International Art of Building photography contest goes mobile

Dust off your camera lenses, fire up your smartphones and ready your shutter fingers. The Chartered Institute of Building’s annual Art of Building international digital photography competition opens for entry on 21 October until 21 November 2013.

Each year, thousands of entrants from around the world are inspired to explore and capture the art of building in an imaginative and thought-provoking way. This year, the overall winner will scoop a cash prize of £3,000, with the winning entry chosen by public vote.

A new category for mobile and tablet photographers who want to snap away on the move has been announced.

“You don’t need a fancy camera to be able to capture something inspiring.  Our new mobile photography category is for those impromptu moments that happen in everyday life.  It will be interesting to see if smartphone and tablet photography can give the DSLR cameras a run for their money.” says Art of Building manager Saul Townsend.

The new category will open up alongside four others: Building Inspiration, Between People and Buildings, Creative Visions and Young Photographer of the Year.

Last year’s winner, ‘Roof in Colours’ by Portuguese amateur photographer Ines Costa edged ahead in the online public vote, which attracted more than 8,000 responses. Costa’s imagery charmed voters and judges alike which captured the construction of a modern, terracotta-coloured temple roof in Bangkok, Thailand. “I was fascinated by how the construction worker chose the colours and put the tiles on the roof,” says Costa. “Winning the competition helped showcase my work and enabled me to buy a much-needed new lens as well as other photography equipment.”

The 2013 Art of Building competition is free to enter and open to anyone over the age of 18, whether professional or amateur. Entrants are encouraged to capture the built environment in a way not seen before, to inspire others and to challenge people’s perceptions. Most importantly, however, the CIOB wants people to have fun and gain a new perspective on the world and infrastructure around them.

Facts

•    The competition is  free to enter and open to anyone over the age of 18 and is free to enter

•    A panel of industry judges will be responsible for shortlisting 12 finalists, all of whom will receive international recognition in industry and national media

•    The overall winner, to be decided by public vote, will also scoop a cash prize of £3,000 and crowned ‘Art of Building Photographer of the Year.’

•    Up to three photographs per person may be entered into the competition across the categories

•    Entries may be digitally enhanced or altered but must be submitted via the website in a JPEG format between 2mb and 8mb per photo. Entries will not be accepted outside of the advertised closing date or if they are embedded with borders or locks

•    The competition opens on 21 October and will remain open for entry until 21 November 2013

•    For more details about the competition visit www.artofbuilding.org.  The competition can also be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Art_of_Building or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theCIOB