1. Conditions of entry

a) The contest will be divided into two categories of participants:

• Professional Photographers (designed for people whose main activity is represented by photography and who, consequently, have already sold, published and exhibited their work)

• Amateurs

b) Entry to the competition is free of charge.

c) Participants may be nationals of any member country of FAO.

d) Only ONE photograph may be submitted per participant.

e) The photographer declares and FAO recognizes that he/she is the only copyright holder of the material submitted. The photographer hereby gives permission to FAO to use the material submitted to the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF RICE GLOBAL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST "RICE IS LIFE" in the exhibition resulting from the contest and in all promotional material relating to the International Year of Rice. FAO hereby reserves the right to publish category winners and the nominees of the short list selected by the Selection Committee in brochures or materials directly related to the International Year of Rice 2004 for a period of no more than 12 months without any remuneration being due to the photographer. FAO will ensure due recognition of and acknowledgement to the photographer. After the expiry of the 12 month period FAO will negotiate on a case-by-case basis compensation to the photographer for any subsequent use of the material . The photographer declares that to the best of his/her knowledge no third party can claim any rights on the material submitted.

f) The submitted material will not be returned. FAO assumes no responsibility for materials lost, damaged or delayed in mail.

g) The photograph's relationship to the theme "Rice is Life" must be easily identifiable and presented in a form that may be readily evaluated by the Selection Committee.

h) The photograph must be recent and relevant to 2004 International Year of Rice.

i) The terms set out above and on the entry form are binding.

Colour and black and white prints, slides or digital entries are accepted in this contest (the picture must be of reproduction quality).
Multiple exposures, composite photographs and manipulated images are excluded from this contest.

a) Prints: minimum size 20x25cm (8x10 inches), maximum 30x40cm (12x16 inches).

b) Slides: 35mm mounted transparencies. Correct viewing side should be indicated by a black dot in top right-hand corner of the slide mount.

c) Digital image*: hard copy prints or transparencies from digital sources must be of reproduction quality. Image resolution should be 300 dpi; the resulting uncompressed file must not exceed 50 Mb.

Please note that the original structure of the digital image must not be altered except by such darkroom techniques as brightness, contrast and colour adjustments, dodging and burning. Any other kinds of changes from the original digital frame are not allowed.

* Digital entries consist of a digital file stored on a CD-ROM.

Each photograph must be accompanied by a completed and signed IYR Global Photography Contest "Rice is Life" Entry Form. Participants for the Professional Photographers category must include a bibliographical description and/or a curriculum vitae.

Entries submitted by e-mail will not be considered.

3. Submission of entries

Entries should be forwarded either by registered mail or prepaid courier. Please write "no commercial value" on the package to avoid extra costs and delays at customs. All entries must be accompanied by the ENTRY FORM. The submitted material will not be returned.

Entries submitted by e-mail or entries that arrive at the IYR Secretariat, FAO after 30 July 2004 will not be eligible for consideration.

All entries must be sent to:

International Year of Rice Secretariat
IYR Global Photography Contest "Rice is Life"
Room C-789
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy

Telephone: + (39) 06 570 53 495
Fax: + (39) 06 570 56 347

II. PROCEDURES FOR FINAL SELECTION

1. The Selection Committee will comprise a panel of distinguished photojournalists, professionals working in the field of photography and senior members of the FAO International Year of Rice Task Force Department.

2. The following criteria will be used by the Selection Committee in ranking the photographs submitted:

a) Relationship between the content and the IYR slogan "Rice is Life";

b) Aesthetic and technical skill in conveying the message to the public;

c) Relationship between artistic originality and ability to focus public attention on the role of rice in one or more of the following themes: food security, cultural heritage, indigenous knowledge, sustainable rice production, biodiversity, environment, scientific advancement, labour and livelihoods support.

3. The selection Committee will evaluate the material submitted and establish a short list of nominees from which the winners of the contest will be selected.

4. the short list of the nominees and winners of the contest will be published on the IYR webpage by 20 September 2004.

5. Top recipients of each category will be contacted directly by the IYR Unit.

III. CONFIRMATION OF AWARDS

1. Prizes

The winner of the first prize in each category will be invited to FAO Headquarters in Rome where they will be honored with the following prizes:

Professional Photographers Category
1st place: Nikon D70
2nd place: Nikon Coolpix 5400
3rd place: Nikon Coolpix 5200

Amateur Photographers Category
1st place: Nikon Coolpix 4200
2nd place: Nikon Coolpix 3200
3rd place: Nikon Coolpix 2200

2. Awards Ceremony

To be confirmed and determined at a later date
The FAO Director-General will present the awards to the winners of the contest at a special event held in connection with World Food Day 2004, 15 October 2004.

IV. SPONSORSHIP

The IYR Global Photography Contest "Rice is Life" is proud to be supported by Nital s.p.a, the exclusive distributor of Nikon products in Italy.