A total of 116 best photos have made through the prejudging round, according to a statement published by the PJClub.[break]
The photos submitted were categorized into five different themes. Under the tourism photo (promoting Nepal), 431 photographers submitted 1074 photos, in the daily life category, 486 photographers submitted 1,231 photos, in news photo category, 158 photographers submitted 388 photos, in nature and wildlife category, 478 photographers submitted 1,224 photos and in photo story category, 100 photographers submitted 1,072 photos.
For each of the categories, a judge chaired the prejudging round. Senior photographer Gopal Chitrakar, Chairman of PJ Club Chandra Shekhar Karki, Editor-in-Chief of Nagarik Dainik Narayan Wagle, Executive Editor of Annapurna Post Gunaraj Luitel and Landscape Photographer Jagdish Tiwari shortlisted 116 best photos from a total of 4,989 photos submitted by nearly 600 amateur and professional photographers.
The shortlisted 116 photos will be put on display in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Pokhara and Nepalgunj after the winners are declared, organizers said. The winners will be announced from May 13 to May 15 at Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal, Kathmandu.
The judges will sit together again on May 9 with a guest judge for selecting the winners in each category. The guest judges are Deepak Raj Joshi, communication and public relations officer, Nepal Tourism Board, Akash Shrestha, communication and marketing officer, WWF, and Min Bajracharya, chairman of National Forum of Photo Journalists.
“We have selected the best photos. It was a privilege to see 5,000 photos in a day which prompted me to tour the country and reflect on what happened last year in the country,” said Narayan Wagle, one of the judges of the competition who chaired the daily life selection category, in a press statement.
Wagle further added that photojournalism has come of age and that the photo quality and news sense among the photographers have improved.
Senior photojournalist Gopal Chitrakar, who chaired the news photo selection, was impressed by the turnover of the photos. “From the ocean of photos, hopefully we will find the gems,” he added.
Meanwhile, the organizing committee of the Mega Bank Photo Competition 2067 also announced the sponsors for all categories.
Annapurna Marathon will sponsor the tourism category and the award will be named as Annapurna Marathon Best Photo Promoting Nepal as Tourism Destination.
Similarly, Agni Air will sponsor ‘daily life’ and the award will be called Agni Air Best Daily Life Photo. Likewise, UBOX will sponsor the ‘news’ category and the award will be called UBOX Best News Photo, while Raaika Tours and WWF will sponsor ‘nature and wildlife’ category, the winner of which will receive the award as Raaika Tours/WWF Best Nature & Wildlife Photo.
Mega Bank Photo Competition 2067 is the biggest ever photo contest open for both amateur and professional Nepali photojournalists.
The Photo of the Year will win prizes worth Rs 100,000, including cash.
The category winners will receive prize worth Rs 30,000 each and the first runners-up and second runners-up in each category will receive Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
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