Te Kete Wānaka
Learning, Teaching and Library
Be part of our living visual history
20 October 2025
Lincoln University Photo Competition 2025 October 4 - November 28 midnight
Are you someone who is inspired daily to snap stunning photos of your surroundings?
Learning, Teaching and Library (LTL), in association with Tikaka Tuku Iho | Living Heritage, are seeking contemporary photographs which showcase Lincoln, the Selwyn District, and the wider Waitaha Canterbury region.
There are several categories to enter, with the Grand Prize Winner receiving a professional print of their winning photo.
Categories:
1. Staff & Student Life
This category is all about capturing the life of our staff and students both on and off campus. Images of campus architecture will compete against student portraits, photos of social events and sporting matches...
2. Fieldwork & Discovery
The Fieldwork & Discovery category gives the more intrepid amongst you the opportunity to highlight how Lincoln University staff and/or students interact with the environment around them.
3. Inclusion in Action
Photos in this category aim to strengthen the visibility and acceptance of various marginalized communities through photography. This is an opportunity to showcase the diverse ways in which people connect with the world around them.
4.Travel & Overseas Spaces
A category for photos from around the world, highlighting an area’s landscape, people,
cultures, customs and history.
5. Kitchens, Food, Farms & Agriculture
A broad category meant to highlight the work that goes into creating a delicious meal. For example; people cooking or washing dishes; family and friends seated around the dinner table enjoying a meal; food and drink from a cafe or restaurant; workers picking fruit from trees or spreading seed in a field...
6. Places of Reverence
This category is all about capturing images of locations that hold deep spiritual or cultural significance. These are sites that are revered by communities, religious groups, or individuals due to their historical, religious, or symbolic importance. Your aim should be to convey the sense of awe, tranquility, and spiritual connection associated with these places through your images.
(Please note that the examples given above are intended for inspiration only. You are free to interpret each category as you’d like.)
For any enquiries, please email photocompetition@lincoln.ac.nz.
All the details
You are welcome to edit your photos using editing software prior to submitting them.
No
Broadly, no. Outside of the Abstract Image category, images are expected to be complete out of the camera. While you can do minor corrections, such as adjusting colours, adding to your photograph in any way is expressly forbidden.
Please read our competition terms and conditions below before you submit your entry form.
No. Any and all skill levels will be accepted in this competition.
All images submitted to this contest will be added to Living Heritage under the CC0 license, as part of the terms and conditions. https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/.
While you still own the copyright, anything that is submitted as part of the competition will be under a Creative Commons license and may potentially be used as educational or promotional content for Lincoln University.
We will accept images in either JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file formats. Images are to be a maximum of 45MB and must be submitted using the following naming structure: First Name.Last Name_Category_Date the Photo Was Taken
For example: john.doe_b&w_01.01.2023.jpeg
Images submitted without the proper naming structure may be rejected.
Ideally, yes if the individual is a main subject or feature of the photo. There are some further guidelines about this and information on the Privacy Act at privacy.org.nz. If it is a crowd or group shot and people are not easily distinguishable express permission may not be needed.
Note: This is intended to provide general information only and is not intended to be relied on as legal advice.
As per the NZ Copyright Act (1994) you are not allowed to take photographs of individual artworks that are still in copyright but a general photograph of an area that includes multiple artworks is acceptable.
The Lincoln University Tikaka Tuku Iho | Living Heritage is an online history of people associated with Lincoln, events, and the community since the organization's founding. It contains a collection of digital artefacts relating to the organization's social, cultural, and visual history, which contribute to the intellectual record and support the university's teaching mission.
More information on Tikaka Tuku Iho | Living Heritage here.
This document contains the terms and conditions for this competition
Terms and ConditionsSubmit your photos now and be in to win!
Entry Form