Photograph | Christ Church Library, by Joseph Caruana (DPhil Astrophysics, Christ Church)
Graduate Photography Competition 2013
In the University's annual competition, Oxford’s current and recent graduate students share their experiences of the University and its colleges through their photographs.
In 2012, the Graduate Photography Competition focused on the cutting-edge research undertaken by Oxford's graduate students. In 2013, we asked graduates to submit photographs of the more informal sides of academic, college and social life at Oxford.
From student-led seminars and independent reading to impromptu celebrations and late-night conversations over a cup of tea, some of the more personal and reflective moments are even more integral to life at Oxford than formal dinners and public lectures. Entrants in this year's competition were asked to go 'behind the scenes' of the University, to give insight into the everyday working and social lives of the students and staff who drive Oxford's dynamic community, particularly in college and library contexts.
Many of the photographs submitted to the competition will appear, fully credited, in both the print and online Graduate Prospectus in order to give prospective students an invaluable glimpse into life as a graduate student at Oxford.
In previous years, photographs from the competition have featured in both the 2012/13 and 2013/14 Graduate Prospectus, and a number of images have been used prominently in other University publications such as the Annual Review 2011/12 and the Vice-Chancellor’s Christmas card.
Submissions closed Friday 15 March 2013 and the winners have now been announced.
2013 Competition Winners
For 2013, there are two overall winners - one for an entry on an academic theme, and one for an entry on a social theme.
The winners of the Graduate Photography Competition 2013 are Soufia Siddiqi and Ralph Williamson. These two winners were each awarded a £200 Amazon voucher.
Winner: Academic Category
Photograph | Psychedelia in the Library, by Soufia Siddiqi (DPhil Education, St Anne's College)
Winner: Social Category
Photograph | Christ Church Rowers, by Ralph Williamson (PGDip Psychodynamic Practice)
A prize of a £20 Amazon voucher was awarded each week throughout the competition for outstanding entries featuring Oxford's colleges. The winners of these prizes were as follows:
- Yunli Song (DPhil Systems Biology DTC, Lady Margaret Hall)
- May Chan (DPhil Comparative Philology and General Linguistics, Worcester College)
- Selma Mezetovic (Magister Juris, Lady Margaret Hall)
- Jessica MacArthur (MSc Water Science, Policy and Management, Harris Manchester College)
- Mimi Zou (DPhil Law, St John's College)
- Ariel Alexovich (MBA, The Queen's College)
The overall winners, college prize winners and all shortlisted entries are available via our Pinterest board.
Honorable mentions from the shortlisted entries go to Mimi Zou ("Nuffield College Library", Academic Category) and Yunli Song ("Year of the Snake", Social Category).
Slideshow | Publications from the University featuring previous entries to the Graduate Photography Competition
Previous competitions
Winners and shortlisted entries from the 2011 and 2012 Graduate Photography Competitions have been prominently featured in the University's print and online publications.
2012 Graduate Photography Competition
The theme of the 2012 Graduate Photography Competition 'Beyond Brideshead: Research and Recreation' was centred around the research and study undertaken by Oxford's graduate students. Entries focussed on laboratory work, fieldwork, group study and work with the University's collections of manuscripts and museum artefacts.
The overall winner of the 2012 Competition was Laurynas Pliuskys, whose photograph (below) depicts a researcher cutting DNA bands from an agarose gel. Two secondary prizes were awarded to Owen Weller and Joseph Caruana for their photographs of geology fieldwork and microscope work in the Christ Church library respectively.
Photograph | 'Slicing the building blocks of life' by Laurynas Pliuskys, DPhil Systems Approaches to Biomedical Sciences (Pembroke College)
2011 Graduate Photography Competition
In the first Graduate Photography Competition, the theme of entries was an alternative and personal view of Oxford. The competition winner was Yasemin Sengul for her photograph (below) of a student leaving the ivy-covered facade of an Oxford college. Secondary prizes were awarded to Jaani Riordan for her image of rowers carrying a boat to the river, and Rebecca Scott for her image of autumn leaves underneath the Bridge of Sighs.
Photograph | Ivy, by Yasemin Sengul (DPhil Mathematics, Queen's College)
Photograph | Graduates walking to the matriculation ceremony, by Jaani Riordan (DPhil Law, Magdalen College)
Terms and Conditions
The 2013 Terms and Conditions archived below comprise information about the entry requirements for the competition, the judging process and prizes.
Eligibility
Entry is open to all current graduate students at Oxford and to recent alumni who have completed a graduate course within the last twelve months.
All entrants must submit a completed application form, and must have the consent of the subjects of their photograph. All submitted entries must be the work of the individual submitting them and the entrant should hold the sole copyright.
The competition will accept submissions from Friday 1 February 2013 until the closing date for all entries on Friday, 15 March 2013.
Submission of entries
Entrants may submit a maximum of 15 photographs each via the application form for the competition.
Photographic entries should be in colour with minimal digital manipulation; frames and text should not be present on the submitted images. Photographs must be no larger than 10MB, and no smaller than 500kb. Ideally, the resolution of submitted photographs should be 300dpi at A4.
Judging and prizes: Weekly discretionary prizes
On a weekly basis throughout the competition, a £20 prize will be awarded to an outstanding image depicting a college or Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. The winner of each prize will be announced via Twitter and contacted via e-mail.
Judging and prizes: Main prizes and competition winners
To award the main prizes, a panel of judges will be drawn from the Graduate Admissions and Funding Office alongside an independent judge. The independent judge for 2013 is Joseph Caruana, an Oxford graduate alumnus in Astrophysics and member of the Oxford Photographic Society, whose submissions to previous Graduate Photography Competitions have been featured in many University publications.
Two main prizes of one £200 Amazon voucher will be awarded; one to a submission with a social theme and one to a submission on an academic theme. The awards may not be made to the same individual.
The criteria applied by the judges in determining the winner will be the aesthetic quality of the image, interpretation of the theme and adherence to the Terms and Conditions as set out in this page.
Winners will be contacted via email in April and then publicly announced by 1 May 2013 via the Graduate Admissions and Funding website and Twitter feed. All winners agree to participate in publicity regarding the Graduate Student Photography Competition.
The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. If the winner cannot be contacted, the University of Oxford reserves the right to offer the prize to another shortlisted entry.
Image copyright
All images must be the original work of the entrant. The entrant must be the sole owner of the entire copyright in all images entered. It is the responsibility of the entrant, and not the Graduate Admissions and Funding Office, to ensure that he or she complies with this requirement.
By entering, entrants will be deemed to be bound by the rules and the University of Oxford reserves the right to exclude any entry from the competition at any time if it has reason to believe that an entrant has breached the rules.
If you have submitted a photograph of an individual or a group in a private setting, you must have obtained the person’s prior consent.
By entering the competition, you agree to your photographs (s) being used by the University of Oxford for the following purposes: (i) publication in the graduate print prospectus, (ii) publication in the online graduate prospectus; and (iii) promotion of the University of Oxford in any other media.
All photographs used will be fully credited to the photographer.