Manila Economic and Cultural Office Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office, in cooperation with Litratista, an association of Filipino photographers based in Taiwan, will hold its first ever photo contest on 30 March 2018.
The photo contest aims to (1) promote tourist destinations and activities in the Philippines and (2) celebrate the value of Filipino dedication and hard work in Taiwan’s culture and economy.
The contest is open to all novice and professional photography enthusiasts who can submit photos relevant to the two themes, with three (3) Over all top prizes to be won, along with five (5) special category prizes among the top 50 photographs to be chosen by the panel of judges.
The special categories are:
- People’s Choice Award (to be judged during the photo exhibit)
- Best Camera Phone Photo Award (photo taken with a mobile phone camera)
- Best Young Photographer’s Piece Award (photo taken by a contestant below 18 years old)
- Best Adventure Photo Award (photo depicting adventure activities in the Philippines)
- Best City Moments Award (photo depicting the tourist night life in any Philippine city)
Criteria for judging will be on the photos’ originality, composition, technical excellence, artistic merit and subject matter relevance to the theme.
Prizes in store for the Over All winners are NT$15,000, NT$10,000 and NT$5,000 for the Grand Prize, 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up, respectively.
All special category winners will receive a cash prize of NT$3,000 while the other entries who were picked as among the top 50 photos will receive certificates of recognition and will be displayed in a photo exhibit.
MECHANICS
This Photo Contest is open to all professional and amateur photographers.
Officers, Employees, interns, or partners of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, including the Officers of Litratista, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of employees, are not eligible to enter.
By submitting an entry to the Photo Contest, entrants certify that their participation in this Photo Contest is not illegal or in violation of any law, regulation, treaty or administrative act, and that the laws of their governing jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry do not prohibit or restrict the receipt of any Prize under this Photo Contest.
PERIOD OF SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES
Submission of entries begins at 12:00am of 30 March 2018 until 11:59 pm one 30 May 2018 (the “Entry Period”). Entries submitted before or after the Entry Period will not be eligible. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Photo Contest.
ELIGIBILITY OF ENTRIES
Submitted entries/files shall be no larger than 20MB and must have been shot/taken within the period 30 May 2017 and 30 May 2018.
Higher resolution files of at least 240 dpi/ppi and not less than 10 MB will be requested should an entry be preselected to be awarded a prize or among the top 50 picks.
All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Minimal adjustment is allowable, tweaking exposure, contrast, shadows is allowed.
Photos that have been digitally altered, like manipulation, changing the background, adding layers will be disqualified.
Entries may originate in any format — including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints — so long as they are submitted electronically in a .JPEG .jpg, or.png form.
Entries should include metadata. Caption information should include:
• Location
• Name of location
• City
• State/Province
• Country
• Detailed caption of subject matter
Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as the contestant still maintains the right to grant us a license for the use of the photo. Contestants must be able to disclose when and where the photo appeared previously upon request.
If the contestant chooses to include people as subject matter in their entries, he/she should be responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted, and must be able to provide copies of those releases upon request.
The following submissions are ineligible:
• Photos that violate or infringe upon another person's rights, including but not limited to copyright and photographs of persons without the necessary consent required by law in your jurisdiction. MECO reserves the right to require entrants to submit evidence of the subject’s legal consent to be photographed for the submitted photograph, which may include a signed waiver from the subject. NOTE: Waiver requirements vary by jurisdiction, and the entrant is responsible for obtaining a legally enforceable waiver from any photographed subject.
• Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent or other objectionable or inappropriate content.
• Images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife, or damage to the environment by the photographer.
• Organizers shall determine entry eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion.
Submissions may be watermarked if desired, but the watermark should be inconspicuous enough to not interfere with the judging of the photo.
A watermarked photo might not be honored by the competition (at the judges’ sole discretion) if the photographer is unable or unavailable to provide a pristine, watermark-free version of the image when asked.
All images must be submitted through email address mecophotocontest@gmail.com, including all required fields, including name, email and other information about your photo submission.
Images that are sent via mail will not be accepted.
Contestants may submit an unlimited number of entries, but he/she may not use an agency or automated system to enter. Organizer reserves the right to reject any additional entries or entries that do not comply with these Official Rules.
By entering, contestant indicate his/her unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Rules and Organizer’s decisions, which are final and binding. Contestants cannot avail of a prize unless you comply with all requirements in these Official Rules.
JUDGING
Photos will be judged on originality (20%), technical excellence (20%), composition (20%), artistic merit (20%) and subject matter relevance to the theme (20%).
The People’s Choice award will be determined based on which of the honorable mentions receives the most votes during the exhibit days.
Judging will be conducted by a panel of judges to be determined by Organizer.
The Panel will evaluate all valid entries and pick the following winners in the following categories:
1. Overall (3 winners. 1 first prize, 1 runner-up, 1 second runner-up each selected from among the 50 top picks.
2. Categories:
1 People’s Choice (1 winner): Overall winner selected from among the 50 top picks based on the highest number of votes received during public voting period to be held during the exhibit.
2 Best Mobile Camera Phone Photo (1 winner selected from among the 50 top picks): Best photo taken via a mobile device.
3 Young Photographer’s Photo (1 winner selected from among the 50 top picks): Best photo taken by a contestant below 18 years old.)
4 Best Adventure Photo (1 winner selected from among the 150 top picks): Best action/adventure photo.
5 Best Moments in the City Photo (1 winner selected from among the top 50 picks): Best photo taken in an urban setting.
The top 50 photos will be notified of their status and will appear on www.meco.org.tw by 15 July 2018. Owners of the top 50 photos will be requested to submit a hardcopy size A3 photo-paper of their winning entry. and a RAW + Jpeg format to validate their entry to this email address, mecophotocontest@gmail.com.
All judging decisions are final. Please do not contact Organizer about the status of entries or judging.
Organizer will notify the winner via the contact information provided at the time of entry.
REQUIREMENTS FROM WINNERS
Except where prohibited, a winner may be required to complete and return an affidavit of eligibility, including proof of age, and liability/publicity release within 14 days. If a contest winner fails to return these documents on time, an alternate winner may be selected in his/her place.
PRIZES
The following prizes are at stake:
One (1) Overall grand prize winner will receive:
• NT$15,000 cash
• Placement in MECO’s 2019 calendar.
• Mention in MECO’s digital presences.
One (1) Overall runner-up winner will receive:
• NT$10,000
• Placement in MECO’s 2019 calendar.
• Mention in MECO’s digital presences.
One (1) Overall second runner-up winner will receive:
• NT$5,000
• Placement in MECO’s 2019 calendar.
• Mention in MECO’s digital presences.
Five Category winners will receive:
• NT$3,000
• Placement in MECO’s 2019 calendar.
• Mention in MECO’s digital presences.
The 50 Top Picks will receive:
• Certificates of Recognition
• Mention in MECO’s digital presences.
• A loot bag and a slot in the exhibit
To the maximum extent permissible by law, all winners shall be responsible for paying any taxes and any and all other costs and expenses not listed above.
Any prize details not specified above will be determined by Organizer, in its sole discretion. A prize may not be transferred and must be accepted as awarded. A winner may not request cash or a substitute prize; however, Organizer reserves the right to substitute a prize with another prize of equal or greater value if the prize is not available for any reason, as determined by Organizer, in its sole discretion.
CONTESTANTS’ RIGHTS
Your photographs will help MECO promote the Philippines as a tourist destination and improve people-to-people relations with the Taiwanese. It will likewise pay tribute to the hard work and perseverance of hundreds of thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers in Taiwan.
Thank you for helping to further our mission through your photography.
You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit -- including ownership if applicable.
If you submit a photograph to enter the Photo Contest, you grant the Organizer a royalty-free, non-exclusive right to:
• Display the photograph on its digital platforms including but not limited to its website, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
• Allow third-parties to share the photograph on social media.
• Use the photograph on the Internet and in Social Media in support of our mission.
• Use the photograph in Organizer’s internal and external communications materials including but not limited to web sites and web publications, fact sheets, fund raising publications, advertising, multimedia, presentation and membership services, annual report.
• Provide the photograph to other individuals and organizations for MECO-related use in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, videos, membership premiums, and the like
• Use, in connection with the Photo Contest, your name, city and country of residence in promotions and other publications
• Retain a digital copy of the photograph that will be archived in the MECO photo library and accessible to MECO staff via the MECO internal online photo archive
MECO will endeavor to credit all photographs with the caption "Person's Name" when the full name is available.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Photo Contest is impaired in any way, Organizer may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Photo Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Photo Contest; or (b) award the prize(s) from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and seek damages from any individual who tampers with the operation of the Photo Contest, violates these Official Rules, or acts in a disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner.
Organizer’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Proof of sending any communication to Organizer by mail shall not be deemed proof of receipt of that communication by Organizer.
In the event of a dispute as to the owner of an entry, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to enter will be deemed to be the owner.
RELEASE AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
By entering, you agree to release and hold harmless Organizer, Facebook, their respective parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Photo Contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the Photo Contest; (b) technical errors; (c) printing errors; (d) late or undelivered mail; (e) errors in the administration of the Photo Contest; or (f) injury or damage to persons or property. You waive the right to claim any attorneys’ fees and any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.
PRIVACY AND PUBLICITY
Any information submitted as part of the Photo Contest will be used in accordance with Organizer’s Privacy Policy. The information you provide when you enter is provided to Organizer, not to Facebook. Except where prohibited, the consent to Organizer’s use of your name in any list of winners (if applicable) and for promotional purposes in any media without further payment or consideration.
DISPUTES
Contestants shall agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Photo Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court.
All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, contestants’ rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Organizer in connection with the Photo Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with laws, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law.
QUESTIONS
Questions and inquiries about contest rules can be emailed to email address mecophotocontest@gmail.com.