The contest is open to photographers who are 21 years old or older as of Sunday, December 15th, 2019—the final day of submission. Photographers must reside in the United States. They must be unmarried and identify as Orthodox Jews.

Individuals affiliated with the Orthodox Union, including employees, officers, directors, board members, trustees, interns, volunteers, fellows, research associates, agents, representatives or independent contractors of the Orthodox Union, or subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, assigns, or any entity connected with this promotion, and each of their immediate families (children, parents, siblings, and spouses) and others living in their households, are not eligible. The Orthodox Union will determine eligibility in its sole discretion.

Entries must respond to the prompt: Submit an original photo that reflects your life as a single, Orthodox Jew.

To be eligible, a photograph must have been shot by the entrant or a third party who has taken a photograph of the entrant. The entrant certifies that he/she is the sole creator and copyright owner of the submitted photograph or has obtained from the photographer all copyrights to the photograph.

Cropped photos are eligible. We do not accept digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos. Minor adjustments, including the removal of sensor dust or scratches on scans of negatives, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast, toning, slight color adjustment, and conversion to grayscale are acceptable. The addition and subtraction of objects and/or people is not permitted. Image composites, including HDR and stitched panoramas, are not permitted. If the judges determine that a photographer has altered his or her photo, they reserve the right to disqualify it.

For a photo in which a person other than yourself is recognizable, you must be prepared to provide a model release from the subject or, in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian, to the Orthodox Union upon request.

Similarly, entrants whose photos depict other people’s work (such as sculptures, statues, paintings, and other copyrightable works) must be prepared to provide a release from the rights holder to the Orthodox Union upon request. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person’s creation.

If the entrant is unable to provide all required releases, the Orthodox Union in its sole discretion reserves the right to disqualify the submission, seek to secure the required releases, or permit the submission to remain in the contest.

Photos that violate or infringe upon another person’s rights, including but not limited to copyright, are not eligible.

Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent, or other objectionable or inappropriate content, as determined by the Orthodox Union in its sole discretion, are not eligible.

Entrants must disclose the circumstances under which an image was captured as well as any instructions given to a subject.

The welfare of a subject and the environment must be placed ahead of the desire to capture a photograph. Upon entering the contest, entrants certify that subjects were treated with respect and dignity, and that no people or wildlife, nor the environment were harmed in creating the photograph.

Submit photographs and requested information online through our website. You may submit up to 5 photographs. You must complete a separate form for each photo submitted. Photographs must be submitted in .jpeg, .jpg, or .gif format. They must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and be at least 3,000 pixels on the longest side. High-resolution scans of non-digital photographs are acceptable. We do not accept hard copies of photographs.

The Orthodox Union reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify incomplete entries.

The Orthodox Union may collect a photograph’s metadata upon entry. By making a submission you acknowledge the Orthodox Union’s privacy policy, which can be found here.

You retain your rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant the Orthodox Union (and those authorized by the Orthodox Union) a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, research publications of the Center for Communal Research. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit as feasible. The Orthodox Union will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

No purchase is necessary to enter.

Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, quality, originality, responsiveness to the prompt, and overall impact.

The photos entries will be judged by a panel of judges for the Orthodox Union, and one winner will be determined by those judges in their sole discretion; all decisions of the judges are final.

The Orthodox Union will notify the winner via the contact information provided at the time of entry; the Orthodox Union, in its sole discretion, may disqualify anyone who fails to respond to the notification within five business days. The winner will be revealed online in December 2019.

One $1,000 cash prize will be awarded.

The winner must provide his or her social security number. The winner must also sign an affidavit of eligibility/liability and public release and will be responsible for paying any fees or taxes associated with the prize. All prizes are awarded “as is” and non-transferable. In case applicable law prohibits the Orthodox Union from awarding a photographer the cash prize, the Orthodox Union may award the prize in name only.

All entrants hold the Orthodox Union and its respective employees, officers, directors, board members, trustees, interns, volunteers, fellows, research associates, agents, representatives, independent contractors, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, assigns, or any entity connected with this promotion (the “Indemnified Parties”) harmless from and against all claims of any nature arising in connection with entrant’s participation in the contest and acceptance or use of a prize. The Indemnified Parties are not liable for any costs, damages, injuries, or other claims incurred as a result of entrants’ participation in the contest or winner’s acceptance and usage of a prize. The Indemnified Parties are not responsible for incomplete or misdirected entries, technical or network malfunctions or failures, or causes beyond their control. Entrants are solely responsible for their entries. Entrants may not submit materials that introduce any software viruses, worms, or other programs designed to damage software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment, or are off-topic, partisan-political, contain advertising, nudity, personal attacks or expletives, or are otherwise abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, false, sexually explicit, or that infringe on the rights of any third party.

The contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. The Orthodox Union reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify these rules at its discretion. In the event of a dispute regarding the winner, the Orthodox Union reserves the right to award or not award the prize in its sole discretion. The Orthodox Union reserves the right to disqualify any entrant whose entry or conduct appears in any way to: inhibit the enjoyment of others; tamper with the competition; violate these rules or other applicable law or regulation; infringe on the rights of third parties; or act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner.

Decisions of the Orthodox Union are final and binding.