Alicia Keys famously sang “… New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of”, almost makes it sound magical doesn’t it, a place you’d really want to experience just so you can believe the hype. Well this is your chance to win a trip to the Big Apple with Plan UK and Shoot Experience…

If you fancy yourself as a photographer and you think you got what it takes to snap some of the best shots on a SLR, a digi cam or your camera phone then this is your chance to show your skills on wider scale and win an all expenses paid trip to New York.

Children’s charity organisation Plan UK and Shoot Experience are holding the fifth annual Shoot Nation global youth photography competitions and the best photographer will get to go to NY. The theme for this year’s competition is ‘City Living’ and judges are looking for pictures that represent the daily city life from London to Lagos.

To get potential photographers going Plan UK have brought in UK rappers Akala and Kof to give some inspiration. North London Rapper Akala took a picture of his home town of Camden saying  ”To me this is London. This is one of the most diverse cities in the world; here you can meet anyone from every corner of the globe”.

Liverpudlian native Kof took a picture showcasing his area saying “The photograph was taken from Everton Brow, locally known as The View”.

Shoot Nations’ leader George Anang’a, who is alo part of Plan UK, said “This is the fifth Shoot Nations competition and every year the bar just gets higher, the standard is fantastic.

“The idea is that the smallest community or family issue in any area of the world can be photographed and displayed at the highest level of global government, the United Nations.

“This year we want to use the cities theme to build a picture of what urban environments mean to young people whilst focusing on the movement of people and the impact this has on the surrounding environment.”

If you think you can show a side of your city that will amaze judges then you’ll need to floow this brief:

Submit three photographs (or drawings), one to capture each of the following ideas:

1.    What does ‘city’ mean to you?

2.    Growing up in the city as a boy or a girl

3.    Country to city, city to country – people on the move

You’ll need to upload your pictures to www.shootnations.org by 28 July 2010. The competition is open to anyone aged between 11 – 25 years old and winners will be announced on Untied Nation’s International Youth Day 12 August 2010.

For more info go to www.plan-uk.org/newsroom/shootnations2010 and www.shootnations.org

Tags: Akala, KOF, New York, Plan UK, Shoot Experience, Shoot Nation