II Concurso Fotográfico 'Objetivo África'

Casa África announces the 2nd "Africa Focus" Photography Competition, which will award photographs that express the positive aspects of African diaspora and their descendants, in any part of the world, from an optimistic approach and aimed at toppling all stereotypes that the neighbouring continent has been labelled with for such a long time. 

Casa África, is a public consortium that is made up from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Spanish Agency of International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Government of the Canaries and the Town Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and is entrusted with the functions of promoting actions and projects that contribute to better understanding and development of all kinds of relations between societies in Africa, Europe and Spain.

1. Participants

a. Any individual of legal age can take part in the competition.

b. Participation by the competitors implies the acceptance of these rules and is subject to the judges’ final decision.

c. No photographer or employee linked directly or indirectly to Casa África can take part.

d. Each participant expressly authorises Casa África to reproduce, distribute and publicly communicate the images submitted, as well as to adapt them to the necessary medium for their communication. These images will form part of the Casa África's archive, which may only be used by them for non-profit documentary purposes. This authorisation does not grant Casa África exclusivity, and the authors may use their own images as per their own criteria. In the event that Casa África uses an image in public communication events, the author´s name will always be mentioned.

e. In cases that differ from those specified in the previous section (1.d.), Casa África will manage those corresponding rights with each author.

2.    Subjects, procedure and selection

a. The 2nd "Africa Focus" Photography Competition looks for photographs that best portray the positive and current aspects of African diaspora and their descendants, a mood that does not usually appear in traditional means. We are trying to discover the people from the neighbouring continent and those African descendants who live away from Africa. The spectrum is vast, the same as the millions of Africans who live outside their continent.

b. We also value the creativity and innovation of the technique used and the way the message is transmitted. The photograph's description and title will also be valued under these criteria.

c. The photographs can be sent from the 14th November to the 16th January 2012, 10:00am (Spanish time).

d. Each contestant can present a maximum of three (3) photographs. The contestant can formalise their entry through Blog África Vive  where the competition is hosted, by filling in the form for it. The photographs should be in high resolution, JPEG format with a size of 2MB or less. Given that email is the only means of contact requested, it is important to ensure this is correctly included.

e. The jury will be made up by well-known professional photographers and/or artists. Its composition will be communicated after the decision is published.

f.    The photographs uploaded through the Blog África Vive will be moderated by the Casa África team and once admitted to the competition, will appear on the image gallery.

g. Casa África reserves the right to declare the competition void if the number of images presented were not enough, or in the case that, in the jury's opinion, the artistic level or reason for the photographs does not fit in with the competition's rules or objectives.

h. Once the reception period for the photographs has finished, the popular voting period will commence on the 16th January 2012 through Blog Africa Vive and will finish on the 23rd January, at 10:00am (Spanish time). The photograph that receives the most votes through the Blog Africa Vive will obtain 5th Prize in the competition (section 3.a) and that same day the jury's decision will be published with the rest of the prized photographs.

i. The photographs may not be older than five years when they are submitted, and should not have received an award in any other contest.

3.    Prizes.

a. Each image can be awarded one of the following five prizes:

First Prize: Digital Canon EOS 60D reflex camera with a 55mm EF-s 18 lens and case

Second Prize: Compact Canon IXUS 115 Camera

Third Prize: Compact Canon IXUS 115 Camera

Fourth   Prize:    African Musical compilation   50   Years   of    Music, made up from 18 CDs and a book, and a pack of five catalogues on African art

Fifth Prize: pack of five catalogues on African art.

b. The authors of the five prized photographs will be notified of their prize via the email address given for communication.

c. The winners must respond to the message received accepting the prize. If no response is received within five working days since the email was sent or if the email address were incorrect or non-existent, the prize will automatically pass to the following photograph chosen by the jury.

4.    Data Protection

a. The competition's contestants and participants are informed and authorise that personal data given when enrolling into the competition, without which they could not take part in the competition, will be incorporated into an automated file, which is held by Casa África Consortium, and will be used only so as to allow them to take part in the competition.

5.    Rights of exclusion

a. Casa África Consortium reserves the right to rule out and exclude  participants from the competition in the following cases:

When they enrol with false data. In these cases, we could request   participants to verify their data.

When they fraudulently or artificially manipulate their participation in the competition through social networks

When the jury consider that the photographs do not fit in with the subject matter set out; contain elements that in any way could be considered contrary to fundamental rights and public freedom; they induce, incite or promote criminal, slanderous, violent  actions or that are generally against the law, morality or good customs generally accepted in public order; they are protected by any copyrights or intellectual rights belonging to third parties, without the participant having acquired previous legal permission from the holders beforehand; that they violate the right to honour, personal or family privacy or the image of people themselves; that they could be considered advertising or that they have a  virus or other elements that could damage the normal functioning of the network, system or computer equipment.

When any of these rules are not complied with in any way.