News & Politics

November Photo Contest: Into the Abstract

An outlet for your inner art-school auteur

Patrick Carlson's "Rainy Windshield"—originally submitted for August's transportation-themed photo contest—served as direct inspiration for November's contest.

Let’s face it—the last person to fully appreciate your avant-garde photography was probably your Chico’s-wearing college art professor. Surrealist portraits, architectural angles, “texture” shots—they all sound cool in theory, but there’s only so much Dadaism your adoring fans can be subjected to. But don’t worry, wannabe Man Rays and David LaChapelles, we’ve got the perfect outlet for the tortured artist inside you: For November’s photo contest, we want your kookiest, most abstract, artsy-fartsy photos, and we want them all.

Here’s how the contest works: Submissions will be accepted until noon on Tuesday, November 23. Our judges will sift through the entries to find the five best, but it’s up to you, dear reader, to vote for your favorite. The winner will be published in the January issue of The Washingtonian.

Photos—one per e-mail, please—should be sent to photocontest@washingtonian.com. Be sure to include the photographer’s name, phone number, e-mail address, and place of residence along with a sentence or two about the photo, where it was taken, and an explanation of why it fits the theme. You can submit as many photos as you’d like, but just make sure each is 300 dpi and at least four by six inches. And remember, the photographer and the subject must be from the Washington area, which includes the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

>> See a slide show of past winners

Our policy on photo rights: The photographer retains the copyright. However, because the photographer has submitted his or her photo to the contest, the magazine has the right to print the winning photograph in the current issue of the magazine and online as well as in any future issues as long as usage is related to the photo contest. The magazine also has the right to use the finalists online in relation to the photo contest.

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Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief of Washingtonian Bride & Groom, and writes about weddings, fashion, and shopping. Her work has also appeared in Refinery29, Bethesda Magazine, and Washington City Paper, among others. She is a Georgetown University graduate, lives in Columbia Heights, and you can find her on Instagram at @washbridegroom and @sarahzlot.