LONDON, 2nd AUGUST 2018 - Picfair, the fair photography platform, is today launching the second annual Women Behind the Lens competition, seeking a new generation of female photographers to share their perspectives of the world.
2017’s inaugural competition saw over 4,000 entries from 350 photographers in 40 countries, with the shortlisted entrants exhibited at The Guardian newspaper’s in-house gallery in London. The exhibition will return to The Guardian this year, with the competition open for entries from 1st August 2018 to 1st October 2018.
Picfair - an open photographic platform for photographers of all levels of experience - launched the competition in 2017 to highlight the gender imbalance in the commercial photography industries, where just 2% of photographers on the books at major commercial agencies are women, and only 5% of the images used by leading photography publishers are from the lenses of female photographers.
The shortlisted entrants ranged from an engineer from the Forest of Dean, an archaeologist from the Scottish highlands, and an interior designer from Malaysia. The overall winner was Emma Williams, a paramedic from Milton Keynes, whose “freelensed” shot of her son returning to school through a rain-drenched car window wowed an esteemed panel of judges.
“We were blown away by the quality of last year’s entries, and want to build on the momentum we started by continuing to showcase the exceptional quality of female photography across the world,” said Picfair’s Creative Director Sally Hart.
“Picfair was formed to make the world of commercial photography fairer, more open and more representative. By opening our doors to every type of photographer, from every type of background, we believe we can give image buyers more authentic, lesser-seen perspectives of the world. It’s absurd that female perspectives are in such a tiny minority in this industry, and we want to help change that”.
Competition Details
Picfair's Women Behind the Lens 2018 invites female photographers to submit their images in the categories of: Portrait, Architecture, Nature, Street Level
Submissions: 1st August 2018 - 11.59pm 30th September 2018
Winners announced: 1st November 2018
Exhibition dates: 29th October 2018 - 30th November 2018
For more information, please visit the Women Behind the Lens 2018 competition page, or email hello@picfair.com
