Submissions are invited for The Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2023. The last date of submission is September 1, 2023.

About the Organizer

The Sanctuary Nature Foundation’s flagship Sanctuary Asia magazine founded and edited by Bittu Sahgal has been in continuous publication since 1981 and remains India’s leading and best-loved magazine in its genre. After the first issue of Sanctuary Asia rolled out in October 1981, the magazine quickly came to be at the fulcrum of wildlife conservation efforts pan India.

Contest Details

The Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards were instituted to showcase the contributions of India’s best wildlife photographers. Every year they receive a vast pool of stunning photographs, which reinforces the urgent need to conserve India’s wildlife.

Theme

Images taken in the wild that best depict Sanctuary’s descriptor: ‘Call of the Wild’ and are suitable for submission.

Eligibility

The contest is open to everyone except Sanctuary employees and employees of the sponsor, or those directly associated with the organisation of the contest.

Judging

All entries go through a vigorous judging process, designed to distil the very best from thousands of hopefuls.

The panel of judges this year include Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia; Steve Winter, National Geographic conservation photographer; Dr. Anish Andheria, conservation photographer and President, Wildlife Conservation Trust; Nayan Khanolkar, educationist, naturalist and wildlife photographer; Prasenjeet Yadav, Natural history and science photographer; Dr. Parvish Pandya, Director, Science, Natural History and Photography, Sanctuary Asia and Lakshmy Raman, Executive Editor, Sanctuary Asia.

The judges will be looking for originality, conservation value, technical quality, subject matter, aesthetics, rarity, mood and action. They reserve the right to shuffle images into appropriate categories. They would always place a premium on ethics.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

• Images taken in the wild that best depict Sanctuary’s descriptor: ‘Call of the Wild’.
• The entrant must be the sole author and owner of the copyright for all photos entered.
• Images may be photographed anywhere on the Asian continent. Photographers of any nationality are eligible to participate.
• There is no age restriction on entrants.
• A maximum of 5 images can be entered by each individual.

Cash Prizes

• 1st Prize: Rs. 1,50,000
• 2nd Prize: Rs. 75,000
• 3rd Prize: Rs. 25,000
• 5 Honourable Mentions: Rs. 2,500 each

Rewards

• Certificate of Merit: One-year Sanctuary Asia subscription.
• Certificates will be presented to all winners, Honourable Mentions, as decided by the judges whose decision will be final and not subject to further discussion.
• The Winning, Honourable Mention images will get a chance to be featured in Sanctuary Asia magazine (December 2023 issue) and Sanctuary Asia CUB (curated for Young Naturalists, January 2024) respectively.
• All entrants will receive a free annual digital subscription (12 issues) to Sanctuary Asia magazine.

How to Submit?

Interested participants can submit online via this link.

Submission Deadline

The last date of submission is September 1, 2023.

Contact

Email: images[at]sanctuaryasia[dot]com

Click here to view the official notification for The Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2023.