You must be able to provide copies of those releases to MEI if selected as a winner.
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Note: In parts of the MENA region, the electronic distribution of photographs of an individual without their legal consent may constitute a cybercrime. MEI urges sensitivity to the cultural practice of requesting permission to take photos of persons, and reserves the right to request proof of consent for any submission.
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Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent or other illegal content.
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Images that involve putting any individual or property in danger.
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MEI shall determine entry eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion.
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Submissions may be watermarked if desired, but the watermark should be inconspicuous enough to not interfere with the judging of the photo. A watermarked photo might not be honored by the competition (at the judges’ sole discretion) if the photographer is unable or unavailable to provide a pristine, watermark-free version of the image when asked.
HOW TO ENTER
All images must be submitted through our online submission form (below), completing all required fields, including name, email and other information about your photo submission.
You may submit a maximum of five (5) entries. MEI reserves the right to reject any additional entries or entries that do not comply with these Official Rules. By entering, you indicate your unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Rules and Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding.
You cannot win a prize unless you comply with all requirements in these Official Rules. All submissions must be made through the online submission form or they will not be considered.
Entrants may be asked to supplement their submission (such as with a paragraph about their photo or the highest resolution version of their photo) anytime on or after submission.
JUDGING
Photos will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, artistic merit and relevance to the contest theme. Judging will be conducted by a panel of MEI staff and guest judges to be selected by MEI at its sole discretion (the “Panel”). The Panel will evaluate all valid entries and select winners.
All judging decisions are final. Please do not contact us about the status of entries or judging.
MEI will notify winners via the contact information provided at the time of entry. For tax purposes, prize winners are required to submit a W-9 (for U.S. residents) or W-8 (for non-U.S. residents) form to MEI before payment can be processed.
Note: MEI is unable to award prize money to winning entrants who reside in countries under US sanctions (See Eligibility).
POTENTIAL WINNER REQUIREMENTS
Except where prohibited, a potential winner may be required to complete and return an affidavit of eligibility, including proof of age, and liability/publicity release within 14 days. If a potential winner fails to return these documents on time, an alternate potential winner may be selected in his/her place.
PRIZES
MEI will publicly announce the winners on The Middle East Institute Photo Contest page and award the following prizes:
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1st Place - $500
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2nd Place - $250
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3rd Place - $150
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Honorable Mentions - $75
All winners are responsible for paying any taxes and any and all other costs and expenses not listed above, including but not limited to customs fees if applicable. Any prize details not specified above will be determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion. A prize may not be transferred and must be accepted as awarded.
YOUR RIGHTS
Your photographs help MEI raise awareness of the arts and culture of the Middle East and its diaspora communities. Thank you for helping to further our mission through your photography.
You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit -- including ownership if applicable. A copyright notice with the photographer's name will accompany winning images when used by MEI. Third-party requests for use of winning images will be forwarded to the photographer.
If your photograph is selected as a winner in the Photo Contest, you grant MEI a 5 year royalty-free, nonexclusive right to:
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Display the photograph on mei.edu.
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Allow third-parties to share the photograph on social media.
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Use the photograph on the Internet and Social Media in support of our mission.
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Use the photograph in MEI’s internal and external communications materials including but not limited to web sites and web publications, fact sheets, fundraising publications, advertising, multimedia, presentation and membership services, annual report and the Middle East Journal.
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Provide your photograph to other individuals and organizations for MEI-related use in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, videos, membership premiums, and the like.
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Use, in connection with the Photo Contest, your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.
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Retain a digital copy of your photograph that will be archived in MEI’s photo library and accessible to MEI staff via the MEI internal online photo archive.
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The Middle East Institute will endeavor to credit all photographs with the caption "Person's Name" when the full name is available.
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Additionally, one large print of each winning photograph will be auctioned at the 2019 Annual Gala to benefit The Middle East Institute. MEI does not reserve the right to reproduce any submission for sale beyond the aforementioned event.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Photo Contest is impaired in any way, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Photo Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Photo Contest; or (b) award the prize(s) from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and seek damages from any individual who tampers with the operation of the Photo Contest, violates these Official Rules, or acts in a disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Proof of sending any communication to Sponsor by mail shall not be deemed proof of receipt of that communication by Sponsor. In the event of a dispute as to the owner of an online entry, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to enter will be deemed to be the owner. The Photo Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited.
RELEASE AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
By entering, you agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor and its officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Photo Contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the Photo Contest; (b) technical errors; (c) printing errors; (d) late or undelivered mail; (e) errors in the administration of the Photo Contest; or (f) injury or damage to persons or property. You waive the right to claim any attorneys’ fees and any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.
PRIVACY AND PUBLICITY
Except where prohibited, you consent to Sponsor’s use of your name in any list of winners (if applicable) and for promotional purposes in any media without further payment or consideration.
DISPUTES
You agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Photo Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in Washington, DC. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, your rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Sponsor in connection with the Photo Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the District of Columbia, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the District of Columbia or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than DC.
QUESTIONS
If you have questions about the contest or submission guidelines, please e-mail us at photocontest@mei.edu.