imAge – photography award

With the support of The Royal Photographic Society, and under the patronage of the European Commission, Accademia Apulia launch their annual photography award:

ImAge - Challenging stereotypes of older people

Some cultures consider older people as the most important members of the community, where they are respected for their wisdom and experience. In others, they are often forgotten. After retirement, the senior citizens can become invisible. Yet they are alive and well with thoughts, feelings and important stories to tell, both past and present.

We invite you, the creative photographer, to grab your camera and get out there to find and record the lives of those wonderful senior citizens - what are they up to? Go out there and capture images of your grandparents, your elder neighbours, local residents and aging strangers. Specifically, we invite you to submit images that tell a story of what the elderly represent today - how important their contributions are to society today - many of them have vital roles within their family units, passing on their invaluable experience onto the younger generation. Some have also important volunteering jobs - their highly reliable contributions make a huge difference on different fronts - from schools and hospitals to community-based jobs. And there are elderly people who have an array of amazing hobbies and interests.

We encourage you to redefine how we perceive and photograph ‘the retired’, so we ask you to avoid those standard portraits of wrinkled and wise. Work with your models and bring back fresh ideas to illuminate the forgotten men and women who continue to make a difference to communities worldwide.

To assess the submissions are:

Anne Williams, Director of Photography, London College of Communication
Cristobal Catalan, Creative Director, Liminal Senses Productions
Michael Pritchard, Director-General, The Royal Photographic Society
Roger Tooth, Head of Photography, The Guardian