Photo Contest Now Open for the 10th TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas

PHOTO CONTEST: Call for Submissions
10th TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas

INTRODUCTION

Memorable photographs heighten the visual impact of the information that public health professionals strive to communicate. With just one click, the photographer captures a fleeting emotion or unique moment with the power to convey a distinct and compelling message.

Photographs serve as valuable evidence of FETP activities and can help:

  • Increase the visibility of FETPs
  • Expand research communication strategies
  • Expand partner knowledge of the work of epidemiologists
  • Stimulate the exchange of experiences among field epidemiology professionals

To this end, during its scientific conferences, TEPHINET offers photo contests to showcase FETP activities. The next photo contest will be held during the 10th TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, in partnership with Instituto Nacional de Salud Colombia and REDSUR, the South American network of field epidemiology training programs.

CONTEST OBJECTIVES

  • To stimulate the exchange of experiences among field epidemiology professionals
  • To promote the work of TEPHINET member FETPs
  • To increase TEPHINET’s available set of photographs of field epidemiology activities
  • To visually document investigations and encourage new field epidemiologists to record their work through images
  • To strengthen research and partner communication strategies
  • To expand knowledge of the work of field epidemiologists

ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS
Trainees, graduates, staff, mentors, and advisors of field epidemiology training programs across the Americas region are eligible to submit photographs for the contest.

CONTEST TIMELINE
The contest opens on February 19, 2018. The deadline for submissions is March 19, 2018. Photos will be judged by a panel during the conference, and the winners will be announced during the Awards and Closing Ceremony on May 18, 2018.

CONTEST PROCEDURES
Participants should submit their photos online at one of the following links:

Each participant may submit a maximum of 3 photos. Additional submissions will be disqualified automatically. Please review your submissions with a critical eye and only submit what you consider to be your best photos in accordance with the evaluation criteria listed below (see section titled EVALUATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS).

CRITERIA FOR DISPLAY

  • All images must be in JPG/JPEG or PNG format. DO NOT submit images embedded in Word documents or images in PDF format. These will be disqualified automatically.
  • Photographs should be related to FETP disease prevention, detection, and/or response activities.
  • Photographs cannot be the same as any submitted for a previous TEPHINET conference.
  • Photographs should have minimum digital alterations. Slight cropping and editing (for example, fixing red eyes) is permitted, but photographs that have obviously been Photoshopped (for example, with heavy filters or lighting effects) will be disqualified.
  • Do not add text onto your photographs. Photos will text overlay will be disqualified automatically.
  • Each image must be a single photograph. Collages will be disqualified automatically.
  • For optimal print quality, image resolution must be at least 300 dots per inch (dpi) and size at least 3x5 inches. The file size should not exceed 8 MB.
  • Each image must be accompanied by a descriptive caption that tells the viewer who is in the photo, where and when the photo was taken, and what activity is occurring within the photo.
  • Subject matter can include portraits, landscapes, or any subject that depicts FETPs (including laboratory and veterinary) in action and captures challenges, emotions, solutions, and/or the peoples, cultures, and their environments.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Submit your photographs at one of the following links:

For each photo, you must submit a brief (100 word maximum) caption. Please be as descriptive as possible in each caption. The caption should tell the viewer about the purpose, location, and time of the work depicted in the photograph as well as information about who is pictured.

The file names for your photos must correspond to the titles and descriptions of your photos. Please use the following format in naming your files: Surname_country_photo number.jpg     (Example: Sanchez_Colombia_1.jpg)

Along with the photos and descriptions, you must download, complete and attach to your application a Photo Consent Form to ensure that individuals’ privacy rights were respected for all subjects who are not photographed in public.

EVALUATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs will be evaluated on the following eight attributes on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest mark:

  • Focus and clarity
  • Exposure
  • Lighting
  • Composition
  • The photo has good resolution permitting its use in both digital and print TEPHINET publications
  • The photo clearly represents field epidemiology activity
  • The photo and its caption convey a clear message
  • Compared to the other photos, this photo demonstrates originality and creativity

EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
TEPHINET will review all submitted photos and disqualify those not meeting the minimum criteria for display as specified above. The remaining photos will be exhibited during the 10th TEPHINET Regional Scientific Conference of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

JUDGING AND SELECTION
A panel of judges selected by the conference communications committee will evaluate the photos during the conference and winners will be selected for first, second, and third place. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on the final day of the conference.
TEPHINET will also post the photos to its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TEPHINET) for a vote from its followers. The photo with the highest number of “likes” will be considered the “Facebook winner.”

OWNERSHIP
The photographer will retain ownership of his/her photos; however, TEPHINET reserves the right to use all submitted photographs in its print and/or electronic communications materials.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Participants in the photo contest must obtain consent when photographing their subjects. Applicants must always respect their subjects’ wishes by not taking compromising pictures of recognizable individuals. Consent must always be obtained if the photos are taken in a health center regardless of whether the location is considered “public.” All contest participants must complete the Photo Consent Form as part of their submission.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Tina Rezvani, TEPHINET - trezvani [at] tephinet [dot] org
Claudia Clavijo, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Colombia - cclavijo [at] ins [dot] gov [dot] co

CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://tephinetamericas.cvent.com