Launched in 1969 by Nikon Corporation, the Nikon Photo Contest is an international competition in which both amateur and professional photographers have the opportunity to shine and enrich image-making culture. Over the years, the goals of the contest sharpened to the turning point of this 2014-2015 Contest: this year is in fact the first time that entries from any digital devices – including smartphones – are accepted. This attests Nikon’s awareness of the shifting nature of photography today, an awareness of the multiple practices and conception of the medium.
I had the honour to be part of this great venture together with established specialists in the field: the photographers Chris Rainier, Stefen Chow, Swapan Parekh, Alice Hawkins, Kisei Kobayashi, the editor and head of Contemporary Photography Department at Instituto Moreira Salles in Brazil Thyago Nogueira, the curator and professor Yue Ren, the communication specialist Sophie Stafford, and the executive director and lead judge Stephen Mayes. It should be noted that the Nikon Photo Contest is completed by another panel judging video entries formed also by eminent video and creative specialists: the President and Executive Creative Director of GX John C. Jay, the film director and actor Eiji Okuda, the photographer and director Sandro Miller, and the independent multimedia producer Wang Lei. Coming from all over the world, the jury members met between the 22nd and 28th April 2015 in Shanghai, one of the artistic and commercial hubs of China that can be proud of its dynamic photographic scene.
Over the course of one week, from early mornings to early evenings, each judge carefully scrutinized, highlighted, debated, and selected thousands of photographs that were divided by four categories in total. The categories basically consisted in either following this year main theme (“Home”) or exploring a free subject matter. Home in this contest was less a subject matter than an open-concept as the entry guidelines stated: “Home. It’s a place. It’s a feeling. It’s where and how you live. It’s what you value, no matter where you are. We at Nikon recognize that home is at the heart of everything. This year’s contest asks you to show us what home means to you.”
Brilliantly guided by Stephen Mayes as the lead judge, the jury members underwent passionate discussion, sharing differing views, and finally reaching what we believe to be a rather balanced selection of powerful works, using very different techniques and visual approaches, and which most importantly offer strong visual narratives.
Being an authoritative brand that many photographers adopt for its quality and functionality, Nikon has created a unique platform in which everyone’s voice can be heard. It goes without saying that I strongly recommend everyone to submit works to test one’s creativity.
