Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest

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2024 Online Submission Form

$700 in Cash Awards for Photos Celebrating City Life and Country Living

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 16th 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.

This year's contest categories are:

City Life: Showcase the best parts of living in one of the Cities in Lowndes County (Valdosta, Lake Park, Remerton, and Hahira).
Country Living: Exhibit the best of living in the rural areas in Lowndes County.
People's Choice Adult: Don't have a photo that fits those categories? We love seeing each and every beautiful photo captured in our community.
People's Choice Youth: The public will vote on the Youth Best in Show

The deadline to enter the contest is Friday, May 17, 2024.

All submitted photographs should reflect the life and beauty within Lowndes County.

People’s Choice

A 16th Anniversary Opening Reception will be held at the Turner Center for the Arts on June 10, from 5-7 p.m., to kick off the people's choice voting, which will run through July 22.

A reception will be held at the Turner Center on June 10 to kick off the people’s choice voting, which will run through July 18. 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 16th Anniversary Awards Reception held at the arts center on Monday, July 22, 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

Photographs must be taken within Lowndes County.

Photo Formats

Each entry must include a completed and signed entry form and one electronic JPEG of the photo. Photos and entry forms can be submitted through the online application or by email to sdenton@valdostacity.com. Multiple submissions may be submitted. Unreadable images will be disqualified.

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.

Number of Entries

An individual may submit a maximum of two photos.

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 on display in the Tillman Gallery through Wednesday, July 24, at which time they will become part of a traveling display that can be viewed from August until December 2024 in various community locations. Artists who are not part of the traveling exhibit may pick up their works on July 30 and 31 at the Turner Center. Anything uncollected after July 30 can be picked up at the City Public Information Office in the City Hall Annex located at 300 N Lee Street.

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.

How to Enter

The application may be submitted online or mail/hand-delivered by Friday, May 17, 2024, to:

Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest
c/o Public Information Office
300 N Lee Street, Suite 102
Valdosta, GA 31601

--or--

Valdosta People's Choice Photo Contest
The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts
527 N. Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA 31601

Cash or Checks accepted for entry fees. Checks can be made out to Valdosta Main Street.

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.