KLPA is now open for submissions to our 11th instalment, in the THEME and OPEN Single Image categories.

This year, KLPA2019’s THEME category is specially dedicated to stand alone portraits made by photojournalists and documentary photographers who are reporting on factual news or pursuing in-depth photo stories on the human condition. When photographing human stories, often, portraits are inadvertently or purposefully made to emphasise or illustrate a certain narrative or unfolding event. It is these portraits that we seek to present to our judges, accompanied by a title and in-depth backstory caption.

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The popular OPEN category continues to seek fresh and creative portraits from photographers of all levels including studio, street or conceptual styles. Over the years, the OPEN category has been KLPA’s main feature in attracting many memorable portrait entries from all over the world.

WHAT WINNERS RECEIVE

Top three winners will receive $3,000, $1,000 and $500 respectively in each category, in addition, KLPA2019 plans to provide all Top 50 finalists with increased exposure and visibility by having their winning images shown at several major international photography festivals in 2019/2020 : Photolux (Italy), Mt.Rokko International Photo Festival (Japan), Auckland Festival of Photography (New Zealand), Yakushima Photo Festival (Japan); as well as being exhibited at ILHAM Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

TROPHY

The two First Prize winners in the THEME and OPEN categories will also receive a specially commissioned trophy from UK based artist YUKAKO SHIBATA to cherish.

ABOUT ORGANISATION

KLPA is an annual portrait photography competition initiated in 2009 to award the best portrait photographers from around the world with the main objective in raising the standards and appreciation of contemporary portraiture from a South East Asian context. Open to all levels of photographers from around the globe, entries are invited to a themed and open categories, and judged by a select panel of industry professionals and practitioners from South East Asia and beyond.

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Participants may submit up to 10 images in the THEME Category and/or OPEN Category.

'EARLY BIRD' rates from 1 to 28 February, 2019

Single Images
1 to 5 images, $10 per image
6 to 10 images $60 flat rate

STANDARD RATES from 1 March to 30 April, 2018

Single Images
1 to 5 images, $15 per image
6 to 10 images, flat rate $90

JUDGING CRITERIA

Our panel of judges represent active practitioners within the photographic industry and have been selected to provide their objective and professional views in the judging process, with extensive local, regional and international exposure.

Juror information

1. Enrico Stefanelli, Director of Photolux Festival, Lucca, Italy

Enrico Stefanelli is a photographer, journalist, curator and teaches photography in workshops. He is the founder and artistic director of Photolux Festival the biennial of photography in Lucca. He has curated several exhibitions and the exhibition "Cadets" of Paolo Verzone for "Les Rencontres de la Photographie" in Arles.

2. Tom White, Photographer

Originally from Bradford, West Yorkshire in the north of England, Tom is currently based in Singapore where he works as a freelance photographer. His photography has been published and exhibited internationally. Editorial clients include The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, The Guardian U.K, Thompson Reuters and The European Press Photo Agency.

3. Hasnoor Hussain, Photojournalist

Hasnoor Hussain is a photojournalist who currently works at a prominent Malaysian news portal, The Malaysian Insight.

4. Kong Yen Lin, Independent Curator and Writer

Based in Singapore, Kong Yen Lin is a curator and writer specializing in photography. A journalism graduate, she started out her career as a subeditor with the Global Picture Desk at Thomson Reuters before going on to earn her Masters in Asian Art Histories at Lasalle College of the Arts, where she researched on Singapore’s modern photography history.

5. Charmaine Poh, Photographer

Charmaine Poh is a Chinese-Singaporean artist. Her practice combines photography with research, text, video, and installation, focusing on issues of memory, gender, youth, and solitude in the Asian context. Often working with the form of narrative portraiture, she considers the performance of self and the layers of identity we build. She works with communities in a collaborative process that holds space for introspection, intimacy, and sharing. She is interested in the stories that make us who we are.

FAQ

Q. Who can enter?

A. KLPA2019 is open to all amateur and professional photographers from all around the world. All contestants must be at least 16 years on 30 April 2019.

Q. Who are the organisers of Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards (KLPA)?

A. KLPA is founded by explorenation.net, and organised by a team of dedicated photographers and project managers, based in the UK and Malaysia. Our partners play an important role in supporting KLPA and making it a respected and highly regarded international contest in promoting photography culture in the South East Asian region.

Q. When is the closing date for entries?

A. All entries must be received by Midnight GMT+8 on 30 April 2019 unless otherwise extended.

Q. How can I submit my entries?

A.  The 2019 submissions will be hosted by PICTER.COM. You will need an email and password to register an new free account.

Q. What is the entry fee for submitting my photographs?

All Categories -

Early Bird Rate (1 February to 28 February, 2019)

1 - 5 images, $10 per image.

6 to 10, $60 for whole set.

Standard Rate (1 March to 30 April, 2019)

1 - 5 images, $15 per image.

6 to 10, $90 for whole set.

Currency in USD.

Q. Can I pay with bank transfer or cash ?

Step 1

For Malaysian entrants only, payment can be made by cash deposit or online banking to :

CIMB Bank

Account : KL Photoawards 

Account Number: 800-308-5670

USD$1.00 : RM4.00

Step 2.

Send an email to us at info@klphotoawards.com attaching your payment receipt, name, category and number of entries.

Step 3.

We will send you a voucher code for you to upload your image files and captions on the website.

Q. How many categories can I enter?

A. You can enter more than one category. Each entry category must be made separately.

Q. What size do I prepare my images for uploading?

A. Please resize your jpeg files to 1,500 pixels at its widest or longest dimension. Save it in SRGB colour space and in jpeg format, High-quality level 8 and above, to around 1MB.

Q. Can I attach a title or caption to my image?

A. Yes, you can paste the title, short caption or statement for each image on the entry form. If you use Lightroom or other similar editing software, you can enter your title in the Title exif data field, and caption in the Caption exif data field. Prepare a text file to 'cut and paste' your text into the Title/Caption box in the form.

Q. How must I name my jpeg files?

A. Please rename your files to follow this format, in lower case : surname.firstname.number.jpeg

For example : James Bond will be  -   bond.james.01.jpeg

Q. Do I need an email address?

A. Yes, you will need your personal email address for communication.

Q. How can I make payment for entries?

A credit or debit card is required.

Q. What if I do not have a credit card?

A. For photographers based in Malaysia only who have a local bank account, we accept giro online or cash payments from your branch.

Q. How can I upload my image files?

A. Follow the instructions on the Picter host pages.

If you encounter problems with uploading, you can email your images and details to us at info@klphotoawards.com

Q. What do you consider as a portrait photograph?

A. KLPA seeks photographers interpretations as to what a portrait image is. Essentially, it must be of a person or persons, his or her social interaction with the surroundings, with others, a demeanour, or persona.

Q. Can I submit photographs taken several years ago?

A. We only accept images taken by the photographer in 2018 and 2019 only to keep a fresh and current content. If you images are part of a long term project, you may submit them if your image was taken after 2015.

Q. Can I submit photographs that have previously been awarded prizes or recognised in other awards?

A. Yes.

Please email us if you have any other questions.

Email: info@klphotoawards.com

Website: klphotoawards.com