Entry deadline: Thursday, June 29, 2017
We are excited to announce our 7th annual Architectura Obscura annual open photography competition!
This year’s event is sponsored by the American Institute of Architects Central Valley Chapter (AIACV), Comstock’s Magazine, Visit Sacramento and Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture.
The competition is meant to highlight the value and impact of architecture, both globally and within the Capital Region, through the submission of high-quality printed and electronic images. Through photography, this competition raises public awareness in the built environment and celebrates design.
The competition has two distinct categories to allow for a broad range of photographic interests. The categories are:
Gallery Submissions – In alignment with our previous competitions, this constitutes submission of physical prints along with digital copies for publication (Award: Cash)
Digital Media/Instagram Submissions – A new category from last year, to allow digital submissions through the Instagram platform (Award: Gift Cards)
Images may be color or black & white. In addition to successfully expressing the theme, entries will be judged on the level of creativity, composition, use of color and/or tone and technical image quality.
The jury will review and select winners for first, second and third places, along with a discretionary number of Honorable Mention Awards.
In addition to prizes, winners of both competitions will be featured in the September issue of Comstock’s Magazine, and will be recognized at the Architectura Obscura Exhibition + Awards Presentation.
To Enter Gallery (Hard Copy) Submissions:
- Complete an entry form (available here) and e-mail to info@aiacv.org to receive an entry number(s).
- Submission fee is $20 per image, or $50 for up to (5) images. Additional images (6 or more) may be submitted for a fee of $10 per image.
- Submitted images may be of any orientation but may not be larger than 20 inches in the longest dimension, if a border or mat is used the longest dimension may not exceed 24 inches.
- Submitted images must be firmly mounted to a rigid substrate such as foam board, illustration board or cardboard and shall not be within a frame or having a glass or thick plastic covering (clear laminations are acceptable). Your entry number shall be clearly indicated on the back near the bottom of the mounting along with the image title. For example: 128-01 “Building in Blue” for registrant number 128, first submission.
- Please do not place any information on the front of the submission and do not include your name on any part of the submission.
- In addition to the printed submission you are required to submit a jpeg digital copy for use in electronic media and reproduction in publications, etc. Digital copies are limited to 4MB in size and may be uploaded to AIACV Dropbox at https://www.hightail.com/u/AIACV-Dropbox. The file name shall be your registration and series number as indicated above. For example: “128-01.jpg” for registrant number 128, first submission.
- Mounted and digital images must be delivered and uploaded to the AIACV Chapter office no later than 4:00 pm Thursday, June 29, 2017 to the AIA Central Valley Office, 1400 S Street, Suite 100 in Sacramento
- Gallery Submissions are eligible for cash prizes: 1st place $350; 2nd place $150; 3rd place $100
Please Note: Entries will judged in print form only, not as a digital projection. Because of this it is important to submit high quality prints that adequately express the intended effect of the photograph. Photographs will be accepted only from the original photographer who must be the sole author and the owner of the copyright for photos submitted. Watermarks, Signatures, or Copyright Notices must be removed prior to submission. Elements or objects not in the original scene should not be added.
Cash prizes will tentatively be bestowed at the reception on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. Acceptance of prize constitutes consent to use winner’s names and images for editorial, advertising, publicity and web site purposes without further compensation, except where prohibited. Mounted submissions may be retrieved from the AIACV Chapter office at a later date. Note that the AIACV will take caution in handling submissions but cannot guarantee that damage will not occur.
To Enter Instagram (Digital) Submissions:
- Snap a photo and post to Instagram with #ArchObs2017. Include a title, location and date.
- Like the AIA Central Valley entry photo, and follow AIA Central Valley, VisitSacramento, Comstock’s Magazine and Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture.
- Voters must follow and/or like the account of the person whose photo they’re voting for.
- All accounts voting must be based within the U.S.
- No limit to the number of submissions or age of submissions.
- Contest is open from May 22, 2017 to Thursday, June 29, 2017.
- Gift cards will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners by Comstock’s Magazine.
- Judges will select images to be printed, mounted and displayed at the Architectura Obsura Exhibition + Awards Presentation.
Winning contributors will be contacted by the #ArchObs2017 team via direct message on Instagram and will be expected to provide a high resolution image of their submission via email.
Please note: In order to enter, your Instagram account must be open to the public for the duration of the contest. Per Instagram rules, this contest is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram, Inc. Instagram rules and conditions apply, see here.
By submitting your photo to the #ArchObs2017 Photo Contest, you are granting AIA Central Valley, Comstock’s Magazine and Visit Sacramento the authorization to use the image from the people in the image, as well as, the photographer. The photographer agrees to hold harmless AIA Central Valley, Comstock’s Magazine and Visit Sacramento, its agents, employees, and members from any and all liability claims, and/or expenses of any kind arising from this contest. The contest is open in the US, Canada and Internationally. Winners will be selected by July 24th and announced by September 24, 2017.