Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest

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$700 in Cash Awards for Photos Celebrating the City of Valdosta

It’s true. Time flies when you’re having fun…and taking pictures!

The City of Valdosta is proud to partner again with the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts to host the 17th Annual Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest. For the past decade, this annual event has been inspiring residents to capture the best of living in Valdosta on camera. Whether photography is your passion, your hobby, or just an occasional pastime, we invite you to participate in this celebratory year.

Access the Entry Application

17th Annual Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest Entry Application

This year's contest categories are:

City of Valdosta Architecture – Showcase the beauty of Valdosta’s historical, old, and/or new architecture. Must be architecture within the City of Valdosta limits.
Main Street Events – Exhibit the best of our Downtown Valdosta Main Street events. Let your creativity soar by capturing memories of our community at Main Street events. Highlight musicians, portraits, etc..
Valdosta Public Art – Showcase the amazing talent of community artist by capturing captivating photography of our public art within the City of Valdosta limits.
Youth (Ages 17 & Under) – Showcase your young talent with the subject matter that makes you happy!

The deadline to enter the contest is Friday, May 9, 2025.

People’s Choice

A 17th Anniversary Opening Reception will be held at the Turner Center for the Arts on June 9, from 5-7 p.m., to kick off the people's choice voting, which will run through July 11.

The public can view and vote for their favorite photo entries in the Tillman Gallery at the Turner Center.

Overall winners will be announced at the 17th Anniversary Awards Reception held at the arts center on Monday, July 21, from 5- 7 p.m. A $200 cash prize will be awarded for first place winners in each category. Three honorable mentions will also be selected, one for each category.

The public will also vote on the first-place youth photo (ages 16 and under) and one honorable mention. The youth first-place winner will receive a $100 cash award.

Official Contest Rules

1. Submission: Artists must submit their digital entries by Friday, May 9th, 2025, through the City of Valdosta’s website: www.valdostacity.com or the Turner Center’s website: www.turnercenter.org. Entry forms must be completed through the online application.

2. File & Format of Photo:

Artists are required to print their own photograph(s).
Prints must be 8 in x 10 in; high-resolution (300 dpi), clear images.
The artwork must be labeled with the artist's name, photo title, and category on the back of the photograph.

3. Delivery Process:

After submitting through the website, artists must deliver their printed photography to the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts on the delivery dates of Monday, May 12th to Friday, May 16th, 2025, by 4 p.m. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserve the right to disqualify an entry for any violation of the contest rules or explicit subject matter. All contest decisions are final.

4. Only two submissions per person.

Photo Formats

Artists are required to print their own photograph(s).
Prints must be 8 in x 10 in; high-resolution, clear images.
The artwork must be labeled with the artist's name, photo title, and category on the back of the photograph.

Photographer/Copyright

Entries must be submitted by the original photographer. Do not submit a photo taken by someone other than yourself. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Photo Subject Restrictions

Photos must be appropriate. Obscene, provocative, or otherwise questionable content will not be considered. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts retain sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content. Photos containing recognizable people must be accompanied by a signed Photo Release Form.

Return of Photos

The photographs will remain displayed in the Tillman Gallery through July 21st, 2025. Artists may pick up their works on July 21st at the Turner Center after the closing reception. Anything uncollected after July 26th, 2025, will remain the property of the City of Valdosta and may be discarded due to storage limitations.

Ownership/Use Rights

Contest participants grant the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts the non-exclusive right to publish, use, distribute, reproduce and publicly display entered photographs, and to create derivative works from all photographs, in perpetuity, in any of its online, print or other media publications, materials or exhibitions, for purposes of promoting the Valdosta community, through its publications, advertising and websites, and without payment or compensation. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will make every effort to credit photographers when using photos, but there may be circumstances where it is not possible to do so. Subject to the rights granted to the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, contest participants retain all other copyrights and rights to future use of the photographs entered in the contest.

Disqualification

The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserve the right to disqualify an entry for any violation of the contest rules. All contest decisions are final.

Additional Terms and Conditions

The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are not responsible for computer system, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Furthermore, the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are not responsible for: (1) lost, misdirected, misplaced, illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, or late entries or (2) any act, failure to act, or delay regarding the transmitting or processing of entries. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend all or any portion of this contest without notice if factors beyond their control, including technical difficulties, disrupt or corrupt the fair or secure administration or operation of the contest. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are entitled to interpret these rules as needed and their decisions are final. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserve the right to disqualify any entry that they have reason to believe is not the original work of the entrant or does not otherwise meet the contest rules. If a winner is disqualified or determined to be ineligible, the winner with the second largest number of people's choice votes will be named and subject to all requirements set forth in these Official Rules.

By participating in the contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the City of Valdosta, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, and their employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind resulting from your participation in this contest, including infringement of intellectual property rights. The City of Valdosta, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, and their employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies assume no responsibility or liability for any damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind arising in whole or in part from this contest.