International Year of Camelids photo contest

Thank you to all those who submitted photos for the International Year of Camelids photo contest!

We received hundreds of great photos from nearly 70 countries around the world demonstrating the cultural, social and economic importance of camelids to communities worldwide. Our jury faced a difficult task in selecting the first prize winner and runners-up, given the exceptional quality of all entries.

Following a public vote on the FAO Facebook account, we are pleased to announce the second prize for the International Year of Camelids photo contest! 

The first prize goes to Lhais Oliva Huanca Vargas from Bolivia for her photo "Jisk'a Anata".

During the Jisk'a Anata festival, participants engage in the "llamerada" — an autochthonous Bolivian dance that represents the ancestral herding of llamas in the Andes, with roots in indigenous cultures such as the Aymara.

Lhais Oliva Huanca Vargas - Jiska Anata
Camelids economic growth

The second prize is awarded to Osama Awad Elfaki, from Sudan.

"Camelids economic growth" represents a herder leading his dromedary camels and other livestock across Sudan, a testament to the camel sector that supports livelihoods across the region. 

Battulga Purvee, from Mongolia.

In "They lead the mountain with a rope", a four-year-old stands firm, holding the Bactrian camels for his father and brothers during a "camel gathering", traditionally held after heavy snowstorms.

They lead the mountain with a rope
Wealthy woman owner of camels in Marsabit

Denish Ochieng, from Kenya.

"Wealthy woman owner of camels in Kenya" depicts Qura Laana, a nomadic woman from the Gabra Community in Marsabit County as she walks with her dromedary camels towards water springs in North Horr during a drought.

Uriel Montúfar, from Peru.

In the district of Cojata, over 4 000 meters above sea level, "Alpacas and woman herder in the snow" shows an increasingly frequent snowfall — an uncommon but growing impact of climate variability.

Alpacas y pastora en la nieve

  • Participants should be 18 years old or above.
  • Each participant can submit up to five photographs by filling in and submitting the registration form. Each photo should be submitted separately by filling in the form.
  • Submissions will be accepted only in English, French, and Spanish.
  • Participants must own the copyright and must have taken the photographs themselves. The photos must have been taken after 1 January 2021.
  • Each submitted photograph must have a title and a short description/caption explaining what the photo represents, considering one or more of the aspects mentioned, and where/when the photo was taken.
  • Participants are invited to post their photos on social media accounts, using the IYC hashtag/s: #YearOfCamelids and #IYC2024 and tagging @FAO.
  • Photographs must be submitted in .jpeg format. Images should be of high quality (e.g. 300 dpi and 5000 pixels and a file size that does not exceed 2 MB). Both colour and/or black and white images will be accepted.
  • The material must not violate or infringe third party's rights including but not limited to trademark, privacy, publicity or other intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement.
  • The submission must not contain dates, texts, brand names, logos or trademarks.
  • The IYC Secretariat respects photographers’ rights and does not claim copyright over images submitted to this contest. The author retains full copyright for each entry. Whenever the image is published by FAO, the author will be credited.
  • By participating in the contest, the contestant grants FAO permission to use the image in FAO material and on FAO digital channels for non-commercial purposes. FAO does NOT own the copyright and authors are free to use the image for other purposes at their choosing.
  • The top five photos will be posted by FAO corporate social media accounts, and the four runners up will undergo a popular vote to determine the second prize winner.
  • Any questions regarding the photo contest should be submitted to [email protected].

  • The first prize winner of the photo contest will be invited to a camelid event at FAO headquarters in Rome (Italy). Travel expenses will be covered for the winner, according to FAO rules.
  • Winners will be announced on the International Year of Camelids website in April 2025.
  • Winners will be promoted on FAO social media, by FAO offices around the world and partner websites.
  • All five winners will receive a certificate of recognition and a surprise gift bag.
  • In the event that any of the selected winner(s) of any prize (that is/are eligible in accordance with these Contest rules and/or the General Rules, Copyright and Privacy) cannot be traced, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and it will be in the sole discretion of FAO to choose whether to award the prize to another eligible entry.
  • When winning photos are published, only the first and family name will be published. No other personal information about the contestants will be published or shared.

  • Read more about the General Rules, Copyright and Privacy here:

    GENERAL RULES

  1. FAO employees and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, siblings and their respective
    spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether or not
    related, are not eligible to enter the contests. FAO will determine eligibility at its sole discretion.
  2. Partners or relations of partner staff of the institutions involved in the launch of contests, and relations of the
    judging committee are not eligible to compete.
  3. FAO reserves the right to disqualify submissions which are not consistent with the Organization’s values and
    guiding principles.
  4. FAO also reserves the right to verify the eligibility of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant’s identity and
    address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with the Contest Rules,
    including these Rules, Copyright and Privacy, or who tampers with the entry process.
  5. FAO will not pay any fees, nor pay any costs relating to, participation in any contest or for the use of any
    submissions in relation to the contest.
  6. No logos, URLs, telephone numbers, or calls that solicit directly for monetary donations should be included in any
    material.
  7. FAO will not be responsible, and cannot be held liable, for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected or illegible entries or
    for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without
    limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or for any
    human error, lost/delayed data transmission, or any other error or malfunction.
  8. By submitting entries to the contest, entrants agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be
    processed, shared, and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the contest, FAO institutional
    activities, and any other purposes outlined in these Rules. The data may also be used by FAO in order to verify the
    entrant's identity, postal address and telephone number or to otherwise verify the entrant's eligibility to participate
    in the contest.
  9. Nothing in these General Rules or in any rules for the contests, nor any acts performed or statements made in
    relation to the contests, shall be deemed a waiver, express or implied, of any of the privileges and immunities of
    FAO.

    10.  

    COPYRIGHT AND PRIVACY

  10. Entrants must own the copyright of the material they submit to the contest. If the material contain images of a
    person or persons, entrants must have obtained the permission of those persons for submission of their material
    to the contest as well as the use of the material by FAO for the purposes described in these General Rules.
  11. The entrant declares that, to the best of his/her knowledge, no third party can claim any rights on the material
    submitted. The entrant also confirms that each person depicted in the material has granted permission to be
    portrayed as shown.
  12. FAO will not seek additional approvals in connection with the use of the material and it will not be responsible for
    any claim or complaint alleging violation of the rights of third parties.
  13. Copyright of the material remains with the entrants. By entering the contest, entrants grant an irrevocable,
    perpetual, worldwide exclusive license to FAO, for non-commercial purposes, to reproduce, distribute, display and
    create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the contest and the promotion
    of FAO’s work, in, amongst others:
  • FAO corporate website: www.fao.org;
  • corporate videos or digital recordings to illustrate the work of the Organization;
  • printed FAO publications, brochures or posters.
  • Social media channels, including promotion of the contest itself;
  • any other media used by FAO to communicate.

 

Jury and public vote

The jury will be comprised of an independent group of individuals with different areas of expertise in photography, science and scientific communication. The jury will select the top five photos and overall winner. The other four runners up will be posted on Facebook and a popular vote will select the second prize.