Dublin Tourism are running a very interesting photo competition for the last year or so. They are operating through Flickr. You enter a photo by posting it to their group on Flickr. You can enter up to 5 photos per month and the increment to the pool is adjudicated every 2 months. The only condition is that the photo is relevant to Dublin.
I have been entering 5 photos a month for some time now and I currently have 79 photos in the pool.
I have noticed sometimes that the pool only picks up say 3 of my 5 submitted photos and have put the omissions down to software defects. Usually, when I resubmit the missed photos they eventually appear in the pool.
Last month, however, I have come up against what I think is a downright refusal. So far, the photos have been if anything flattering to the city, but the one (above) passed over last month is less than flattering, though I think it is a good photo. There is nothing in the conditions to say that the photos have to be flattering nor is there anything limiting the adjudicators in their absolute discretion in awarding prizes.
In an attempt to be sure that something was going on, I resubmitted the above photo this month (having resubmitted it twice last month) and also included some less flattering photos in this month's batch.
So far, the photo above has not been accepted nor has the one below, representing the end of the party from earlier this year.
My own view is that this is a disgrace. It is fine to limit prizes to flattering photos for the Dublin Tourism calendar, but it is an unjustifiable form of censorship and propaganda to refuse to accept unflattering photos into the pool. I would warrant that the batch I have submitted to date are more than flattering to the city and that there is even a fair risk that any tourist whose expectations are based on them would be seriously disappointed at the actual state of much of the place.
As a sign of my good faith, I have so far held myself back from submitting the photo below.
