Categories

The categories are the following:

1. Natural Bath

Open to all students. Capture how nature shapes your experience of Bath. Through your lens, reveal a moment, place, or detail that shows where the natural world meets city life. We’re looking for visuals that highlight the beauty, and character of Bath as it appears in everyday encounters with nature, whether in a quiet green space, an unexpected view, or a fleeting moment with local wildlife.

Some examples include:

a favourite tree, plant, or natural detail
a scenic view where the city and nature meet
wildlife spotted around campus or town
a place where you feel connected to the outdoors
a photograph that captures the true nature or character of Bath

2. Nurturing Bath

Open to all international students. Capture how connection shapes your experience as a student. Through your lens, reveal a moment, place, or action that shows how relationships, support, and shared experiences bring people together. We’re looking for visuals that speak to community building through the everyday ways people nurture and care for each other, and in turn, ourselves.

Some examples include:

shared meals or celebrations
cultural exchange
helping someone
study groups or creative collaboration
a place or activity where you feel included
an act of kindness from a stranger

Each photo should come with a title, and a caption of 100 words or less describing the photo and how it relates to the theme to help us better understand your experience.

Photos taken on a mobile phone will be given equal consideration as those taken by camera.

Eight finalists will be chosen for each category. Their photographs will be printed, mounted and displayed at an exhibition in the BRLSI (Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute) in Queen Square on Wednesday 29 April, 6.30pm - 8pm. This will be a joint exhibition with Bath Spa University and Norland College, who are running similar but separate competitions at the same time. Students from both universities and Norland College will have an opportunity to meet at the event.

Winners of each category will be announced by the Mayor of Bath at the exhibition.

Eligibility

The competition is open to all students but the 'Nurturing Bath' category is for international students only. Only one submission is allowed per category per student.

Judging criteria

The eight finalist photographs and the overall winners for each category will be selected by a panel of judges. They will make their selection based on the following criteria:

how well the photo captures the theme
originality and creativity
impact - does the photo leave a lasting impression

Terms and conditions

photos must be taken by the person entering. By submitting your photo, you are confirming it is your photo and that you have the right to submit it.
the opening date for submissions is Saturday 28 March and the closing date is midnight Sunday 12 April. Photos submitted after this time will not be considered.
winners of each category will be announced by the Mayor of Bath at the exhibition.
the decision of the judging panel is final.
you must have permission from any people identifiable in the photo. Written permission will be required from any identifiable person featuring in a photo chosen to be in the exhibition.
by submitting your photograph, you grant permission for its use in university marketing materials and social media accounts. Where possible, photos will be credited but you will receive no payment.

Technical requirements

Photographs must be digital. To ensure the competition is accessible to all students (including those whose only camera may be a smartphone) photos should not have undergone significant digital or professional editing (such as retouching or the removal of objects in Photoshop or similar). More ‘standard’ procedures such as cropping, image orientation, limited contrast and brightness adjustments and converting colour photos to black and white are permitted. Photos must not contain watermarks or digital signatures.

Photos should be of a size that properly resolves on a computer screen (i.e. without distortion or pixellation), and as a .jpeg image.