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                    Snapped: our changing Melbourne

                    snapped, our changing melbourne logo 2018
                    Then or now: how do we work, play, live and gather in the City of Melbourne?

                    ​​​​Snapped is a biennial photography competition delivered by City of Melbourne Libraries.

                    Congratulations to all our winners!

                    The competition prize winners were announced on Wednesday 15 May at the fifth official Snapped awards ceremony and exhibition launch.

                    This year we invited photographers to capture how we work, play, live and gather in the City of Melbourne. We also encouraged entrants to look through their older photographs and submit photos which depict our rapidly changing Melbourne. Thank you to all entrants! We received more than 2000 entries: an unprecedented number and nearly three times the previous record. These images will make a valuable addition to the library Heritage Collection, contributing significantly to our visual record of Melbourne.

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                    Snapped 2018 winners

                    Select image to view full version

                    black and white photo of a person sunbathingChinatown in Russell Street Melbourneoutside of the rmit design hub, melbournepeople on a tram outside the state library of victoria melbournea pop up newsagent in swanston street melbournea pop up newsagent in swanston street melbournepeople looking at devices in the emporium shopping centre, melbournedawn service on anzac day in melbourne2nd Prize Professional Categorymodern sculpture at acca, melbournea station staff member in a small officedegraves precint in melbourneclose upp of two aboriginal people hugging during the invasion day protestphoto of alan adler in a photo booth at flinders street stationstreet art in hosier lane melbournelooking down on a bridge across the yarra and the geometric patterns it makespeople on an escaltor in melbournepeople milling about in federation square melbourne

                    Prize winners

                    Amateur category

                    First prize: Sunny side up by Benizi Santamaria
                    Perfectly composed, humorous and distinctly Melbourne, capturing the character of the people and the city.

                    Second prize: Chinatown by Thomas Combe
                    Poignant stillness with a cinematic quality showing the melting pot of Russell Street. Great highlighting of colours and composition.

                    Third prize: Encircled by Adrian Whear
                    Distinctly Melbourne and technically well executed. A very clever photograph with the clever capture of the reflection.

                    Highly commended: Idle by Martin Skeels 
                    Claustrophobic and sad; a fascinating photo illustrating the mood of the commute.

                    Highly commended: Models by Adrian Whear 
                    Funny and beautifully composed. A classic street image and technically well executed.

                    Highly commended: Pop up shop by Gary Alway 
                    Great juxtaposition of the customer and the fashion magazines. Excellent composition and capture of a moment in time.

                    Highly commended: Retail slump by Chris May 
                    A quirky look at Melbourne retail documenting the changing nature of Melbourne shopping. Great attention to the natural geometrics and works well in black and white.

                    Professional category

                    First prize: Dawn Service by Eddie Jim 
                    Picture-perfect capture of an amazing memorial event; you can see faces in the crowd and every face has a story. Moody and sombre with a great feeling of movement.

                    Second prize: 7:44am by James Guerrero 
                    A lovely capture of light on a beautiful heritage building humanised with the solitary figure. Reminiscent of the style of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

                    Third prize: Urban rocks by Pippa Samaya
                    Great observation of shadows, striking lines and geometry with a feeling of heat and the effect of time through the cleaned off graffiti.

                    Heritage Award

                    First prize: Keeping Melbourne moving by Nicholas Sleigh (Amateur)
                    Behind-the-scenes glimpse into the raised signal box at seldom-used Showgrounds Railway Station. Unexpected and precious.

                    Second prize: Colour jungle by Joon Wei Ooi (Amateur)
                    Excellent framing and composition. Detailed record of changing use of older built heritage, community behaviour and a dining-out hotspot crammed amongst utilitarian facilities.

                    Third prize: All cultures, one land: the old and the new by Lilah Benetti (Amateur)
                    No banners or placards required to convey the emotion in this personal moment at a mass gathering. Powerful image heightened by striking contrast of light and dark.

                    Highly commended: Alan Adler by Christopher Sutherland (Professional)
                    Humble subject revealing a great story. Community rallied together to successfully reverse the directive for Alan Adler to remove his photobooth of 46 years to make way for station renovations.

                    Highly commended: Strart by Andres Herrera (Amateur)
                    Well executed record of an ever-changing canvas: the graffiti-coated exteriors of nineteenth century heritage-listed buildings in Hosier Lane.

                    People's Choice Award

                    First prize: Fibonacci by Thomas Combe

                    Second prize: The daily commute by Barbara Simpkins

                    Third prize: We are nowhere and it’s now by Prasanna Bhaskaran

                    Shortlists

                    Major prize - Amateur category

                    • A moment’s warmth, John Trifonopoulos
                    • Bottleneck, Brett Florence
                    • Centre Place, Ravnish Gandhi
                    • Chinatown, Thomas Combe
                    • City that never sleeps, Congwen Qian
                    • Encircled, Adrian Whear
                    • Fibonacci, Thomas Combe
                    • Idle, Martin Skeels
                    • Models, Adrian Whear
                    • Pop up shop, Gary Alway
                    • Retail slump, Chris May
                    • Sunny side up, Benizi Santamaria
                    • The builders’ canvas, Chris May
                    • The spectator, Cameron Solnordal

                    Major prize - Professional category

                    • 7:44am, James Guerrero
                    • Dawn Service, Eddie Jim
                    • Forward together, Geoff Maddock
                    • Hidden gems, Phil Roubin
                    • The gunslinger, Mark Forbes
                    • The melting pot, Andrew Rovenko
                    • Urban rocks, Pippa Samaya

                    Heritage Award

                    • Alan Adler, Christopher Sutherland (Professional)
                    • All cultures, one land: the old and the new, Lilah Benetti (Amateur)
                    • Colour jungle, Joon Wei Ooi (Amateur)
                    • Hidden gems, Phil Roubin (Professional)
                    • Keeping Melbourne moving, Nicholas Sleigh (Amateur)
                    • Mid-winter rush, Rhys Owen (Amateur)
                    • Still here, Gemma Cafarella (Amateur)
                    • Strart, Andres Herrera (Amateur)

                    ​Sponsored by Michaels

                    Prizes

                    ​Category ​Major prizes
                    Heritage Award
                    ​People's Choice Award
                    Amateur


                    First: ​$1500

                    Second: $1000

                    Third: $500



                    ​First: $500

                    Second: $250

                    Third: $125





                    First: $100

                    Second: $50

                    Third: $25
                    ​Professional First: ​$1500

                    Second: $1000

                    Third: $500

                    Judging

                    Judging criteria

                    Major prizes
                    First, second and third prizes in the Amateur and Professional categories are awarded with regard to the following criteria:

                    • Relevance and / or interpretation of the theme
                    • Artistic merit
                    • Technical merit
                    • Originality / creativity
                    • Considered a good photograph
                    Heritage Award
                    First, second and third prizes in the Heritage Award are awarded with regard to the same criteria as for the major prizes, with a focus on “greatest historical significance”.

                    People’s Choice Award
                    First, second and third prizes in the People’s Choice Award are awarded according to the results of a public Facebook survey conducted by City of Melbourne Libraries. 



                    Meet the judges

                    Judging panel for major prizes

                    Joe Castro

                    Joe CastroJoe has worked as a freelance news and major event photographer for over 25 years. Based in Melbourne, his work has featured in most of the country’s leading metropolitan papers and magazines, including The Age, The Sunday Age, The Herald Sun, The Australian, The Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as online in Australia and overseas.



                    Carla Gottgens

                    Carla GottgensCarla is a professional photographer and artist. Her photo journalism stories have covered everything from gold mines and glaucoma to wine harvesting and whiskey distilling.  When she isn’t travelling around Australia for news organisation Bloomberg, she is creating public artworks that all originate from the photographic form. 



                    Leigh Henningham

                    Matt IrwinLeigh has worked as a professional photographer and photo editor in Melbourne for over 30 years. From 1978 at the Melbourne Herald then more recently the Age (as Pictorial Editor) and now as Domain National Photo Editor. Over that period he has photographed and witness to Melbourne, its seasons, characters, and changing landscape. 


                    Judging panel for the Heritage Award

                    Graem​e Butler

                    Graham ButlerGraeme is a heritage architect who has practiced in Melbourne for nearly 40 years. He has authored many urban conservation and heritage studies and has been described as one of “Australia’s most significant practitioners and researchers in heritage and conservation”. His consulting firm, Graeme Butler & Associates, continues to provide cultural heritage assessments and advice to private property owners and Federal, Local and State Governments regarding architecture, history and landscape.

                    Community Heritage and Local Studies Team, City of Melbourne Libraries 

                    The Community Heritage and Local Studies Team consists of seven librarians dedicated to collecting, preserving and promoting local history in the City of Melbourne. The team delivers ongoing public programs including monthly talks for Docklands History Group and Night School, and seasonal walking tours. They also provide research assistance and training. Every second year the team delivers the Snapped photography competition.

                    More information

                    About the competition

                    ​The Snapped photography competition is a major City of Melbourne Libraries heritage project, running every second year since 2010. It was developed to engender civic pride in Melbourne’s history and expand the library’s local history image collection. The competition invites all sectors of the community to participate and is now one of the biggest and most successful library programs. 

                    Since 2010, almost 5000 unique images have been submitted in the competition. These images are made available in the libraries online Heritage Collection, a wonderful pictorial record of Melbourne.

                    Terms and conditions of entry

                    1. To be eligible to apply you must:
                      1. be a registered member of the Melbourne Library Service or be prepared to provide proof of identity if requested
                      2. reside in Victoria
                      3. be an amateur photographer if entering the Amateur category. An ‘amateur photographer’ is defined for the purposes of this competition as someone who has not earned $10,000 or more in the current or any past financial year from any photography related discipline including competitions and does not hold themselves or represent themselves in any way, including on social media, as being a professional photographer
                      4. be a professional photographer if entering the Professional category. A ‘professional photographer’ is defined for the purposes of this competition as someone who has earned $10,000 or more in the current or any past financial year from any photography related discipline including competitions and/or holds themselves or represents themselves in any way, including on social media, as being a professional photographer
                      5. submit no more than three photographs in the competition, in the relevant stream (either ‘Amateur’ or ‘Professional’)
                      6. provide a valid return email address and any other details required including on any form as part of the process of submitting your entry or entries online via the Melbourne Library Service website
                      7. not be employed by, volunteer for or be contracted by the Promoter or any subsidiary of the Promoter or be the immediate family of same
                      8. agree and abide by these terms and conditions of entry
                    2. To be eligible to apply, any photograph submitted:
                      1. must have been taken by the entrant
                      2. must be original and must not infringe the copyright, moral rights or other rights of any third party
                      3. must respond to the competition theme, ‘Our changing Melbourne: Then or now: how do we work, play, live and gather in the City of Melbourne?’
                      4. must not be offensive in any way, at the absolute discretion of the Promoter, noting that any entry considered as such will be excluded as a valid entry by the Promoter without recourse by you, the entrant
                      5. must depict a location or people or building or thing from within the current City of Melbourne municipality (see City of Melbourne boundary map). For the avoidance of doubt, a photo can be taken from outside the municipality, of or depicting the City of Melbourne but not vice versa
                      6. may have been taken at any time, be an original work, completed and owned by the submitting photographer, and must be submitted as required during the competition period from Thursday 1 November 2018, 9am AEST to Thursday 31 January 2019, 6pm
                      7. must not identify you, the entrant, and must not be watermarked
                      8. may have been taken digitally or using film but must be submitted in digital form, online via the Melbourne Library Service website either as a JPEG or TIFF file
                      9. may be edited to adjust minor “errors” in composition such as exposure, brightness and contrast, however content must not be removed, added, altered or distorted beyond the truth or substance of the original photograph. If photographs are edited, it is a condition of entry that entrants retain the original photograph and provide it upon being requested in the timeframe specified.

                        Adjustments permitted in the competition include but are not limited to:
                        • Cropping
                        • Rotation such as to straighten a crooked horizon
                        • Altering brightness and contrast
                        • Noise reduction, minimal sharpening and softening
                        • Conversion from colour to black and white (i.e. total desaturation)
                        • Removal of sensor dust
                        Adjustments not permitted in the competition include but are not limited to:
                        • Removal of subject matter present in initial capture
                        • Addition of subject matter not present in initial capture
                        • Partial desaturation and changes in colour untrue to the original
                        • Use of HDR (high dynamic range), special effects and distortion
                        • Application of “creative” filters such as those available in Instagram
                    3. By entering you:
                      1. declare that you are eligible to enter (having regard to condition 1 above) and that you will only submit compliant photos (having regard to condition 2 above)
                      2. acknowledge that this competition is run by Melbourne Library Service, City of Melbourne, 240 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, otherwise known as the Promoter
                      3. acknowledge that the Promoter does not accept responsibility for, nor is liable for any photos/images lost or corrupted in the process of submitting them or thereafter
                      4. acknowledge that the total prize pool is $7,050 and that the award of prizes will be made in accordance with the following table (Item 3.h) at the Promoter’s absolute discretion starting with the first listed category “First Prize” and then in order concluding with the ninth listed category “People’s Choice Third Place” and that once an entrant is awarded a prize, that entrant is thereafter ineligible for the consideration of further prizes
                      5. acknowledge that the First, Second and Third Prizes in each category will be awarded by recommendation to the Promoter by an appointed panel of expert judges, having regard to the following considerations:
                        • Relevance and/or interpretation of the theme
                        • Artistic merit
                        • Technical merit
                        • Originality / Creativity
                        • Considered a good photograph
                      6. acknowledge that the Heritage Prizes will be awarded by recommendation to the Promoter by the Melbourne Library Service Community Heritage and Local Studies Team and an expert in heritage conservation with a focus on ‘greatest historical significance’ for the avoidance of doubt these Terms and Conditions of Entry do not exclude photos taken at any time, including a long time ago, provided that all other criteria are met) and deemed to be of greatest historical significance
                      7. acknowledge that the People’s Choice Prizes will be awarded by the Promoter having regard to a Facebook survey and any other polling undertaken by the Promoter
                      8. Prize pool

                        ​Category​
                        Professional
                        Amateur​
                        First prize​
                        ​$1500
                        ​$1500
                        Second prize​​$1000
                        ​$1000
                        Third prize​
                        ​$500
                        ​$500
                        ​Heritage Award first place
                        ​$500​
                        ​Heritage Award second place
                        ​$250​
                        ​Heritage Award third place
                        ​$125​
                        ​People's Choice first place
                        ​$100​
                        ​People's Choice second place
                        ​$50
                        ​People's Choice third place
                        ​$25​
                      9. agree that if requested, identification must be shown to the Promoter to verify identity and age and if this is refused, the entire prize is forfeited and no substitute will be offered or compensation paid and the Promoter may select another category winner
                      10. as owner of the copyright in my entry, grant to the Promoter and its agents, contractors and event partners collectively an exclusive, irrevocable, royalty free, worldwide licence to use the photos comprising my entry in any form at its absolute discretion including but not limited to being whole or in part or edited or manipulated such as by enlarging or shrinking and also in any way at its absolute discretion including but not limited to publishing whether in print, online or elsewhere and exhibiting anywhere (full media worldwide) with full knowledge that the Promoter might be doing so for commercial gain with the Promoter, where possible, to acknowledge the entrant as owner.
                      11. agree to release and fully indemnify the Promoter for any costs and all liability incurred or suffered from or in connection with this competition including but not limited to any intellectual property rights infringement or lack of informed consent of subjects in the photos comprising my entry
                      12. acknowledge that the Promoter intends to exhibit a selection of entries at its absolute discretion (not all entries) for the period from 15 May 2019 to 13 June 2019 and that the exhibits, if any, displaying the photos comprising my entry belong to and are the physical property of the Promoter
                      13. agree that the Promoter may cancel or vary the competition or these Terms and Conditions of Entry unilaterally at any time. The Promoter is not liable nor responsible for any loss or costs incurred as a direct or indirect result of such cancellation or variation
                      14. agree to participate as reasonably required by the Promoter in promotional activities relating to the competition, including but not limited to, being interviewed and photographed and grant the Promoter an irrevocable, royalty free, worldwide licence to use such footage and photographs in its absolute discretion
                      15. acknowledge that the Promoter collects personal information about entrants for use related to this competition and in doing so will comply with the Promoter’s Privacy Policy.
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