Second annual photography contest launched

The Montreal Transport Society and Tourism Montreal are also on board this year with the effort, which seeks to immortalize in images the prettiest, most attractive parts of the city, and is being run under the Montreal.net cleanliness program. Montreal executive-committee member responsible for citizen services and cleanliness Marcel Tremblay indicated municipal services are the place regular citizens most often come into contact with the city.

"The challenge of the contest is to illustrate that presence through photography," he said. "Show us the beautiful park in your neighbourhood, a monument you really love, the fire hall that you think is beautiful, a particular corner of a library, the municipal pool or your local arena," he said.

The province's largest city is filled to the brim with architectural wonders, art, fountains, gardens and magnificent buildings, but residents shouldn't forget about the day-to-day dealings of their lives. The contest – open to all Montreal residents and readers of 21 Transcontinental local and regional community newspapers in Montreal – seeks to appreciate the beauty in our day-to-day lives, whether it's of bus or metro transport, public roads and paths, streets, boulevards and municipal buildings that merit a closer look, or just a shot of city workers hard at work.

Participants are invited to send their best photos for judging. Two photos will be chosen from each borough as finalists by judging and another will be selected by readers at the contest's official website: www.concoursphotos2007.com.

Three grand-prize winners will be drawn from the 57 finalists, and those lucky three will share a prize package worth about $4,000, consisting of a photo safari expedition, a 12-month public-transit pass and a two-night stay with breakfast served in one of Montreal's finest four- or five-star hotels.

Judging will be based on esthetic value, use of light and beauty, as well as how well a photo adheres to the 2007 theme of 'Montreal, At Your Service.'

Residents of Montreal's 19 boroughs aged 18 years and over are eligible for the competition and can submit up to three photos in either JPEG, BMP or GIF formats. Photos must have been taken in Montreal.

(Translated by Marc Lalonde)