“Every human actions becomes dangerous when it is deprived of human feeling. When they are performed with feeling and respect for human values, all activities become constructive.” _Dalai Lama

Gender & Gesture influences every aspect of our socio-cultural lives, stratifying society, defining, limiting and posing opportunities that inform our sense of self. This photography competition aims to highlight and foreground diverse approaches to these themes. It is a creative collaboration between Woxsen University in India and the University of the Creative Arts in England, with the purpose of bringing together converging global perspectives that respond to the theme of Gender & Gesture through the medium of photography. We are interested in work that documents/questions, performs and/or challenges key ideas of Gender & Gesture. Gestures are an unspoken non-verbal form of communication, but are they universal? Are gender roles rooted in class and cultural identity? Are Gender and gesture intrinsically entwined?

Participants are invited to submit a single photograph or a series of up to three photographs that respond to this theme in its broadest sense. The submitted work should reflect what Gender & Gesture means to image maker. This could include photographs that document gender as a visual construction of hierarchies, photographs that document and challenge stereotypical representations of gender, photographs that investigate the relationship between gender and gesture, photographs that consider expansive notions of binary gender.

The competition is an excellent opportunity to showcase your talent to a larger audience. It is open to student and professional photographers, practicing and established artists, from across the globe from any field of study/specialization, who have created work around the themes of this competition. Submissions are encouraged to reflect what gender means to the submitting artist, this could be through documentation, performative images or any other photographic techniques.

The work will be selected by a distinguished panel of International jurors to be included in an online exhibition, an in person exhibition in Hyderabad, in addition some of the work will be featured in an international publication. The winner will be awarded with USD 125(1st Prize), USD 100 (2nd prize) and USD 75 (3rd Prize) respectively.