For the fourth consecutive year, the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Contest (GIIPC) broke its own record again in regards to level of participation. The number of participants reached a new high of 8,050 this year from 6,170 last year. As many as 14,985 photos were submitted, also a rise from the 12,458 photos received last year.
The continually rising number of participants and submitted photos prove that photography is indeed an ever-growing field and the team at GIIPC is honoured to have played a part in supporting that growth, where logic, technical skills and strong sense of the aesthetics are championed, not just in Indonesia, but also in the international community.
This year, 36 countries participated in the event, a rise from 30 last year. The participating countries are Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar, the Netherlands, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Venezuela.
The rules of the preliminary round of the competition remain the same. Photographers submit their entries by registering at www.garudacompetition.com and posting their photos online. The best photos are then chosen by internal judges through an online judging selection and those who are selected will then be sent to a round of photo-hunting competition in secret locations.
GIIPC 2010 employs eminent photographers as judges that include Adek Berry, Agus Leonardus, Arbain Rambey, Goenadi Haryanto, Jan Dekker, Jerry Aurum, Makarios Soekojo, Oscar Motulloh and Tan Lip Seng. As of the second week of August, the judges have short-listed 479 photos and 15 photographers to go to the final stages of the photo contest. Out of these 15 photographers, five are from Indonesia, three are from Vietnam, two are from Myanmar and one contestant each from China, Bangladesh, India, Russia and the Netherlands.
The contestants will be competing for prizes in the categories of Best Culture, Best People, Best Landscape and Best Overall. This year, a special award in recognition of Best Female Participant will also be up for grabs. The total prize money is IDR 100 million, excluding
other prizes.
The GIIPC Team congratulates the finalists for making it this far and wishes them luck in winning the competition.
