Distance No Object For Photography Competition

15th May 2009

Caithness and Sutherland photographers are being encouraged to get creative for a prestigious digital photography competition which has been launched to celebrate innovation in the Highlands and Islands.

Anyone with a camera and a creative eye is being invited to send entries to 'Innovation Exposure' which has been organised by Fusion, an organisation supporting entrepreneurial business, and Distance Lab, the digital media and communication technologies research institute.

Innovation Exposure is seeking stunning and inventive photographic examples of "innovation" and "creativity" in the Highlands and Islands. These images can originate from any realm of life, not just business.

The entries will be displayed at a series of Fusion 'Ideas for Growth' conferences being held across the Highlands and Islands. The Caithness event, which is being run jointly with the Caithness Chamber of Commerce and is aimed at developing innovative thinking amongst local businesses, is to be on June 3 at Caithness Horizons in Thurso. The Globalscot key speaker is Bob Creighton, joint founder, President & CEO of MentorShop, a US and European co-located international development company.

"The Fusion local conferences are an excellent opportunity for local businesses to meet with each other and globally recognised entrepreneurs and to share experiences, know-how, contacts and ideas. They are designed to have practical benefits," said Stephanie Anderson of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which is supporting the events. She added: "The inclusion of the photography competition within the tour is an excellent way of highlighting visual examples of innovation already within our communities."

The competition is open to everyone and a prize of £250 will be awarded at the final event on the Outer Hebrides on June 17.

The final deadline for all entries is June 5, but early entries are invited so that they can be displayed on innovative digital interfaces developed by Distance Lab at each of the events.

Bruce Morrison, chief executive of Fusion said: "Fusion has been at the forefront of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Highlands and Islands for a number of years now and we are delighted to be working with Distance Lab on this competition. The competition is designed to celebrate the modern Highlands and Islands through visual imagery and we are also keen to explore the themes of innovation and creativity."

At Distance Lab, chief executive Stefan Agamanolis added: " Distance Lab was created to combine technology, the arts and design to come up with innovations that have an impact on people's lives. The Innovation Exposure photography competition has allowed us to do exactly that. Our team has used digital media technology to produce a creative way to exhibit digital photographs and create a richer connection between the viewing audience and the photographer, who are often separated by time and space."

Entrants may submit as many photos as they wish. They should be presented in JPEG form by June 5 using the entry form which appears on the competition website www.innovationexposure.com

Anyone seeking further information should email info[AT]innovationexposure.com