David W. Smith Memorial Prize (supported by Routledge publishers)

Using screenshots of google maps/street view/open street view/photographs, we encourage all students to submit 3 images exploring one or more topics–i) streets, ii) infrastructure (railways, ports) or iii) monuments named after colonial rulers, space traders, or those who ‘built/discovered places’. The city can be a former British colony located in the Global South.

Each image should tell their story clearly supplemented with title and description, no longer than 300 words. We are particularly interested in descriptions addressing colonial history of the city, what led to independence, who led the resistance, trivia, etymology, brief history of the statue, buildings and street names. We’d like you to question how colonial street names, monuments, or infrastructure relate to and/or contradict the contemporary status and politics of the city. What can the story of these places tell you about the city?

Submission

All entries must be in PDF/JPEG/.jpg or word doc format (not more than 3MB) and appropriately cited. Kindly include your name, school, and contact details.

Please submit your entries (and any questions) to Shreyashi Dasgupta of the DevGRG schools prize committee at developmentgeographies.rgs@gmail.com by 1^st May 2021 at 23:59 GMT. Entries received after this time will not be accepted. Due to the volume of entries we receive, we will only contact you if you are selected as one of our winners.

Judging

The judging panel will comprise of committee members of DevGRG. The panel shall access and determine the winning entry based on theme, imagination and originality, quality of the photograph, and the development of idea through the description of the photos.

Prize

The winner receives an RGS certificate and a voucher of £100 from Routledge Publishers. All the entries will be compiled into an image based resource for archives and research and will be published on the DevGRG website and social media platforms.