Win Free Nights at the Jumeirah Essex House in New York

The Jumeirah Essex House in New York has launched an interactive online photography contest in collaboration with CentralPark.com.

Debuting to coincide with the start of the spring season, the CentralPark.com Photo Contest will provide incentive for shutterbugs to  photograph their favorite Central Park subject, submit their images online to be rated by website members, who then list the top ranked photos to be judged by a distinguished panel of curators who specialize in photography that select the winners.

”We are very excited to deepen our partnership with CentralPark.com and share our mutual affection for Central Park with the public through photography – a medium that everyone loves,” said Katherine Gass, Curator for Jumeirah Essex House. “This initiative is one more articulation of Jumeirah Essex House’s commitment to its community and the hotel’s positioning of being ‘Always in  touch with the Park. Never out of touch with the City’.”

The contest, open to the general public and Jumeirah Essex House guests, is divided into quarters, one for each season, with one final first-place winner for each quarter. At the end of each season, an esteemed panel of jurors will vote on their favorite photos, which will have been narrowed down by public vote on the CentralPark.com website.

Since their launch in 2005, thousands of Central Park photos taken by the public have been submitted and uploaded to the site, making the feature one of the most popular offered on CentralPark.com. The site also provides visitors with a seamless and easy method for rating each photo, with the top-ranked pictures then displayed on their gallery page. The Photo Contest will provide prizes for the top-ranked photographs that are submitted for each season of the year. Every three months, the top 30 user-uploaded photos, as rated by CentralPark.com members, will be passed on to be reviewed by a panel of five renowned judges invited by the Jumeirah Essex House. The panel then selects the best photos out of the group, and prizes are awarded accordingly.

Winning photos are selected and based on their originality, creativity and subject matter. Prizes include the following:

1st (Grand) Prize – the winning photo will be featured prominently in the Jumeirah Essex House’s lobby for a three-month period. Photographer and photo to be featured in Jumeirah’s corporate newsletter, dedication page on CentralPark.com and the Jumeirah Essex House website, honored guest at the awards celebration, private preview with panel of judges, and complimentary two-night stay at the Jumeirah Essex House including daily breakfast for two.

2nd Prize – winner to receive invitation to the awards celebration, and a complimentary one-night stay at the Jumeirah Essex House including breakfast for two.

3rd Prize – winner to receive invitation to the awards celebration, a CentralPark.com merchandise gift bag, and complimentary afternoon high tea for four guests.

The awards celebration will be held at the Jumeirah Essex House, and is tentatively scheduled for spring 2009.

The judges are experts in the fields of photography and include:

- Erin Barnett, Assistant Curator of Collections at the International Center of Photography in New York. Located in the heart of New York City, the International Center of Photography (ICP) is a world-class museum and school dedicated to exploring the possibilities of the photographic medium through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs.

- Sean Corcoran, Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Museum of the City of New York and currently curator for two ongoing museum exhibitions, John Sloan’s New York and Manhattan Noon: Photographs by Gus Powell.

- Bruce Davidson, one of the country’s most pre-eminent photographers and Magnum Photo member who has spent his career photographing people and places in Central Park. Mr. Davidson attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University and his photographs have been acquired by many major museums and private collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Smithsonian, George Eastman House, and the International Center of Photography.

- Diana Edkins, Director of Exhibitions and Limited Edition Photographs, Aperture Foundation. Aperture – the premier not-for-profit arts institution dedicated to advancing fine photography – was founded in 1952 by six profoundly gifted individuals possessed of lofty ideals and high ambition: photographers including Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan, Minor White; historian Beaumont Newhall; and writer/curator Nancy Newhall.

- Katherine Gass, Curator of the Jumeirah Essex House whose art program is focused on newly commissioned and historic photography themed around Central Park.

The 509-room Jumeirah Essex House celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007 and recently completed a major $90 million soft goods refurbishment project which includes South Gate, a spectacular new Tony Chi-designed restaurant, featuring renowned Executive Chef Kerry Heffernan. This historic New York City hotel, with a coveted Central Park address, is ideally located in the heart of Manhattan. 

Jumeirah Essex House is part of the Dubai-based luxury international hospitality group Jumeirah and sister to one of the world’s most luxurious hotels, Burj Al Arab.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Jumeirah, Jumeirah Essex House, New York, Pictures