Friend-Ship Photography Award 2019

You are invited with open arms to enter Youmanity’s Annual Photography competition. Both amateur and professional photographers welcome - submission is free. The theme, this year, is ‘Friend-Ship’.

This award celebrates friendships and encourages you to connect with friends or re-connect with long-lost friends, relatives or anyone you have not seen in a while but has always been there for you.

“Those who find a friend find a treasure”

Friends are vital to our lives and for our mental health. It is often through friends that we learn the most about ourselves. We go on incredible journey with friends and survive adversity standing by them. Through time we develop important emotional connections, which give us the courage to show who we really are on the inside. A good friend, therefore, is a patient gardener, willing to nurture in times of need as much as celebrate in times of joy. According to the World Health Organisation, every year 800,000 people take their own lives, and many more attempt to. Isolation is a main reason for suicide, feeling misunderstood and alone. Friendship, togetherness, and connection, then, are as vital as ever.

Your photographic entry

Through photography we would like you to celebrate friendship and the friends to whom we owe so much. Friend-Ship encourages you to pick up your camera and take a portrait of that special person or capture a moment, which embodies this treasured connection.

The Friend-Ship Photography Exhibition will showcase the top 18 entries at the House of Commons 2-5/12/2019. The judges are looking for visual impact, originality, and sensitivity. The winning portrait will be awarded £1,000 cash prize.

The submissions will be selected by the following judges: 

Anne Williams - Documentary Photography Historian
Aris Kourkoumelis - Photographic Historian - The Royal Collection Trust
Brandei Estes - Head of Photography, Sotheby's
Max Houghton - MA Photojournalism Lead, London College of Communication
Michael Pritchard, Director-General, The Royal Photographic Society
Neil Kenlock - Social documentary photographer
Priya Nagda-Swainson - Suicide Prevention Worker - Papyrus
Steve Macleod - Director, Metro Imaging
Renée Mussai - Curator, Autograph ABP

The closing date for entries is 25/10/2019 - Winners announced 11/11/2019

About Youmanity

Youmanity is a registered charity promoting awareness of social issues through fostering dialogue between different communities and using the Arts as a medium. Most notable among these is our annual photography award. Photographers from all over the world tell important human stories by sending us their works. We select the most outstanding photographs to showcase in exhibitions on themes ranging from human trafficking, gender discrimination, and age discrimination to disability. This year Youmanity is promoting “Friend-Ship” to raise awareness of Mental Health, focusing on the importance and the value of friendship to prevent suicide and mental health issues associated with loneliness and social isolation.