Contest's Monthly Theme
SEASON 3
NOV 2023 – OCT 2024
Welcome film photographers to Season 3 of our C41 Coffee Film Photography Contest 📸🎞🎉
With this new season, we are doing things a bit differently! Season 3 will have a main, over-arching theme, focusing on famous and influential street and documentary photographers.
Each month will be inspired by an influential street and documentary photographer — your challenge will be to shoot (or unearth in your archives) a film photograph inspired by them! ✨
These monthly themes will be an opportunity for new inspiration and creative challenges, learning more about the works and methods of influential photographers, and perhaps looking at your photography in a new way.
Submission fees: to help cover expenses we need to charge a small submission fee this season. For just $5 CND (the price of a fancy coffee) per entry/month, you’ll have a chance at great exposure and amazing prizes!
Monthly themes announced on the 1st of each month!
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April's Theme is on hold / paused for a break to get feedback and reassess the contest. Please check our instagram for questions & polls — give your feedback and help shape the contest with us!
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March's Theme: Fred Herzog — now closed
This month’s theme inspiration is Vancouver’s own famous street photographer, Fred Herzog.
Fred Herzog was born in Germany in 1930, and immigrated to Vancouver, BC in 1953. Fred worked almost exclusively with Kodachrome slide film, which provided the rich, vivid and unique colour to his incredible street photography.
With this month’s theme, we are doing something a little different. We want you to examine Herzog’s work, particularly his renowned photo titled “Man with Bandage” 1968. We want to see your interpretation or recreation of this famous scene — or any other of your favourite images — by Fred Herzog.
Vancouver’s Equinox Gallery represents the Estate of Fred Herzog and has a great selection of his work, including “Man with Bandage”, viewed here: www.equinoxgallery.com/our-artists/fred-herzog. Or see New York Times Magazine’s article: www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/magazine/the-odd-otherwordly-glow-of-fred-herzogs-photography.html
We look forward to your submissions!
Submissions open: 2nd March – 31st April
Link to the Submissions Page
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February's Theme – now closed
Our February theme is Edward Hopper.
You may be thinking “But wait, wasn’t Edward Hopper that famous painter?!”
Well, you’re right. Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter, and printmaker. But this is where it gets interesting; for this theme we are looking for photos (not paintings) in the style of Edward Hopper.
Urban architecture and cityscapes were major subjects for Hopper. Much of his work focused on the American urban scene. You may be familiar with his famous piece “Nighthawks”, depicting people inside a late night diner. Much of his artwork depicted street scenes of people through windows. This translates perfectly into street/documentary photography.
Have a look at Edward Hopper’s work, and decide how you would translate that into your photography. We look forward to seeing your submissions!
Submissions open: 1st Feb — 2nd March
(Feb’s a short month so we’re giving you a few extra days!)
Link to the Submissions Page
Nighthawks Photo Attribution: Edward Hopper, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hopper_Nighthawks.jpg
Page url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hopper_Nighthawks.jpg
File url: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Hopper_Nighthawks.jpg
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January's Theme – now closed
Our inspiration for this month’s theme is legendary street photographer Vivian Maier.
Vivian Maier was an American street photographer born February 1st 1926, whose incredible works were discovered only after her death (April 26th 2009).
Vivian’s style consisted mainly of street photography. She used medium format and 35mm film cameras, with black and white, and some colour film. She shot approximately 150,000 photos in her lifetime.
Her approach to street photography was very discreet, as she used a waist level viewfinder on her cameras. She captured her subjects mostly without being noticed, attributing to an honest and uninterrupted perspective of street stories around her.
For a more thorough understanding of Vivian Maier and her works, we recommend the documentary Finding Vivian Maier.
Good luck, and happy shooting!
Submissions open: December 1 — 31
Link to the Submissions Page
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December's Theme — now closed
Our second theme this season will be inspired by William Eggleston.
William Eggleston is an American photographer, born July 27, 1939. His work is credited with helping establish colour photography as a legitimate artistic medium.
His street photography features beautifully saturated, vibrant colours, and everyday familiar and relatable content. His compositions are thoughtful, capturing the beauty in seemingly mundane scenes, instilling a sense of comfort or nostalgia. Though his photographic style is documentary street photography, he often features gracefully posed, and sometimes poignant, colourful subjects.
With this month’s theme, we're looking for unique colour film photos inspired and influenced by the works of William Eggleston. We encourage you to take a good look at his photographic works (www.egglestonartfoundation.org) and let them inspire your submission this month!
Some of Eggleston’s books include William Eggleston's Guide (1976) and The Democratic Forest (1989) www.egglestonartfoundation.org
Good luck, and happy shooting!
Submissions open: December 1 — 31
Link to the Submissions Page
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November's Theme — now closed
Our first theme this season will be inspired by Daidō Moriyama.
Born October 10th 1938, Daidō Moriyama is a Japanese photographer who is renowned for his black and white street photography and for his association with the avant-garde photography magazine Provoke. His unique photographs are filled with rich, grainy, thought-provoking imagery with a beautiful aesthetic and a remarkable mastery of light and shadows.
With this theme, we’re looking for unique black and white film photos inspired and influenced by the works of Daidō Moriyama. We encourage you to take a good look at his photographic works (www.moriyamadaido.com/en) and let them inspire your submission this month!
Good luck, and happy shooting!
Submissions open: November 2 — 30
Photo Attribution:
Title: Daido Moriyama at the press day for the opening of the William Klein/ Daido Moriyama exhibition at Tate Modern, London
Photographer: titus_alone (https://www.flickr.com/people/45677140@N03/)
Attribution: titus_alone, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Common
Page url: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
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--- SEASON 2 ARCHIVED---
Season 2: May 2022 – April 2023
May 2022 “A Grand Day Out”
Have you ever had one of those wonderful days where you ventured out, and everything just came together beautifully?
For this theme, we would like you to show us your most amazing day out, in a photograph. This can mean many different things to many people. Maybe you finally got a chance to go on that road trip with your best friends, or maybe a family reunion on the beach. Hopefully you brought your camera! Show us your grand day out!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: May 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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June 2022 "Architecture"
This month’s theme is architecture. Our civilization, and past civilizations, are often defined by their architecture. From functional to spectacular, we are surrounded by structures.
Even a common, well-known structure can be photographed in a unique, imaginative way that no one has discovered before. The possibilities are endless. And certain film can lend itself to certain types of architecture to enhance the mood of the photograph.
We want to see your creative and unique vision of architecture. We look forward to seeing your photos!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: June 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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July 2022 "Experimental Photography"
For this month’s theme, we are looking for Experimental Photography.
Outside of the normal methodologies of photography, there are a plethora of alternative ways to capture an image on film. We want to you think outside the box on this one.
For example, you can experiment with shooting an image directly on film paper with a pinhole camera, or experiment with cyanotype photography. You can use experimental lenses, or shoot through unusual coloured filters (as long as it’s not digital). Instant film such as Polaroid or Instax can be used, too.
Be very creative! We can’t wait to see what you do!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: July 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Aug 2022 "Athleticism"
This month’s theme is athleticism. Whether it’s athletic events or your friends having fun playing sports, the summer is a great time to get out with your cameras and capture some action!
This category encompasses both indoor and outdoor sports of all kinds, from soccer to skateboarding, biking, gymnastics, weightlifting, swimming…the list goes on. Be sure to shoot from a safe distance and give the athletes lots of room.
Have fun!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Aug 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Sep 2022 "Vintage"
This month’s theme is vintage.
We love vintage things! Vintage items hold great sentimental value for many people. There’s just something wonderful about seeing old items, especially when they are revived and repurposed for useful and collectable things today.
Be creative and think of interesting ways to show us your film photos of vintage. Enjoy!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Sep 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Oct 2022 "This Old House"
Our theme this month is “This Old House”. We want your most creative photos of old houses/buildings/structures.
Get creative with the way you shoot the house/structure. It could be an old historical house, or maybe an old barn or church, or an abandoned creepy old house at the end of the lane … just be careful if it’s haunted!
Make your photo unique! Happy shooting!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Oct 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Nov 2022 "Fish"
Our theme this month is FISH!
Fish are colourful, shiny, silvery subjects and therefore, perfect for photography! We are looking for unique photos featuring fish. This is a broad category, so your photos can represent fish in many ways. They could be fish displayed in a market, or if you’re adventurous, fish swimming underwater. Get close, and make sure the fish is the main focus of your photo.
Good luck, and happy shooting!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Nov 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Dec 2022 "Portrait — Humorous"
This month’s theme is “Portrait”, but we’re looking for something different from the usual portrait theme. We're looking for humorous portraits! Whether you captured a candid portrait of a friend or family member hamming it up, a closeup of mime in action, or you’ve constructed a unique, silly portrait session, we want your most humorous and creative photos.
We can’t wait to see what you come up with! Have fun!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Dec 1 – 29th, at midnight.
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Jan 2023 “People Powered Wheels”
This month’s theme is people powered wheels*. We’re looking for your best/most creative film photos in a range of photography styles, from street, documentary, sports/action to still life, or even experimental formats.
(*bicycles, roller-skates, skateboards, scooters, unicycles or any other kinds of wheels, as long as they are powered by people and not motors)
Have fun!
Submissions open for 4 weeks: Jan 2nd – 30th, at midnight PST.
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Feb 2023 “Light Painting”
This month’s theme is “Light Painting”.
If you’re new to Light Painting in photography — painting with light is an artistic method of using a light source to creatively expose your subject (in the absence of normal ambient/flash lighting). Place your subject in the dark, with your camera set to long exposure (best to use a tripod). During exposure, you “paint” by moving your light source around your subject to creatively light them, often resulting in beautiful and surreal portraits. It’s best to do this in complete darkness, or at least with minimal ambient light, so your light-painting tool is the main source of light.
We look forward to seeing your most creative photos!
Deadline extended to March 5th, midnight PST.
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Grand Prize Draw
Saturday May 28th
3pm at C41 Coffee Shop
Submission page for info and upload link
Contest Prizes
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C41 Film Photo Contest
Season1: April 2021 — April 2022
Monthly Themes:
March "Community"
April "Heroes"
May "Drive"
June "Reflections"
July "The Portrait"
August "Double Exposure"
September "Night Photography"
October "Music and Dance"
November "Landscapes"
December "Winter Activities"
January "Make us Smile"