Could You Take the Theatre Photograph of the Year? (Your News)
By Paul Johnson
Open to amateur and professional photographers alike, Theatres Trust launches launches a new photography competition to celebrate the UK’s glorious theatre buildings and the magic that happens inside them.
Celebrated choreographer and director Matthew Bourne, comedian and actress Miranda Hart and actor Jude Law, all Ambassadors for the Theatres Trust, will be part of the judging panel.
Miranda Hart told Sardines: “Theatre continues to transform me into a childlike state of awe and wonder and I am never freer and happier watching it or making it. So to have the Theatres Trust Photograph of the Year competition as a way to find great talent to capture, curate and celebrate the majesty that is theatre is a wonderful thing. It will be hard not to want to pick them all!”
Open to amateur and professional photographers alike, entries are invited across three categories:
Beautiful buildings:
Highlighting the wonderful architecture of theatre buildings, old or modern, small or grand. This could be the exterior of a building, an inside space or a particular design detail.
Connecting communities:
Celebrating how theatres are central to their communities. This could be a theatre shown as part of its local area or how the theatre brings people together.
Entertaining evenings:
Capturing the joy of going to the theatre. This could be the excitement of a performance or a lively bar / café before a show. Matinee photos are welcome too!
From the category winners, one image will be chosen as the overall Theatre Photograph of the Year.
There is also a special category for younger budding photographers – the Young Theatre Photographer of the Year prize is open to anyone aged 16 or under.
Entrants are also being asked to provide the story behind their photos, whether that is their special connection with the theatre depicted or what the image says to them.
As well as the glory of winning the competition, there are also prizes, courtesy of Theatre Tokens. Each category winner and the Young Theatre Photographer of the Year will win £250 worth of Theatre Tokens, which can be spent in more than 250 theatres across the country. The overall winner will receive an additional £250 of Theatre Tokens.
Photographs must be of a UK theatre and must have been taken within the twelve months prior to the competition closing date.
The competition is open for online entries now with a deadline of 30 March 2020 for submissions.
To enter, you need to visit (where further terms and conditions can also be found): www.theatrestrust.org.uk/theatrephotograph
Judging will take place in April with a shortlist announced in the spring, followed by the winners later in 2020.
The initiative has the backing of the UK’s major theatre operators including Ambassadors Theatre Group, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, HQ Theatres and LW Theatres – who will promote it to their audiences. Other theatres are encouraged to get in touch with the Theatres Trust if they want to support the competition too.