Canon's 2016 New Cosmos of Photography Competition Opens

If you can “provide a glimpse of tomorrow’s photography,” there’s over $10,000 worth of prizes waiting for you.

What can we do through photography? What is possible only through photography? Those are the questions poised by Canon’s 39th annual New Cosmos of Photography contest.

Starting April 20th, photographers from all over the world are encouraged to submit still images, videos or fusion works that “go beyond previous photographic concepts and genres.” They’re looking for something that no one has ever seen before. It should be a glimpse of the photography’s future and push the envelope of photographic art.

An easy task, right? If you’re up for the challenge, you’ll be handsomely rewarded with prizes that include over $10,000, Canon products, exhibitions and publications.

Last year’s winner was Teppei Sako for “Made of Stone,” a mash-up video consisting of 27 individual scenes. Each scene was presented like snapshot photography but connected by a central narrative thread.

This is what the selecting judge Hiraki Sawa said about Sako’s “Made of Stone”:

“Although the video is somewhat long, at over 17 minutes, I couldn’t stop watching it over and over again. The composition is well done, despite the snapshot-like, hand-held recording style. Each clip was recorded continuously for three to five minutes without the subjects being aware of the photographer — as if the photographer melded into the street environment — which creates an added dimension by prolonging that decisive instant of a photograph the artist aims for. Stretching time and adding sound to photographs brings out more vitality from the people and places captured in the works. I also thoroughly enjoyed the sense of strength in the video, which, as a format, is an extension of the photograph.”