Intl Theatre Photography Contest Spotlights Children & Young Adult Theatre @ ninth Version

The Theatre Exposed’s International Theatre Photography Contest is making a wider visibility for kids and younger grownup theatre performances this 12 months.

The choice comes after 9 years of receiving an inadequate variety of images submissions within the Children and Young Adult theatre apply. Hence, the collaboration with its longtime accomplice ASSITEJ, a global affiliation that convenes theatre teams, organizations, practitioners and people from throughout the globe, who create theatric performances for kids and younger grownup, to restrict submission choices within the contest’s ‘Open Category’ – the place ‘Experimental’ and ‘Street Theatre’ Photographs utilized prior to now, to ‘Children and Young Adult’ Photography.

Contest Director Irina Averina, who famous that theatre for kids and younger adults just isn’t developed to the usual degree in every single place on the planet, expressed optimism that having a separate class for this side of theatre within the contest will draw the curiosity {of professional} photographers to the apply.

“It is no secret that if a photographer does not work in such a theatre, they will not go specifically to performances for children. In this way, we aim to attract more participants and demonstrate the level of development of these theatres in various countries around the world. After all, children are the most grateful audience.”

Averina has some extent. Children and younger grownup theatre just isn’t developed to the required degree wherever on the planet. This is especially true in Africa, the place the apply is scarce or non-existent. Except for college performs, which function baby actors, theatre performances particularly designed for kids are uncommon, not to mention inclusive theatre productions that includes youngsters with disabilities. The latter doesn’t exist.

Thus, a lot commendation goes to youngsters and grownup theatre festivals like Joshua Alabi’s Kininso International Theatre Festival (KIFT) and Seun Awobajo Footprints of David Arts Festival, each in Lagos, Nigeria, that produce and host high quality youngsters and younger grownup theatre productions from throughout the globe and Africa, yearly. The latter has a gaggle of younger dancers and actors who carry out throughout Nigeria and the world.

By emphasising submissions within the Children and Young Adult Theatre Photography contests, as seen in Theatre Exposed, not solely do they create world visibility for practitioners, but in addition spotlight alternatives for employment for photographers within the discipline. Additionally, it attracts consideration to the function of such theatre within the schooling and growth of empathetic and demanding considering youngsters, and a way via which younger individuals perceive the world with out essentially having to expertise the unlucky traumas their friends do in numerous elements of the world.

In this ninth version, an increasing eleven-member jury pooled from numerous continents Africa (Nigeria), Asia (Japan, South Korea, Iran), Europe (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Slovenia, France), and North, and South America (USA, Peru, Colombia), will consider entries from July 1 via 31, submit a submission deadline of January 1 to July 1, 2026, adopted by the discharge of a particular longlist.

Voting for the general public’s favorite photographs will maintain from August 1 to 10, 2026, on Theatre Exposed Facebook web page, whereas winners throughout the competition’s numerous classes – Arts Photo, Portrait Photo, Movement In Arts, Open Category: Theatre Performances for Children and Youth, alongside Audience Favourite Photo, will probably be introduced on August 19, 2026.

The International Theatre Photography Contest is held in commemoration of World Photography Day yearly on August 19. The 2026 version, which embodies the competition’s key goal, is themed ‘Theatre As Art’