I’m honoured to have been asked to act
as a judge in a photography competition being run by the Society for Psychical
Research, details of which appear in the Winter issue of the Society’s magazine
Paranormal Review, edited by Dr Leo
Ruickbie, and on its website.
The idea is to submit a maximum of three
digital images that ‘represent the idea of the paranormal’; the focus is on a
strong depiction of the ‘spirit’ of the paranormal – however the entrant chooses
to interpret it – rather than on evidentiality.
The photograph need not be offered as evidence of an anomalous event,
hence manipulation using photo-editing software is allowed. Entries can be in any genre and can address
any aspect of the subject. First prize
is a rather handsome Olympus Tough TG-Tracker, plus the winning photograph on
the magazine’s cover. Two runners-up
will be featured inside. The competition
is open to members and non-members of the SPR.
There is no entry fee and the winners retain copyright (unlike in some
competitions). Entrants will not receive
individual assessments.
Apart from me, the judges are Dr Andreas
Fischer, one of the authors of The
Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult, the best book on spirit
photography ever produced; Dr Michael Pritchard, photographic historian,
Director General of the Royal Photographic Society, and owner of the British
Photographic History website; Dr Ruickbie, who in addition to editing Paranormal Review and having a number of
books to his name is a professional photographer; Shannon Taggart, New
York-based photographer whose book Séance:
Spiritualist Ritual And The Search For Ectoplasm will be published shortly;
and Dr Melvyn Willin, SPR Council member and author of several books on
photography and the paranormal.
The competition closes at midnight GMT,
Wednesday 31 May. Anyone contemplating
entering should read the terms and conditions carefully. I hope as many people as possible have a go,
to which end please help to spread the word.
