The Chartered Institute of Building’s (CIOB) annual Art of Building photography competition is now open for entries.
The Art of Building is the world’s largest annual competition for the built environment. It is free to enter, and attracts thousands of professional and amateur photographers.
There are two top prizes worth £1,500. Find out more about last year’s winners here.
CIOB head of content and communications Saul Townsend said: “Although many people will think of buildings purely as functional structures, through our competition we hope to change that mindset and help everyone to see them as works of art.
‘Anything can be a brilliant photo’
“Even just a window of a standard office block, for example, can look spectacular in the right light from the right angle. So just about anything can become a brilliant photo.”
Photos from the competition are used on construction site fencing around the world, creating pop-up style art galleries, and seen by thousands of passers-by.
Townsend added: “The competition celebrates the creativity of the built environment industry, the passion of the people who work within it, and the impact their work has on those who make use of the final construction.
“We all spend most or all of our days in or around buildings, be it our homes, workplaces, or social spaces, so good subject matter should be easy to come by for everyone particularly as the photos can be taken on mobile devices and you don’t have to be a professional photographer.
“We love seeing the thousands of photos we receive each year, and it gives us great insight into what the public see as art. As the competition is free to enter, we hope lots of people will get involved to be in with a shout of winning.”
Voting stage
The deadline for entries is 27 November. A panel of judges whittle these down to a dozen that go through to a voting stage. The public are then invited to choose their favourite.
In January the entry with the most votes will be crowned the Public Choice winner. A second photo will be selected by the judges as Judges’ Choice winner.
Last year entries came from more than 100 countries. They featured buildings globally, including from India, Russia, Japan, the Netherlands and the US.
Rahaman Hossain won the Public Choice award for an image of a woman collecting water from a pond in front of World Heritage Site, Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, India.
Mikhail Proskalov won the Judges’ Choice for a photograph of the 462 metre high Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg, Russia. It was captured using a drone.
See a gallery of last year’s winners and finalists here.
