Organised by the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), the theme of this annual photography competition is "portraying gender". Photographers are invited to submit photos that challenge conventional understandings of 'femininity’ and ‘masculinity’: photos that portray women or men in ways that offer new perceptions about their roles and responsibilities; and photos that break the mould of the male-female ‘divide’. The competition is open to men, women, and children, of all ages and from all countries. Amateurs and professionals are welcome to submit:

• Photos that show women taking leadership and working in roles in public that were previously thought to be the sole domain of men.
• Photos that show men taking on nurturing or caring roles in private that were previously thought to be the sole domain of women.
• Photos that show women or men in a way that challenges cultural understandings of their "place" in society.
• Photos that show women and men on an equal footing.

Judges will select one overall winner and five highly commended photographers. A selection of entries will be exhibited in Toronto, Canada, and will be used in WACC publications, such as their website and their journal "Media Development". Each entrant may submit an unlimited number of photographs, but no entrant may win more than one prize in the contest. Winners of the competition will be awarded cash prizes. There will be one first prize and five commendations. The first prize is US$500, and each commendation will be awarded US$200.

The deadline for application is May 1 2009.

Click here for more information on the competition.


Entries may be submitted through the web-based service Flickr. Images must be loaded to the Flickr group website available by clicking here.

Entries must be licensed under "Creative Commons" license. This can be added under "Additional Information" next to each photograph.

Entries should have a short description of what the image shows and why it is relevant.

Click here to see the winning photo of the previous competition.

WACC News - Media Action 287, accessed on February 18 2009; and email from Teresia Mutuku to The Communication Initiative on April 1 2009.