National Geographic (Nat Geo) has announced its #ExploreWithNatGeo Photo Competition 2021 sponsored by Samsung’s Galaxy S21 5G. In what is a unique partnership, the competition is also in collaboration with The Sunday Times. Themed Find the epic in every day, the competition invites all South Africans to capture unique and remarkable moments, experiences or aspects of everyday life around them, with entries open from today (7 March) to 3 April 2021.
The competition captures the imagination of individuals and all it takes is a new perspective to rediscover our breathtaking world. Capturing epic moments through a single image could lead to a share in prizes worth a whopping R70 000. The first prize is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smart phone plus accessories, with a Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G, and a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G as the second and third prizes respectively. As if that wasn’t enough, in addition, the finalist photos and the winning three, will be published in the Sunday Times Lifestyle and online at TimesLIVE.
Entering is quite easy, fans are only encouraged to post their photo on Instagram, tagging @NatGeo_Africa @SamsungMobileSA, while adding #ExploreWithNatGeo #GalaxyS21 and #withGalaxy hashtags.
In terms of judging, every week ten photos will be selected by the judging panel which, together with an additional ten wildcard entries, will become the top fifty entrants. From there this selected batch of epic photos will be trickled down to the top ten finalists, all selected by a panel that includes award-winning photographer and National Geographic Explorer Gulshan Khan (pictured below). The winner will be announced on Earth Day, 22 April 2021.
For the first time in South Africa, Nat Geo is inviting amateur photographers to showcase their unique stories and perspectives through their lens, enabling unique local stories and experiences to be depicted using the photographic medium.
“Visual storytelling is at the heart of National Geographic and we receive hundreds of photographs from our followers on social media every year,” said Evert van der Veer, Vice President, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company Africa. “Every picture tells a story, every day has an epic moment and we are excited to see what vibrant tales South Africans have to tell.”
“At Samsung, our goal is to help people ‘do what you can’t’. This exciting collaboration expands on this vision, by inspiring amateur photographers to showcase their creativity, and share their unique perspective on a country unlike any other. When innovating the camera for the Galaxy S21 Series 5G, we focused on this mission – empowering people to explore the world around them and create their own epic moments, through an advanced pro-grade camera system. We look forward to showcasing the immense talent waiting to be discovered” said Cambridge Mokanyane, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung South Africa.
Before entering, individuals must meet the following criteria:
- Entrants must be over the age of 16
- Entrants may not be a professional photographer i.e., earn a living through photography
- This competition is open to residents of South Africans
- Photos must be unedited except for colour grading (no CG techniques, super-imposing, etc.)
- Photos must speak to the theme of showcasing the “Epic” in something seemingly ordinary and everyday
The rest of the competition terms and conditions are available here.
