2025 YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE ENTRY RULES

Goal

The goal of the Youth Photography Showcase is to inspire high school students to get involved in photography by publicly highlighting their outstanding photographs.  This is an excellent opportunity for students to share their work across various categories and receive recognition for their efforts.

 Participation

The Youth Photography Showcase is open to all students worldwide, ages 14 through 18, who are attending high school, or its equivalent.  They may be in public, private, or home schools as well as in youth groups.  As a sponsoring Photographic Society of America club, The Photographic Society of Chattanooga invites entries only from Tennessee schools in the Chattanooga, Cleveland and Dayton areas and from schools in North Georgia.  There is no fee to participate in the Youth Photography Showcase (YPS).  All students who enter this contest will be given a complimentary membership in the Photography Society of Chattanooga.

Note on Submissions

Digital/projected images and/or prints may be submitted.  The same photograph should not be submitted as a digital image and as a print.

Opening Date

January 13, 2025 is when YPS opens for submitting digital/projected images.

Closing Date

February 15, 2025 is when YPS closes for submitting digital/projected images.  It is also the date all prints will be received.  All submissions, digital images and prints, along with the required entry forms must be turned in by this date.

Selection Procedure

PSC will have three distinguished judges scoring submissions to determine First, Second, Third places and Honorable Mentions in each category for digital images and for prints.  All accepted images and prints will be projected, and winners will be announced at the YPS Awards Program (the Youth Photography Showcase) in March.

Selected images from each school will be sent to the Photography Society of America to compete with students worldwide.  Each year we have seen images accepted by PSA and there have been winners from our submissions.

The selection of digital images and prints being sent to the Photographic Society of America will be done by the PSC YPS Director choosing the top scorers (up to eight digital images and up to eight prints from each high school limited to two digital images and prints in the Color Photographer’s Choice category, two digital images and prints in the Monochrome Photographer’s Choice category and one digital image and print in each of the four remaining categories listed below) without sending more than two digital images and two prints per student.  The six categories are: 

Category                                                         Abbrev            Limit per Student      

Architecture                                                        ARCH                     1 Digital, 1 Print

Color Photographer’s Choice                          CCHOI                   2 Digital, 2 Prints             

Monochrome Photographer’s Choice           MCHOI                  2 Digital, 2 Prints

Photojournalism                                                 PJOU                     1 Digital, 1 Print

People or Animals                                              PORA                    1 Digital, 1 Print

Scapes                                                                  SCAP                     1 Digital, 1 Print

 Overall YPS Limits: 4 Digital Images and 4 Prints

Overall PSA Limits: 2 Digital Images and 2 Prints (and 8 Digital Images and 8 Prints per School) Requirements

For more category definitions: Categories.pdf

Requirements

1. All projected images and prints, and all parts thereof, must be taken by the student.
2. An entrant’s photographic submissions must be from only one school or organization.
3. As indicated, a student may enter up to 4 digital images and 4 prints at the Chattanooga level. However, a student may have no more than 2 digital entries and 2 prints selected to send to the PSA competition.
4. The same photo may not be entered in multiple categories nor as a digital image and a print.
5. The YPS Committee reserves the right to review the subject matter of all images. Images containing possible offensive content to family viewing may not be accepted.
6. An Entry Form must be completed for each digital image and for each print. All appropriate digital image and print entry forms must be fully completed to grant permission to PSA to reproduce the image for exhibition at the PSA Photo Festival, for viewing in the Youth Showcase video program, for publication in the PSA JOURNAL and souvenir brochure and for including on the PSA website.  The student’s parent or guardian must also sign the entry form if the student is under age 18.  The form will also need to certify that all elements of the image is the work of the student.  The entry form must contain the student or parent/guardian home e-mail address.  A school e-mail is not allowed.  It must be the student or parent/guardian e-mail so contact can be made in the summer.
7. Digital Entry Forms may be filled out electronically, then printed, signed, scanned and e-mailed to youthcontest@chattanoogaphoto.org along with the digital images.
8. Any image containing a recognizable person must be accompanied by a Showcase Model Release form. The exception to this is a photojournalism image or print showing crowds, spot news, sporting events, or any public event.  ModelRelease.pdf
9. No identifying information (name or logo, etc.) may be on the digital image or print.
10. The student must provide a title for each image. The use of “untitled” or strictly numbering for a title is unacceptable.  The maximum length of the title is 25 characters including spaces.  Also, the title cannot contain any of the following characters: ( ) ! , “ . / ? _ \ = ‘ $.  If it does, the image will yield a fatal error when submitted.

HOW TO PREPARE DIGITAL IMAGES FOR SUBMISSION Prior to submitting each image, please ensure that:

• The image’s longest dimension (vertical or horizontal) is no more than 2100 pixels.
• The image format is to be “jpg” at the highest setting.
• For optimal projection, images should be saved in the “sRGB” color space.
• IMPORTANT! Name the digital file like this:  chosen Category Abbreviation (ARCH, CCHOI, MCHOI, PJOU, PORA,or SCAP); chosen Title (see 10 above); the last four digits of your phone number; your school.  Use underscores between each component of the name.  For example:  ARCH_Red Chapel_1234_GPS.jpg would be acceptable.
• For each digital image submitted, a fillable Projected Entry Form must be completed, printed, signed, scanned and e-mailed along with the digital image to youthcontest@chattanoogaphoto.org.
• Send the digital images and forms only as e-mail attachments.
• Projected Entry Form: DigitalEntryForm.pdf

HOW TO SUBMIT PRINTS

• The print may be no smaller than 5” x 7” and no larger than 8.5” x 11” (either with or without a border).
• The print must be un-mounted.
• An entry form must be filled out for each print. PrintEntryForm.pdf
• Print the completed fillable entry form and obtain appropriate signatures.
• The bottom portion of that entry form must be detached and affixed to the back of the print.
• Please mark which way is UP on the back of the print.
• Also, a digital file of the print must be e-mailed to youthcontest@chattanoogaphoto.org. The digital file of the print will be for possible use in the awards program.
• Bring the print entries and top portion of the completed and signed entry form for each print to St. John UMC, 3921 Murray Hills Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37416 on Saturday, February 15 between 10 a.m. and noon.
• E-mail us if other arrangements are necessary at youthcontest@chattanoogaphoto.org.

AWARDS PROGRAM INFORMATION

• The 2025 Youth Photography Awards Program sponsored by the Photographic Society of Chattanooga has been scheduled Tuesday, March 18, in the sanctuary of St. John United Methodist Church, 3921 Murray Hills Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37416, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
• If you are a winner, you will be notified by March 12.
• Ribbons will be given for 1^st, 2^nd , 3^rd places and Honorable Mentions. There will also be cash prizes for some of the winners.
• Certificates will be given to students with images being forwarded to the Photographic Society of America.
• If you cannot attend the Awards Program, please notify us so we will know who is to pick up your award. If your teacher or sponsor is present, awards will be given to her or him.
• Winners will be posted on the PSC website by the middle of April.

  If you have any questions about any of this, please contact Gary Conner at youthcontest@chattanoogaphoto.org.