#EskomExpoTurns40 Photo Contest

To celebrate Eskom Expo for Young Scientists’ 40th anniversary in the second half of 2020, we are giving away two laptops to two learners who can best capture the art of science through photography.

The photo contest aims to showcase the visual beauty captured by the various Eskom Expo categories – from plant sciences to social sciences – along with showcasing Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics and Innovation (STEMI).

With Eskom Expo’s online assessments currently open, and young scientists embarking on their scientific research projects, learners are encouraged to capture up to 3 images of anything that involves STEMI and falls into one of the 13 Eskom Expo categories. The images have to be interesting, artistic, creative, and inspiring, while telling a story.

The 13 Eskom Expo categories include:

Examples:

• Plant sciences – a photo of a plant with frost (Name of plant? Difference in plant chemical and biological function with and without frost)
• Physics, astronomy and space sciences – a photo of the night sky with stars (What are the properties of stars?)
• Social sciences – a photo of an individual’s facial expressions while interacting with another (Brief description of the interaction. What do these expressions tell us about human behaviour?)

Aim of the competition:

To showcase the creativity of young scientists through photography;

To explore the visual aspects of the Eskom Expo categories and STEMI through photography;

To collect a gallery of STEMI photos taken by South African youth for exhibition on our website.

The competition

• Learners are encouraged to capture photos, and post a maximum of 3 photos (3 entries per learner) on Instagram using the hashtag #EskomExpoTurns40. Profiles should be public!
• Each photo will be judged individually and can be of different Eskom Expo categories
• Photos can be captured using a digital camera or a cellphone
• The competition opens on Monday, 3 August 2020 and closes on Monday, 28 September 2020. Thereafter, entries will be collected, vetted, verified and judged by seasoned photographers. This will be followed by a public vote for the top 4 photos on Twitter. The poll will run from Monday, 19 October until Sunday, 25 October. Thereafter, the 2 winners will be announced.

Judging criteria

Photos will initially be judged on:

1. Technique: Meets specification. Clarity of image, focus, composition, depth of field, good use of light and contrast
2. Artistic and Visual: Creative use of imagery; aesthetically appealing; visual attraction
3. Scientific: an interesting scientific phenomenon/concept; informative; a novel way of looking at something/an interesting perspective; communicates a scientific phenomenon/concept well; captures the splendour of nature

Rules

• Entrants must be in Grade 4 to 12 and reside in South Africa;
• Entrants must be attending any school in South Africa, including home schools;
• Entrants are allowed to enter up to 3 photos by posting them individually on Instagram;
• Captions/descriptions of photos are compulsory;
• Include the date that each photo was taken.
• Only photos taken from 1 January 2020 to 28 September 2020 are eligible to be entered.
• Captions/descriptions should provide background information on the subject in the photo;
• Captions/descriptions should state the Eskom Expo category being illustrated;
• Captions/descriptions should include the hashtag #EskomExpoTurns40;
• Photos should be original and not entered into previous competitions;
• Original photos will be requested to confirm authenticity;
• Filters are allowed, but not encouraged;
• Cropping and adjustment of photos is allowed;
• Colour, black and white or gray scale photos are allowed;
• Photos created by software programmes are not allowed;
• Entries will be disqualified if the photograph is found to not be original, or if the entries are incomplete, inaccessible or blocked, corrupted, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, or obtained through fraud or theft;
• Photos obtained unethically; contain unethical subject matter; brand names; have been plagiarised will be disqualified;
• Microscopy images taken by the entrants will be permitted;
• All Eskom Expo Ethics Rules apply. Click here to view these. The photos must not contain any obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, political, religious, or inappropriate content. No harm must come to any human or animal and there must be no destruction of nature involved in taking of the photos. If the photographs contain images of people, then the written consent obtained from the persons or their parents/guardians must be submitted with the entry.
• No brand names must be visible in the photos;
• By entering the competition, you accept that:

1. The photographs entered are your own work and does not infringe on the rights of 3^rd parties or contravene any laws of the country;
2. Eskom Expo reserves the right to disqualify an entry according to the rules of this competition and discretion of the judges;
3. Judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into;
4. Winners and their winning entries will be publicised for the sole purpose of marketing, publicity, and advertising.