SPAS hosting photo contest on Instagram

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Claire Cordano

This underwater photo by Claire Cordano of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut won the grand prize in RIT Photo Prize 2014.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s nationally acclaimed School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS) is holding a photo competition over social media that will recognize students perfecting their craft and pushing the boundaries of their creative voice.

To enter work in the RIT Photo Prize 2015, participants must be currently enrolled in high school or community college programs and tag their five best Instagram posts with #ritphotoprize2015. A jury of photography educators from RIT will judge tagged submissions through Saturday, Nov. 7. Winners will be announced during the school’s Day of Photography event at the William Harris Gallery on the third floor of Gannett Hall on Friday, Nov. 13.

The competition’s grand prize winner will receive an Apple iPad Mini, a tote with items from the RIT Photo Store and a feature on the RIT photo blog and Facebook page.

In addition, five jury selection winners also will receive a blog feature and tote bag. Each of the five jurors will select a favorite image from the hashtag stream for these awards.

The goal of the second annual photo contest is “to discover, support and promote a new generation of image makers,” according to Rachel Jerome Ferraro, a lecturer and award-winning photographer in SPAS and lead faculty coordinator. In its first year in 2014, the contest drew nearly 3,000 entries. This year’s contest already has had several hundred submissions, Ferraro said.

The four other members of the RIT faculty jury representing various disciplines within the school include Greg Halpern (fine art photography), Jennifer Poggi (photojournalism), Christye Sisson (photographic sciences) and Laurie O’Brien (visual media).

RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences prepares students for a wide range of careers and is nationally recognized for its degree programs. Resource Magazine has ranked the school one of the best in the United States.

The Day of Photography event will take place in conjunction with RIT’s Office of Undergraduate Admission’s Fall Open House, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14. Visit the College of Art and Design website for information on RIT’s photo school.