Application deadline: 15 September 2015
The WYNG Masters Award welcomes photography submissions from all over the world. An annual, issues-based award headquartered in Hong Kong, this year’s theme is IDENTITY. Images must relate to the theme and be made in or relate to Hong Kong. The deadline for submission is 15 September 2015 (23:59 Hong Kong time; GMT + 8).
From 15 June to 15 September 2015 the WYNG Masters Award invites both international and Hong Kong artists and image-makers to submit photographic-based work. The visual content must be related to Hong Kong and to the chosen theme IDENTITY. Finalists will be selected by a panel of international judges and their works will be exhibited in Hong Kong in spring 2016. A full-colour catalogue will be published to coincide with the exhibition. The WYNG Masters Award will also host a series of talks, panels, and seminars during the exhibition period. The winner of WYNG Masters Award will receive a cash prize of 250,000 HKD. Each of the six additional finalists will receive 15,000 HKD.
The WYNG Masters Award international panel of judges is comprised of industry leaders in photography, art, publishing, and non-profit. They include Zoher Abdoolcarim, Abby Chen, Louise Clements, Frank Kalero, Leung Po Shan Anthony, MaryAnn Camilleri, Theme Judge (to be confirmed).
For details on how to enter please visit entry rules.
About IDENTITY
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”
Margaret Mead
Certain aspects of one’s individual identity such as race, gender, ancestry, genetic makeup and so on, come naturally at birth. One could, however, consciously choose other aspects such as nicknames, profession, religion, hairstyles, ways of life, gender expression et cetera, to make oneself more unique.
Between choice and nature, there are aspects such as nationality, history, psyche and social roles, which influence our sense of identity. Identity could simply be personal disposition, or an unwilling imposition by the society at large.
If identification of self makes the person, collective identity allows for mutual recognition—security as well as solidarity. Group attributes, though, could be real or virtual, lasting or ephemeral, like one’s profile on social media. Overemphasis of the collective, however, could result in alienation, prejudice, confrontation and even enmity.
In the age of globalization, a local majority could easily become a minority in the wider world. As global citizens, we hope for and embrace the belief that elastic and flexible identities can bring diversity and progress, rather than confrontation.
If defining our collective identities in this city seems like an almost impossible pursuit, images could, perhaps, provide a platform to start.
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinion, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
Oscar Wilde
