Entry Information

Prizes

One Grand Prize / Seven Excellence Awards / 14 Honorable Mention Awards

Application method

• Award selections are made by the Excellence Awards selection committee in June. Note that Canon conducts a preliminary screening before the Excellence Awards selection committee meets.
• Each of the 7 judges on the Excellence Awards selection committee will choose 1 (individual or group) Excellence Award winner and 1 or 2 (individual or group) Honorable Mention Award winners. As a result, it is possible that the same person or group will be selected by multiple judges for an Excellence Award or Honorable Mention Award.
• Digital works (still images and videos) will be judged using iPads and computers.
• The seven judges on the Grand Prize selection committee will have a public meeting at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in the autumn of 2021 and together choose one Excellence Award winner as the Grand Prize winner.

Entry fee

Entering the Contest is free. Please note, however, that the applicant (individual or group) is responsible for all costs related to the submission and return of their entry if submitted by postal mail or courier. Please note also that we cannot return entries submitted by postal mail from outside Japan. (See details on the other page.)

Prizes, gifts, and publicity

Grand Prize winner

• Prize money totaling JPY 1 million (which includes the JPY 200,000 prize money for the Excellence Award)
• Gift of a Canon products
• Permitted to hold a solo exhibition at the New Cosmos of Photography Exhibition 2021
• All Excellence Award publicity

Excellence Award winners

• Prize money totaling JPY 200,000
• Works exhibited at the New Cosmos of Photography Exhibition 2021
• Invited to the Public Grand Prize selection committee meeting
• Works showcased on the New Cosmos of Photography website
• Works published in the next issue of the New Cosmos of Photography Magazine

Honorable Mention Award winners

• Prize money totaling JPY 30,000
• Works exhibited at the New Cosmos of Photography Exhibition 2021
• Works showcased on the New Cosmos of Photography website
• Works published in the next issue of the New Cosmos of Photography Magazine

Prize money and other gifts will be given after the Grand Prize winner has been selected by the selection committee.

Be sure to read the entry information before entering the Contest. An entry application must be made on the Web Application System prior to entering a work in the Contest.

Entry application and submission period

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 (10:00 JST) – Monday, May 31, 2021 (23:59 JST)
*Online submissions (still images / videos) will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. (JST), May 31, 2021. Submissions by post or courier must arrive no later than 5 p.m. (JST), May 31, 2021.

New Cosmos of Photography Entries Application Center
c/o Nippon Express Co., Ltd.
Keihin Truck Terminal 14-A Bldg 1F
2-1-1 Heiwajima, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-0006
TEL : +81-3- 3767-0921

Entry eligibility

• There are no restrictions on nationality, age, gender, or experience (both professional and amateur photographers may enter).
• Both individuals and groups may enter the Contest. Entry by groups, however, is restricted to groups that plan to continue activities as a group in the future.
• Persons under the age of 16 cannot enter the Contest without the consent of a parent or guardian. It is assumed that, by entering the Contest, the person under the age of 16 has obtained the consent of a parent or guardian.
• Canon Group employees are not eligible to enter.

Entry conditions

• Entries are limited to original photographic works that have not been selected for awards or distinctions in other contests or competitions.
• We cannot accept works that have been submitted to other contests or competitions that are still being judged.
• Works that infringe upon third-party rights (copyrights, trademark rights, portrait rights, etc.) may not be submitted. Applicants are required to obtain prior permission from rights owners to enter photographic works that contain copyrighted or other protected materials (works of art, films, photos, music, etc.) owned by others.
• Each Applicant (individual or group) may enter only one work. The same person may not enter simultaneously as an individual and a group.
• One Entry Number is assigned per applicant (individual or group). Using your Entry Number, you can update your personal information and the description of your entry, as well as re-upload your work, as many times as you like during the entry application and submission period.
• Should an applicant attempt to use multiple email addresses to obtain multiple Entry Numbers, the applicant will be disqualified for violating the Contest rules.
• There is no restriction on the number of elements or items that make up a photographic work. There are restrictions, however, on the file size and format of digital entries (still images and videos / movies) submitted online.
• If you submit your entry in digital form, the data you send will be judged as the work in its final form. If you wish the final form of your work (for exhibition) to be prints, panels, or in book form, it is best to send your work in its completed form by postal mail or courier.
• We do not accept submissions of works on DVD, Blu-ray, or other media.
• Works that are not recognized as photographic expression may not be accepted.

Definition of photographic works

Photographic works are defined as image data taken with any device, including smartphones and digital cameras, capable of taking still images or videos. Photographic works that have been processed or manipulated with camera apps, image editing apps, or other software are acceptable. Both color and black and white works are accepted. (Images taken with film cameras and converted to image data with a scanner are acceptable.)

Still image data

• The image size should be 2,400 x 2,400 pixels or larger (recommended). Up to 100 photos or 1,000 MB (approx1GB) can be uploaded.
• The recommended file format is JPEG with a resolution of 72 dpi or greater.
• The color space standard used in the judging process is sRGB.

Note: Contest winners may be asked to submit higher resolution image data for inclusion in the Contest publications and exhibitions.

Video / movie data

• Any photographic device can be used to take the video work.
• The total file size of the still images or videos cannot exceed 1,000MB (approx1GB). The only format accepted is MP4.
• Music used in video works must be free of any stop-use or other actions from third parties. Original music that the contestant holds the copyright to may be used (provided that the rights have not been assigned to a copyright collection organization).

Works that combine still images and video

• If your entry is digital data (still images or video) or a print or book, then you should select “Still Image Entry” for still image data, “Video Entry” for video data, or “Physical work entry” for prints or books. Send entries that must be sent with “Physical work entry” along with the entry sheet to the designated address.
• If your video contains still image material, submit a single video file as a “Video Entry”.
• For entries that mix video and still images, you may submit a record a video of the exhibition of this work and submit this video as a “Video Entry”.
• We do not accept submissions of works on DVD, Blu-ray, or other such media. Video entries are only accepted by uploading video files (in MP4 format).
• If you ultimately expect to project a video or play it on a monitor (at the exhibition after the Excellence Awards), and layout still images around this video, submit your entry with an image of your exhibit in the “Exhibition plan” section. In this case, you must still upload still image data as a “Still Image Entry” and video data as a “Video Entry”.

Announcement of prize winner

Excellence Award and Honorable Mention Award winner

After the judging process, the Secretariat will contact the winners directly by the end of July 2021. The winners will be announced on the New Cosmos of Photography website (global.canon/en/newcosmos/) by the end of July 2021. Excellence Award winners will be given an orientation session after the announcement regarding the reproduction of their works for the New Cosmos of Photography Exhibition 2021.

Grand Prize winner

The Grand Prize winner will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held after the public Grand Prize selection committee meeting. The winner will also be announced later on the New Cosmos of Photography website.

Return of entered works

• Digital entries (still images and videos) submitted online will not be returned.
• If the applicant indicates a preference for the return of their entry submitted by postal mail or courier, a delivery service contracted by Canon will return the entry by C.O.D. delivery to the address given on the application form. Returns will be made after the Excellence Awards selection committee has met. (Note that entries can only be returned to addresses in Japan. Entries from overseas cannot be returned to an overseas address.)
• Entries will be sent out by the last day of August 2021. The contestant must pay the delivery charges upon receipt. Please contact Canon through the New Cosmos of Photography Secretariat ahead of time if you will be away for an extended period or will be changing addresses between July and September 2021. Any undeliverable entries returned to Canon due to continued absence, an unknown address, or other reason will be disposed by Canon if the contestant has not made contact by the end of August 2021.
• Please select Return Not Needed on the application form if you do not need your entry returned to you. Entries will be disposed by Canon at the end of the contest.