Student Visual Storytelling Awards 2026
A celebration of our youth's aspirations, desires, and identities through powerful visual storytelling
Students and Media Clubs from MOE schools are invited to take part in the 3rd edition of our Student Visual Storytelling Awards, where they stand a chance to win prizes and be part of a national group exhibition from September to October 2026!
theme for 2026
To dream...
Our dreams are a window into our aspirations, desires, and identities. What dreams do you have for your near or distant future? What story does your dream reveal about who you are?
the competition unfolds across 3 categories
Student Photographer of The Year
Submit an individual photo story comprising of 5-8 captivating images on the theme.
Student Film of The Year
Showcase your storytelling prowess with a documentary or narrative film on the theme (up to 90 seconds), made individually, or by a team of up to 5 student filmmakers.
Photo Team of The Year
Assemble a team of 5 student photographers and submit 15-20 images capturing the essence of school events*.
*Photo Team submissions need not adhere to the theme.
All submissions must be accompanied by a writeup of up to 150 words.
We are offering free talks for a limited time to share valuable tips and tricks on crafting a well-developed visual story as students prepare their competition entries.
Please get in touch with us at geraldine@objectifs.com.sg to schedule a free talk for your school and find out more about submission details.
Awards
Student Photographer of the Year
First Prize:
$200 Voucher + Plaque
Second Prize:
$100 Voucher + Plaque
Third Prize:
$50 Voucher + Plaque
Student Film of the Year
First Prize:
$200 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
Second Prize:
$100 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
Third Prize:
$50 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
Photo Team of the Year
First Prize:
$400 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
Second Prize:
$200 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
Third Prize:
$100 Voucher + Plaque
(each team)
All qualified submissions: Certificate of Participation
Judging Panel
Juliana Tan
Juliana Tan’s work is rooted in the ephemeral. Attuned to the fleeting nature of life, she photographs people and stories that reflect both the banal and pivotal phases of transformation across the landscape of Southeast Asia. Her sensitivity to shifting lights, hues and timing deftly informs her images as an intimate, yet infinite, dialogue between the photographer, her subject, and their observer.
Her first monograph, A Kind of Magic, was shortlisted for the Lucie Photo Book Prize. Her editorial work includes commissions from The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Guardian, Wired (Japan), and many other international publications.
Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen are a filmmaker and artist duo from Singapore. They met through forming an art rock group and started out making lo-fi underground films as self-taught filmmakers. Over the years of their partnership, they have carved out a cinema of speculative fiction and body horror, exploring existential anxiety, histories and alienation.
Their films have screened at international film festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films and BFI London Film Festival. In 2021, with their short film A Man Trembles, they were awarded Best Southeast Asian Director at the Singapore International Film Festival. They are currently developing their feature project, Strange Root, which was presented at Rotterdam CineMart 2025 and Berlinale Talents Script Station 2024.
Chua and Lam have also presented 16mm expanded cinema performances in Zurich, Singapore and Taipei, and released multiple albums as the art rock duo ARE.
In 2024, they started the artist-run analog film collective Film Nerve, focused on analog film experimentation as well as resource and knowledge sharing.
Pek Yan Lin
Pek Yan Lin is a Singaporean photojournalist and documentary photographer. In addition to assignment work, Yan Lin devotes her time to projects that focus on community, social issues and the people around her, processing her surroundings and world. Yan Lin’s aim is to shed light on a lesser-known side of the society and inspire others to care. In 2021, she was selected to participate in the 34th edition of the Eddie Adams Workshop. She is currently a staff photojournalist for Singapore’s largest Chinese-language newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao.
Tang Kang Sheng
Tang Kang Sheng was a graduate from School of Film and Media Studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and subsequently attained a Bachelor Degree in Digital Filmmaking at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University. He freelances as a videographer while constantly making short films on the side and has an MFA in Film Directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Terms & Conditions
1. The STUDENT VISUAL STORYTELLING AWARDS (‘the Competition’) is organised by OBJECTIFS CENTRE LIMITED (‘the Organiser’).
2. COMPETITION ENTRY
2.1 Participants
2.1.1 The Competition is open to students aged 12 – 18 studying in MOE schools, i.e. Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges, ITEs, and government-funded SPED schools.
2.1.2 All entries must be submitted under the endorsement of a teacher-in-charge from the same school.
2.2 Theme
The Competition theme is “To dream…” and photos and videos submitted must reflect the theme. There are three competition categories – Student Photographer of the Year, Student Film of the Year and Photo Team of the Year. (Please refer to paragraphs 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 for details regarding the categories.)
2.3 Competition Period
The Competition accepts images made from 9 July 2025 to 10 July 2026. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on 10 July 2026. Late entries will not be considered.
2.4 Registration
2.4.1 Participants shall register online and upload their photos/films here.
2.4.2 Participants shall fill in the required fields on the online form. Only entries with complete and accurate information shall be eligible for the Competition.
2.5 Categories – Student Photographer of the Year
2.5.1 This category is open to all eligible participants.
2.5.2 Each participant must submit a photo story of 5-8 images, with an accompanying writeup of 150 words max.
2.5.3 Photos must be submitted in JPEG format, and each file should be at least 1920 pixels on the long side of the image.
2.5.4 Upload a Zip folder containing all images and writeup (max 100MB) to the google form.
2.6 Categories – Student Film of the Year
2.6.1 This category is open to all eligible participants. Submissions are to be made by individuals or teams comprising up to 5 participants from the same school.
2.6.2 Each team must submit a documentary or narrative film based on the theme, with an accompanying writeup of 150 words max.
2.6.3 Videos must be submitted in MP4 format, and each file should not exceed 90 seconds.
2.6.4 Upload a Zip folder containing video and writeup (max 100MB) to the google form.
2.7 Categories – Photo Team of the Year
2.7.1 This category is open to all members from an MOE school photo club. Submissions are to consist of images made by five members of the club, with an accompanying writeup of 150 words max.
2.7.2 Each team must submit a portfolio of 15-20 images documenting school events.
2.7.3 Photos must be submitted in JPEG format, and each file should be at least 1920 pixels on the long side of the image.
2.7.4 Upload a Zip folder containing all images and writeup (max 100MB) to the google form.
2.8 Submissions
2.8.1 No submission fee is required for this Competition.
2.8.2 Photos submitted for this Competition may not be, at any time, used by participants to promote or advertise a commercial product or event. They may not contain or be connected with any obscene, blasphemous, libellous, offensive, pornographic or otherwise unlawful or inappropriate material or activity, as determined by Objectifs, in its sole discretion. The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify entries and remove submissions/photos that contain, or are connected with, any such material or activity without prejudice to any other action that may be taken in connection with such submission.
3 Awards
3.1 The judges will award the following prizes:
3.1.1 Student Photographer of the Year
First Prize: $200 Voucher + Plaque
Second Prize: $100 Voucher + Plaque
Third Prize: $50 Voucher + Plaque
All qualified submissions: Certificate of Participation
3.1.2 Student Film of the Year
First Prize: $200 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
Second Prize: $100 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
Third Prize: $50 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
All qualified submissions: Certificate of Participation
3.1.3 Photo Team of the Year
First Prize: $400 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
Second Prize: $200 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
Third Prize: $100 Voucher + Plaque (each team)
All qualified submissions: Certificate of Participation
3.2 Entries will be assessed on technical skill (40%) and creativity (60%) in addressing the theme.
3.3 The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entertained regarding the judges’ decision.
3.4 Winning entries will be exhibited at Objectifs from Sept 2026 to Oct 2026.
3.5 The winners will be notified via email by end Aug 2026.
4. Intellectual Property
4.1 To be eligible for the Competition, participants must own the copyright to their photos and be entitled to reproduce any underlying rights or intellectual property in their photos.
4.2 By submitting their photos, participants represent and warrant that their photos do not infringe any third-party intellectual property right(s); and participants agree and undertake to at all times indemnify, keep indemnified, and hold Objectifs harmless against all losses (including direct, indirect, incidental and/or consequential losses), damages (including general, special, and/or punitive damages), injuries, claims, costs, fees (including all legal fees as between solicitor and client or otherwise on a full indemnity basis whether or not incurred in respect of any real, anticipated, or threatened legal proceedings), howsoever caused by, arising or resulting from their photos and/or use of their photos and/or any breach or purported breach of these Terms and/or any applicable law.
5 Warranties and Indemnity
5.1 Participants agree to assume and accept all risks, dangers, and hazards connected with the Competition, including but not limited to illness, personal injury and death, not due to the Organiser’s and supporting organisations’ gross negligence, loss or damage to themselves or property.
5.2 Participants will not hold the Organiser and supporting organisations liable under any circumstances whatsoever for any and all claims (including but not limited to loss, expense, illness, personal injury and death not due to the Organiser’s and supporting organisations’ gross negligence, loss, damage to themselves or property) against the Organiser and supporting organisations involved which the participants may have or be exposed to as a result of the participants assuming and accepting all risks, danger, and hazards connected with the Competition.
5.3 The Organiser reserves the right to make any changes to the Competition rules and regulations, prizes and other arrangements concerning the Competition. The Organiser does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of information about the Competition found on websites and sources that are not the Organiser’s official website or the Competition website.
6 Display and Other Rights
6.1 The copyright of the photos submitted for the Competition will remain with the participants.
6.2 Participants grant to the Organiser a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide and perpetual license to use, reproduce, transmit, display, and prepare derivative works, in whole or in part, of the photos submitted, in any and all media, marketing, and publicity materials (including but not limited to corporate publications, exhibition panels and videos), whether in print, online and/or electronic form:
(a) under the banner of the Competition and its accompanying programmes;
(b) under the banner of the Organiser’s projects that are unrelated to the Competition (including but not limited to collaborative projects with other public ministries/agencies); and
(c) to grant sub-licenses to such public ministries/agencies that the Organiser may collaborate with.
6.3 Participants will be credited for the Organiser’s use of his or her photos.
7. Acceptance of Terms
7.1 Participants accept the Competition rules and regulations and the Terms and Conditions set out herein.
7.2 Should any dispute arise in connection with the Competition or these Terms and Conditions, the decision of the Organiser shall be final.
7.3 Without prejudice to any other provision of these Terms and Conditions, the Organiser reserves the right to disqualify any participant for failure to abide by any of the Terms and Conditions set out herein, or for submitting false, inaccurate or incomplete information or for any other reasonable cause, at the Organiser’s sole discretion, without first informing the participant and without being liable in any way whatsoever for any loss, expense, cost, damages or otherwise suffered or incurred from such disqualification.