Photography Competition 2025
The Green Templeton College Photography Competition 2025 is now open! The judges look forward to seeing your entries.
Theme
The theme for 2025 is ‘Passages’.
The judges are eager to see a variety of creative and imaginative interpretations of this theme. ‘Passages’ can encompass many ideas — physical journeys, transitions in life, or symbolic growth and change. It might represent movement through places, personal transformation, or moments of transition. We invite you to explore what ‘Passages’ means to you and capture it through your lens. The judges will be looking for the most striking and original representation of this theme.
Who can enter
This competition is open to all members of the Green Templeton community, including students, alumni, Fellows, Common Room Members, Associate Members, and staff.
What’s the prize?
The winner of the competition will receive a £200 cash prize.
Competition rules
- Each participant may submit up to three original photographs.
- All styles are welcome, including landscapes, portraits, and abstract photography.
- Photographs must have been taken during this academic year.
- If your photo includes identifiable people, you must have their consent.
- Entries must be the original work of the photographer and must not infringe on the rights of others.
How to enter
The competition is now open and will close on Monday 2 June 2025 at 12:00.
To submit your entry, please email communications@gtc.ox.ac.uk with your photograph(s) and a brief description of when and where they were taken.
Judging panel
The judging panel for 2025 consists of:
- Amiya Bhatia, Research Fellow
- Anne Highsmith, Deputy Lodge Manager and Staff Representative
- Clemens Jarnach (DPhil Sociology, 2018) 2024 competition winner and student representative
- Faraz Shibli (MSc Migration Studies, 2014) travel writer, speaker and adventurer
The judges will select a winning photograph that, in their view, best captures the essence of ‘Passages’. They will evaluate submissions based on relevance to the theme, composition, technical skill, originality, lighting, and emotional impact.
Consent and reproduction
Photographers are responsible for ensuring they have consent from any individuals featured in their images. By submitting photographs, entrants agree that Green Templeton College may use their images across various college platforms, including social media, the college website, and printed materials, without a fee. Wherever possible, credit will be given to the photographer.
We can’t wait to see how you interpret ‘Passages’ — happy photographing!
Previous entries
The Green Templeton College Photography Competition has been running since 2009, thanks to the generous support of the late neurologist and Common Room Member Dr Elman Poole, who held a long interest in photography.
Here’s a selection of previous winners from across the years.
2024: Peace – Winner ‘Women protesting’ by Clemens Jarnach (DPhil Sociology, 2018)
2023: Discover – Winner ‘Hidden Caterpillar’ by Ryan Caplin (MBA, 2022) taken during a Sunday morning ‘nature walk’ through the college grounds.
2022: Gather – Winner: Jessica Ivie. ‘The was taken during Torpids in March at the GTC boathouse. In this photo, rather than a gathering of people, it displays a gathering of hearts.
2021: New Normal – Winner: Sam Howard. ‘The catering team preparing for the click-and-collect lunches’
2020: Selfie-Isolation – Winner: Lore Purroy Sanchez. ‘These paper boats were on the bridge in the direction to Port Meadow during the pandemic.’
2019: College Members at Work – Winner: Pedro Stoeckli Pires. ‘During [this recital by Musician-in-Residence Maki Sekiya] she would play complex harmonies in such a fast manner it sounded like two people were playing at once. When I took this picture it seemed to represent that feeling well, as if there were two Maki playing together in that room.’
2018: Personalities of Green Templeton – Winner: Maria Spiga
