Singapore Tourism Board launches Photography Competition

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) today launched its first national photo competition, named Unique2Me. Singaporeans and residents as well as visitors can contribute images taken with a digital camera or camera phone that depict unique facets of life in Singapore. The competition, open to both amateur and professional photography enthusiasts, is supported by Sony, Sony Ericsson, Yahoo, SingTel, ezLink, ClearChannel and the National Geographic Channel.

The images can be on landscapes, food, people, sights or even scenes from daily life. Each submission must be accompanied with a 25-word description of why the image is a unique representation of Singapore.

Submissions are now open and will close on January 5, 2006. Entries for the Digital Photograph category can be sent to the official contest website at visitsingapore.com/unique2me while those for the MMS Photograph category can be submitted via MMS to 9137-3799.

Shortlisted entries will be uploaded on the contest website for online voting by the public, from February 1 to 28, 2006. Voters will be entered into a lucky draw to win prizes. Nominations that attract the most votes will go through to a final round before the top three images of each category are selected by a panel of judges.

Results of this national photo contest will be announced at an exhibition of the winning entries at Suntec City in April 2006.

Said Mr Bill Ang, Director of Brand Management at STB, “The Unique2Me photo contest will encourage participants to go out and explore Singapore. It will instill a sense of pride in locals and residents as they discover the country anew.”

“By opening up this competition to people across the globe, we hope to enhance the leisure experience of visitors in Singapore as well as to share the uniqueness of Singapore with the entire world through a collection of memorable images.” 

A key highlight of the competition is a day-long complimentary photography seminar organized by the STB on Saturday 10 December 2005 at the STB Auditorium. Both amateur shutterbugs and professional photographers keen to hone their skills can pick up tips and tricks from the National Geographic Channel’s celebrity photographers Ian Lloyd and Lester Ledesma. Registration is now open on the official contest website on a first-come, first-served basis, limited to 80 people.

The three winners of each of the two categories stand to win prizes totaling $33,500, including cash prizes of $5,000 and $10,000 as well as state-of-the-art Sony digital cameras and Sony Ericsson mobile phones. Also, the three winners in the Digital Photography category can look forward to their photographs being printed on ezLink cards. 

In addition, 10 voters will be picked in a lucky draw to win cash prizes as well as Sony digital cameras and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

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