Equinox is an International Photography Award aimed to promote the collodion wet plate process as par of BLUR magazine’s 2014 Wet Plate Year.

Our goal is to offer an opportunity for photographers to showcase their wet plate skills internationally, as well as to raise funds for the popularization of the art of the collodion process. The wet plate collodion process has undergone a revival as a historical technique over the past few decades, with an incredible amount of amateur and professional talent capturing sensational images from all corners of the globe. We want the world to re-discover this art and this contest is our way to help. If you’re a wet plate photographer, you can enter one or multiple images and each of them will be judged as an individual piece of art.

In order to apply your art to the Equinox contest, you need to do the following:

1. Register or login with your BLUR magazine account
2. Read the Rules and details about preparing your images
3. Choose how many images you would like to upload
4. Prepare the images according to the Rules of the contest
5. Pay the entry fee via PayPal; and
6. Upload your images

IMPORTANT: Before preparing an image for upload, make sure you have a copy of the same image in high resolution (a minimum of 5.000 pixels in its longest dimension), because all winning images will be used in high-resolution promotional material post-festum. By uploading an image to the Equinox contest you’re expressing your agreement to deliver a high-resolution version of your photo should it be selected as the winning entry.

Please submit a smaller version of your photo for the judging process according to the following guidelines:

1. The image must not be previously published or exhibited (please see the judging section for explanation)
2. The longer dimension of the photo must be resized to 1500 px (e.g. 1500×800 px or 1500×1500 px)
3. The image must have 72dpi of resolution
4. The image size must not exceed 1 MB
5. The image must be saved in the JPEG format (.jpg/.jpeg)
6. The photo must not contain a water mark or a frame
7. The file name of the image must contain the full artist name and image number, even if you’re taking part with just one photo (e.g. tim.jonson.image1.jpg). If you’re taking part with multiple images, simply increment the image number (e.g. tim.jonson.image2.jpg, tim.jonson.image3.jpg, …)

It’s possible to enter between one and four photos to the contest, depending on your wishes. Diptych, triptych and tetraptych are allowed, but don’t count as one photo. Each element of a multi-part image is counted and judged as one individual piece of art (meaning a tetraptych will take up all 4 photo upload slots, with each part of the image uploaded separately). But don’t worry – should a photo from such a “project” be selected as a winning photo, it will be presented/published in full di/tri/tetraptych context, together with all other uploaded parts.

The entry fees for the contest are as follows, all prices in (USD).

• 1 image – $10
• 2 images – $14
• 3 images – $17
• 4 images – $20

Any transaction fees and conversion rates will be charged to the entrant. If you choose to submit fewer photos than your purchased upload scheme allows, the Organizer will not refund the difference. If you choose to submit more photos than your upload scheme allows (but less than the 4 photo maximum), you will be able to cover the difference by purchasing an upgrade.

Your artwork will be judged by an international panel of judges (the jury) appointed by the organizer. All members of the jury are experienced practitioners of the collodion process and their judgment shall be based on their personal experience and rich knowledge. The jury will focus on technical quality and wet plate skill, as well as artistic creativity and originality. As the wet plate scene is small and specific in that many authors are mutually acquainted and follow each other’s work, and with many of them basing their artistic stamps on recognizable motifs and models, we’ve created special judging Rules to avoid bias and conflicts of interest.

1. All images shall be submitted to the jury anonymously.
2. All images must be previously unpublished.
3. Authors are implored to seek out different motifs and/or models as opposed to their usual practices, which is one of the reasons for the long duration of this contest – we’re looking for brand new statements of creativity, original content never before produced.

These guidelines are in place to ensure that the Winners and Finalists are selected based on the quality of their wet plate photography, rather than their name and reputation recognizable from their previous work. The Winners and Finalists will be determined by the judges and the organizer in accordance with the contest Rules. Their decision is final on all matters relating to the contest. The organiser will not enter into any correspondence regarding the judging or organisation of the contest. The judging will take place at the beginning of every month for the entries submitted during the previous month.

Equinox is open to both amateur and professional wet plate photographers. The organizer will not accept photos created through any other photographic technique other than the wet plate collodion process. By submitting an entry, you agree to comply with all requirements set out in the Rules of the contest. This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in determining the Winners or Finalists. In order to participate, you must be of legal age in your jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry. This contest is considered void where prohibited by local law and regulations. The entrants are responsible for making sure their entry complies with their local laws. The organizers and judges shall not be held liable for any circumstances arising from the failure of the Entrant to comply with their local laws and regulations. By submitting an image to this contest, the Entrant is considered to have read, understood and accepted these Terms.

The Winners will announced on the BLUR magazine website and Facebook page, as well as through all other available channels as agreed with media partners and sponsors. However, only announcements made on the BLUR magazine website and Facebook page shall be considered official.

For a full list of prizes, please see here. Prizes will be awarded and shipped (at the cost of the Sponsor) to the Winner within 1 month of the Winner being announced on the BLUR magazine web page. If the Winner does not claim the prize within 30 days of the announcement, the Winner shall be considered to have forfeited the prize. The Winner shall be held responsible for all applicable import and/or usage taxes, as well as any other costs and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use. The availability of the prizes shall be considered the responsibility of the official Sponsors of the Equinox contest. The Organizer reserves the right to change or modify Sponsors and Prizes throughout the duration of the contest.

All images received by BLUR magazine as part of the Equinox contest, regardless if winning or not (but only those that comply with the contest rules), shall be published in a special edition of BLUR magazine called “Equinox” to be freely distributed to anyone visiting the BLUR magazine website, in an effort to reach wide audiences and further promote the wet plate process. As a reference, the last free issue of BLUR Gallery 2013 was downloaded in 50.000 copies in the first 10 days of publication alone. In addition to preferred placement in this special issue, all the Finalists and Winners will have their images published in the Equinox section of the BLUR magazine website and will be shared monthly with the BLUR magazine Facebook page audience. In addition, the winners will have preferred placement as described on the prizes page.

BLUR magazine or its publishers neither assume nor bear any responsibility for any form or type of loss, damage or injury incurred as a result of participating in the Equinox contest and receiving of awards and/or prizes. The content of all images submitted to the contest is the responsibility of the Entrant. It is the responsibility of the Entrant to obtain all relevant model and/or property releases for their artwork. The Entrant assures the organizer that all submitted images are their original works and that no copyright and/or trademark rights have been violated. It is not the responsibility of BLUR magazine or its publishers to obtain model and/or property release forms or to assure/examine the protection of trademark infringement rights. By submitting an image to this contest, the Entrant is considered to have read, understood and accepted these Terms.

If you submit an image, BLUR magazine and its publishers reserve the right to freely reproduce the entered images in BLUR magazine, on our website and Facebook channels, in other related social media and all other forms of partner media, but only as part of the promotional activity relating to the Equinox contest. The artist does not in any way or at any time release any copyright to BLUR magazine or its publishers or media partners. All author rights shall at all times be respected by BLUR magazine and will be fully retained by the photographer. BLUR magazine will take all reasonable effort to credit the reproduction of a submitted image to the original photographer. Any use of the images outside of the promotion of the Equinox contest shall be subject to prior written consent by the author.

The organizer of the Equinox contest is BLUR magazine, as published by the Photography Association CREATUS, based in Ulica Ljubičica 19, Zagreb, Croatia.

The organizer reserves the right to modify the Rules. Any changes made shall be published on the Equinox contest web page.

The organizer reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Equinox contest for reasons beyond the control of the organizers, such as acts of God, technical failures, server unavailability, software bugs, etc. In case of cancellation, the organizer will refund the entry fee to all entrants and will not reserve the right to use any of the submitted images from the moment of cancellation onwards. All images published prior to the cancellation, however, shall be considered to be fairly used in accordance to the Terms and Rules of the contest.