Cash prizes to be awarded to top three entries

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Consortium for Aging in Community wants to challenge traditional stereotypes of aging. A Consortium-sponsored photography contest gives Kansas City residents an opportunity to help – and win cash prizes in the process.

The Consortium is sponsoring a competition, the “Be BOld Photography Contest,” open to both amateur and professional photographers. The goal is to collect an array of real-life images that showcase older people as relevant and vibrant members of our communities.

These photos will be used to display positive, upbeat images of aging on the Consortium website.

The UMKC Consortium for Aging in Community is a group of faculty with expertise in various aspects and issues of aging. The Consortium represents 16 different academic disciplines from 11 of UMKC’s 12 academic units. The Consortium’s mission is to lead in the creation and dissemination of knowledge to improve the quality of life for older adults. The Consortium believes that multidisciplinary approaches to education, research, program development, and outreach are crucial in order to appropriately respond to the complexities of our aging community, nation, and world.

“Typical stereotypes of aging are that all older adults are frail or withdrawn, but in today’s world, people are engaged in many different ways throughout their lives,” said Joan M McDowd, Ph.D., director of the consortium and a Professor of Psychology at UMKC.

“Ageism is, perhaps, the last frontier of accepted bigotry in our society,” added Kelli Wright, co-director of the consortium. “Assuming that a person lacks relevance in society because of advanced age is not only unjust but also incorrect.  Older adults make meaningful contributions to their communities every day.  In a world that’s aging dramatically, we need to think differently about what it means to be ‘old.’ ”

Contest Rules

Photos must be submitted electronically via email to bebold@umkc.edu. Recommended sizes for photos are a minimum of 200 dpi but no larger than 5 megabytes.

Entries must include three to six photographs, which can be a mixture of portraits and candid photos. Each photo should include a brief description of the photo and the context in which it was taken; and the photographer’s name and contact information (phone and email). Cropping and minimal sharpening of images are allowed, but heavy manipulation of images is strongly discouraged.

By submitting an entry, each entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant.

Deadline for entries: 11:59 p.m. Dec. 1.

A first-place prize of $300; second-place prize of $200; and third-place prize of $100 will be awarded. Winners will be determined at the sole discretion of the judges. By submitting photographs to the contest, the photographer gives permission to UMKC Consortium for Aging in Community to display, reproduce and distribute the image(s), with attribution, on the website and other materials that may be generated.

This contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers. Employees and members of the UMKC Consortium for Aging in Community are not eligible to participate. The contest is open to residents of the 15-county Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area, defined by the following Missouri counties: Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray; and the following Kansas counties: Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte.