A shortlist of twelve outstanding international photographers, from which one will be selected later this year to receive the Prix Pictet, the world’s photography prize for environmental sustainability, was announced today. The Prix Pictet is “an annual search for photographs that communicate powerful messages of global environmental significance under a broad theme”.  This year the theme is ‘Earth’. A Mexican garbage dump where people forage to sustain a pitiful existence; the changing landscape and displaced communities of China’s Yangtze River; the devastating impact of oil production in the Niger Delta; and the annual pilgrimage to the desert fronts of the Iran-Iraq war are among the subjects that feature in the work of this year’s shortlisted artists. ‘Earth’, a book published by teNeues, cataloguing the work of the Prix Pictet nominees will accompany this year’s prize and launched on 6 October at Purdy Hicks Gallery, London. The winner will be announced by Kofi Annan, honorary president of the Prix Pictet and a former Secretary-General of the United Nations, on 22 October 2009 at the Passage de Retz gallery, Paris. Click through / read on for the names of the 12 shortlisted photographers.

Adobe and Popular Photography have announced a photo contest called Lightroom Through Your Lens. To enter, visit the website below, download your free 30-day trial of Photoshop Lightroom 2 and use the export plug-in to upload 3-5 images to the contest site. The Grand Prize winner will be published in an upcoming issue of Popular Photography magazine, recognised on PopPhoto.com, and receive a 2-night stay in New York City for a photo excursion and tutorial with a Popular Photography editor. The Reader’s Choice winner will be selected by Web site visitors and recognised on PopPhoto.com. Both the Grand Prize and Reader’s Choice winners will receive full copies of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. Before entering the competition, make sure to read the rules.

Website: Lightroom Through Your Lens

Yozilla.com, a new US website, has announced a pre-launch photographic contest. To enter, you need to register at yozilla.com, download and print out their “Flat Yozilla” pdf, and take a photo with the “Flat Yozilla” in it. The most creative shot will be rewarded with a $1000 cash prize. The competition runs until 25 July, and the winner will be announced on 1 August, the official launch date of yozilla.com. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the US to enter. As with every competition, you are advised to read the rules before registering and submitting a photo.

Viewbook PhotoStory, a new contemporary photography contest opened its submissions today, encouraging all photographers around the world to submit their most compelling series of photographs. Viewbook PhotoStory 2009 challenges documentary and conceptual photographers around the world to create compelling stories with a linear series of photographs in an online gallery. Every professional photographer or emerging talent can easily submit their series free of charge using a 60 day, no obligation, Viewbook Pro account. The first prize winners receive international publications & lifelong subscriptions with a value exceeding $12,000. The best photo series get published in the Viewbook PhotoStory 2009 book. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Website: Viewbook PhotoStory

From almost 8,000 outstanding entries, 12 successful images have been chosen as winners of the DK Eyewitness Travel PhotoBritain Competition. The overall winner of the competition is London-based amateur photographer, Frame Muller. Frame’s image - entered in the Heritage category - captures the magnificence of Leeds Castle at sundown. This shot will be published on the front cover of DK Eyewitness Great Britain Guide 2010. The successful applicant has also been awarded £100 worth of DK books, £1,500 Landmark Trust holiday voucher, £100 of PhotoBox vouchers and a PhotoBox canvas of their winning image. A selected collection of entries will be exhibited at the Waterstone’s flagship store in Piccadilly, London from 6th-31st July 2009.

Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a new travel photography competition with over $2,000 in prizes. The theme is ‘Mysterious Places’, and is sponsored by Lensbaby and Smugmug. The competition isopen to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date, whichis 31st October 2009. We encourage you to read the rules at the bottom of the competition page.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Olympus Corporation and the AFP Foundation have announced a photography competition entitled “Picture This: Caring for the Earth”. Its aim is to portray the people of Africa as stewards and protectors of their environment, and photos submitted for the contest must illustrate that theme. Special attention will be given to photos that take into account the role that women can and do play in that regard. There are two categories: individual photos (up to 5 entries per person) and photo essay (one photo essay, 4-10 photos per essay, per person). You may only enter one category. The top three winners in each category will receive Olympus cameras. Once again, and as with every competition, we encourage you to read the rules before entering.

Website: Picture This: Caring for the Earth

Microsoft has announced its new Bing Photo Contest. The competition kicks off on 29 June and runs until late July. The winning photo will be featured on the home page of Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, in early August. The contest will be implemented through the Bing Photo Sharing Facebook application. As always, make sure to read the rules before you enter.

Website: Photo Contest Details

To celebrate the Cecil Beaton: Portraits exhibition, the Walker Art Gallery has launched a competition to find a modern day icon. If you’re the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Sir Winston Churchill or Fred Astaire whose photographs can be seen in the exhibition, collect a registration form from the information desk or download from www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. 

Entries are welcomed from 26 June – 20 July 2009 for your chance to be styled as one of these fabulous icons and be photographed by Zoe Photography. The winning iconic portrait be displayed throughout August and be awarded to the winner in September. The exhibition opens at 10am tomorrow, 26 June, at Walker Art Gallery William Brown Street, Liverpool. Admission is free.

Food2 has announced a food photography contest entitled The Great Food Shoot Out. Food2’s first Challenge is seeking the hottest, rising food photographers - but actually, if you like food and have a camera or phone, that will work too. The Shoot Out is simple - you take a food or cocktails related photograph, and submit it until 30 June to the website below. The voting phase lasts from 1 to 13 July. The competition is open to US residents aged 18 or older only. Make sure to read the rules before you enter.

Website: The Great Food Shoot Out

International Garden Photographer of the Year is reminding interested photographers that the deadline of its Early Bird competition is less than a fortnight away. This year’s theme is “In Full Bloom”, and the deadline is 30 June 2009.

Website: Enter the competition

FotoFest organisers are reminding interested photographers that the registration deadline for the FotoFest Meeting Place is Monday, July 13, 2009, meaning there is now less than a month left to register. The FotoFest Biennial is claimed to be the longest running and most acclaimed photography biennial in the United States, and the next one will take place from 12 March- 1 April 2010. The Meeting Place is allegedly the largest, most international programme of its kind in the world for artists, curators and editors. During the course of the 16-day event, over 150 professionals from the U.S. and 20 other countries review the work of 500 artists.

Website: FotoFest Meeting Place Registration Form

The ninth Ricoh Photo Contest is now open for entries. The theme for the contest is “Laughter.” Since June 2004, Ricoh has been holding this contest for users who enjoy photography with Ricoh compact digital cameras. The application period lasts until 21st August, and the entries can be submitted via the contest website. A total of 50 photos will be chosen as winners from among the photos submitted, including a grand prize winner. Both professional and amateur works are accepted, as long as they have been taken with a Ricoh digital camera.

Website: Ricoh Contest Website

Wedding and Lifestyle photographer Sofie Louca has been announced as the Annabel Williams Photographer of the Year 2009. The competition attracted almost 1000 entries, from as far afield as Australia and India, and boasted a total prize fund of more than £10,000. Sofie won the Teenagers/Adults category of the awards and was also runner up in the Wedding Album category, before going on to be awarded the overall Photographer of the Year award with her shot of a young couple on a beach.  On top of her category prizes, Sofie also scoops a Canon EOS 5D MkII camera and lens worth more than £2,500.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has announcedthe launch of this year’s RSPCA Young Photographer Awards. The aim of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards (YPA) is to encourage young people’s interest in photography and show their appreciation and understanding of the animals around them. There are two age categories, a Pet personalities category plus the so-called Olympus portfolio category. There are a number of prizes up for grabs in YPA 09, including £1000 worth of Olympus vouchers, Olympus digital cameras, an exclusive RSPCA photoshoot and the chance to attend an invite-only awards ceremony where all shortlisted entries will be on display. The deadline for entries is midnight on 7 September for those submitted via www.rspca.org.uk/ypa or 5pm on 24 August for postal entries.

The 2010 Sony World Photography Awards are open for entries from today. The competition for professional photographers incorporates 12 categories across three genres – commercial, fine art and photojournalism/documentary. The overall winner will take the coveted L’Iris D’Or title together with $25,000. From the nine amateur categories, one photographer will be chosen as the Sony World Photography Awards Amateur Photographer of the Year and win a grand prize of $5,000 and Sony camera equipment. New for the 2010 awards, a documentary category has been introduced for amateur photographers.

The Fujifilm Instax Superhero Photo Contest launches today on Facebook. You can submit up to three photos reflective of the superhero theme, which have to be taken using a Fujifilm Instax 200 camera, scanned and posted on the Fujifilm Instax Facebook Page. Fans of Fujifilm Instax on Facebook will be able to cast their votes for their favorite photo until the competition is narrowed down to five finalists. Then, a panel of pro photographer judges will select the winning Instax superhero-themed photo. The contest is open now until June 30th, and the winner will receive one case of Instax 200 Instant Film.

The winners and finalists of the second International Garden Photographer of the Year competition are featured in a new exhibition, which is now open at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The exhibition displays over 100 images from the second International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, specially printed and created for viewing outside in the delights of the Kew Gardens situated between the Pavilion Restaurant and the Pagoda. The exhibition will be on display at Kew Gardens until 3 September 2009.

ExpoImaging and One Model Place, the world’s largest online portfolio and talent community have announced the winners of their contest to find the best photos shot using ExpoImaging’s Ray Flash Ring Light Adapter. Photographer Hector Perez was awarded first place for his close-up glamour portrait. Second place winner, JD Millazo, was selected for his outdoor fashion shot. The Ray Flash is a lightweight adapter that converts your hot shoe flash into a ring light. Weighing less than a pound, the Ray Flash attaches in seconds by sliding onto the head of the flash. Once installed, you can shoot manually, or use your camera’s TTL functions. The versatility of the Ray Flash makes it ideally suited for use in fashion, portrait and macro photography as either a main, or fill light.

The top 100 finalists in the Hasselblad 2009 Masters Awards Competition have been selected and their images are now online for viewing and voting by the public. Photographers from China, Japan, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, India, Canada, the United States, Italy, Australia, Germany, and other countries have captured images that reflect 10 categories: architectural, editorial, fashion/beauty, fine art, general, landscapes/nature, portrait, products, upcoming, and wedding/social. This year, for the first time, judging is open to the public. A special online gallery and voting area allow website visitors to vote for their favorite photographers and images. The public will serve as an additional “jury member,” helping the Masters Jury select semi-finalists and finalists.

Website: Hasselblad Masters 2009 Online Gallery