National Geographic launches #ExploreWithNatGeo photographic competition in South Africa

Image credit: Gulshan Khan

National Geographic has announced its #ExploreWithNatGeo Photo Competition 2021 brought to you by Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, and in collaboration with The Sunday Times. Themed ‘Find the epic in every day’, the competition invites all South Africans to capture unique and remarkable moments, experiences or aspects of everyday life around them, with entries open from 7 March to 3 April 2021.

All it takes is a new perspective to rediscover our breathtaking world. Capturing these epic moments through a single image could lead to a share in prizes worth R70,000. The first prize is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphone plus accessories, with a Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G, and a Samsung Galaxy S21 5G as the second and third prizes respectively. In addition, the finalist photos and the winning three, will be published in the Sunday Times Lifestyle and online at TimesLive.

To enter, fans are encouraged to post their photo on Instagram, tagging @NatGeo_Africa @SamsungMobileSA, adding #ExploreWithNatGeo #GalaxyS21 and #withGalaxy hashtags.

Every week, 10 photos will be selected by the judging panel, which, together with an additional 10 wildcard entries, will become the top 50 entrants. From this batch of epic photos, the top 10  finalists will be selected by a panel that includes award-winning photographer and National Geographic explorer Gulshan Khan. The winner will be announced on Earth Day, 22 April 2021.

Gulshan Khan. Image credit - Zubair Sader

For the first time in South Africa, National Geographic is inviting amateur photographers to showcase their unique stories and perspectives through their lens, enabling unique local stories and experiences to be depicted using the photographic medium.

“Visual storytelling is at the heart of National Geographic and we receive hundreds of photographs from our followers on social media every year,” said Evert van der Veer, vice president, media networks, The Walt Disney Company Africa. “Every picture tells a story, every day has an epic moment and we are excited to see what vibrant tales South Africans have to tell.”

“At Samsung, our goal is to help people ‘do what you can’t’. This exciting collaboration expands on this vision, by inspiring amateur photographers to showcase their creativity, and share their unique perspective on a country unlike any other. When innovating the camera for the Galaxy S21 Series 5G, we focused on this mission – empowering people to explore the world around them and create their own epic moments, through an advanced pro-grade camera system. We look forward to showcasing the immense talent waiting to be discovered” said Cambridge Mokanyane, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung South Africa.

Entries must meet the following criteria:

• Entrants must be over the age of 16
• Entrants may not be a professional photographer i.e. earn a living through photography
• This competition is open to residents of South Africans
• Photos must be unedited except for colour grading (no CG techniques, super-imposing, etc.)
• Photos must speak to the theme of showcasing the ‘epic’ in something seemingly ordinary and everyday

Competition terms and conditions are available at the website