Health Photo Competitions

Over a year ago, a loved one of mine suddenly became very ill. There were many months of daily hospital visits and after that, time helping with the adjustment to a new situation. We often don't appreciate our good health until someone close, or we ourselves, suffer an illness or loss.

Here are some photo competitions, held every year, that remind us. At the time of writing (November 2013) many photography competitions had already announced their winners, but you could start thinking about these for 2014.

My eye World Photographic Competition

Each year the Macular Disease Foundation Australia runs the mEYE World Photographic Competition. You can send in entries from July and the winners are announced around November.

The competition raises awareness of macular degeneration which effects your central vision making it difficult to read or even recognise faces.

Deadline:  July each year

Categories:

Open
Australian residents 18 and over

Macular Disease Community
Australians 18 and over living with macular diseases or family, friends and carers

Healthcare Professionals
Australian residents 18 and over

Junior
Australian residents under 18 years of age

Prizes:
Numerous great prizes. See Prizes page for details.
Website:  My Eye World Photographic Competition
Take a look at the FAQs page for details on image file size and writing that you need to submit with your entry.

Previous Winners:
Have a look at the winning entries for the 2013 competition.

Other Health-Themed Photo Competitions

Many of these photo competitions are run by organisations hoping to make us more aware of  health issues, or to reach out to those who might need their help. If you have personal experience with a health issue, chances are there's a photo competition you can contribute to. Here is a small selection.

Australian Rotary Health

Yearly competition

Mental Health Month

October is Mental Health Month, so try an internet search around July each year and you'll find lots of photo comps with this theme.

National Centre for Farmer Health

If you're good with words as well as a camera, the competition also includes poetry.

Children With Cancer

There's a category for junior photographers as well as adults. Adults pay an entry fee which goes towards helping fighting childhood cancer. One of the judges offers some good basic advice on how to take a good photo.

Rural Health West

Photo competition open to all rural health workers (Western Australian competition) and 12 images are used for the Rural Health West calendar. Do take a look at the Terms & Conditions, particulary Paragraph 10 which asks you to sign away rights to your photograph.

British Heart Foundation

Probably mainly for professional medical researchers, but take a look at the amazing photographs of the vascular system.