Youth photography competition launched

Last year's best overall winner by Monika Urbutyte from Lithuania

Plan has once again teamed up with Shoot Experience to launch the fifth annual Shoot Nations global youth photography competition.

Each year thousands of youngsters from more than 100 countries take part in the online contest in a bid to be crowned the world's best young photographer and have their work displayed at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

This time judges are looking for images which depict everyday life in the world’s cities. With more than 50% of the world's population now living in urban areas for the first time in history, this year's theme of 'city living' reflects this monumental shift.

Express yourself

Shoot Nations leader George Anang'a, from Plan UK, said the competition was about spotting great talent and giving young people a voice.

"This is the fourth Shoot Nations competition in which Plan has participated and every year the bar just gets higher, the standard is fantastic,” he said.

"The idea is that the smallest community or family issue in any area of the world can be photographed and displayed at the highest level of global government, the United Nations.

"This year we want to use the cities theme to build a picture of what urban environments mean to young people whilst focusing on the movement of people and the impact this has on the surrounding environment."

Get snapping

Shoot Nations is free to enter, and is open to anyone between the ages of 11 and 25.

Entrants should submit up to 3 shots each, with a brief explanation of why each photo demonstrates the photographer’s feelings towards 'city living'.

Find out more and enter the competition via the Shoot Nations website.