Enter

Monthly Deadlines:

1st – Thursday, Oct. 28
2nd  –  Tuesday, Nov. 30
3rd  –  Tuesday, Dec. 28
4th  –  Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022
5th  –  Thursday, Feb. 24
6th  –  Tuesday, Mar. 29
7th  –  Thursday, Apr. 28
8th  –  Thursday, May. 26
9th  –  Tuesday, Jun. 28
10th –  Thursday, July. 28
11th –  Tuesday, Aug. 30
12th –  Thursday, Sep. 29

Public Voting
Tuesday, Oct. 18 – Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022

Winner Announcement
 Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022

Capture a CUNY
Compelling Moment
for a chance to win an iPad!

Official RulesEnter

Open only to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at the City University of New York.

Click on slide images to view larger

We are delighted to invite all CUNY photographers to enter the CUNY Photo Challenge contest, which will run for 12 months. Use your camera to capture a compelling moment at CUNY for a chance to win an iPad! Enter our monthly student photo competition, generally by the 28th of every month — now through September 2022. If CUNY’s judges pick you as the monthly winner, your photo will be featured during the following month on the cuny.edu homepage billboard, on the monthly contest winners page, and on the CUNY Facebook page, which also will show two runners-up. In December 2022, the public will choose the best student photo of the year from among the monthly winners. The winner will receive an iPad. We will as well showcase most of the memorable submissions as “Photo of the Day” on social media or use them to advertise the contest.

Recommendations:

Our panel of professional photographers, editors and graphic artists look for:

  • Depictions of why you like CUNY.
  • Images that say something about our students, faculty, staff, a CUNY college or a campus activity.
  • Illustrations of the everyday CUNY life that the public hasn’t seen.
  • Photographs that spark the imagination of prospective students.
  • Images that tell stories, provide human interest and show our diversity.
  • Photographs of intriguing locations at your college or campus.
  • Pictures that show the best of your college in different seasons.
  • Photos that use interesting horizontal angles and spark curiosity.

Hints:

Have amazing fun with your photos. Challenge yourself. Stay motivated. Be original! Pick interesting angles that display the best of your subject and the beauty of the surrounding environment. Spark curiosity with your work.

Inspiration:

Seek inspiration and dare to be different and unique with your photography style. Use the links available on the left side of this page to see each contest monthly winner’s submission. See below for the previous iPad winners.

Perks:

Anytime CUNY uses your photo in any campaign, you will get a credit. When the photos get used online the credits will be added in the metadata.

Submitted photos get a chance to be used in our CUNY campaigns, overhead train ads, social media posts and print materials.

Note: Judges reserve the right not to choose a winner in a month that does not have strong images. Please view the full official rules page for more-specific details.

Memorable Submissions:

Click on slide images

CUNY Photo Challenge iPad Winners

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank-you to all the CUNY students who have taken part in the CUNY Photo Challenge contest since 2011!

Winner 2019-2020 – Muhadesa Ali – Queens College

“The name of the photo is Submerged. Even as the sun sets, it is nothing short of beautiful, a lesson taught by Mother Nature to its everyone,” says Muhadesa Ali. This image was taken in the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library at Queens College.

Winner 2017-2018 – Yerelyn Nuñez – CUNY School of Professional Studies

In online balloting, students chose “Two Worlds Collide,” a self-portrait of Yerelyn Nuñez that she set up (her brother pushed the button) in Astoria, as their favorite among the monthly winners in CUNY’s 2017-2018 photo competition. Nuñez graduated from the CUNY School of Professional Studies in June with a B.A. in Communications and Media.

Winner 2015-2016 – Mohammad “Chomio” Nasrullah – Brooklyn College

In “Unbottled Emotions: The Finals Cycle,” Brooklyn College’s Mohammad “Chomio” Nasrullah, then a senior, posed fellow student Kelly Alvarez in multiple positions around the table, then combined the images in Photoshop.

Winner 2014 – 2015 – Mauricio Vallejo – Hunter College

“Capital of the World” offers a classic view of the East River from a vantage point high above Manhattan’s Financial District. Mauricio Vallejo, then a Hunter College sophomore, shot it at 11 p.m. on Christmas night, 2014, from the 32nd-floor apartment of a friend’s friend on Water Street.

Winner 2013 – 2014 – Erick Dabandan – Queens College

“Flight Crew” exemplifies the exuberance of Queens College’s Filipino club of the same name, showing how hard students can party – even if the Princeton Review consistently lists Queens as among the country’s Top 20 Sober Schools. The photographer is Erick Dabandan (Queensborough Community College, 2011, Queens College, 2015).

Winner 2012 – 2013 – Paloma Nunciato – Borough of Manhattan Community College

“Bridge to College” is a moody take on a classic New York City scene – the Brooklyn Bridge – which Paloma Nunciato (BMCC, 2014) crossed every day on her way to class. “I’ve taken many pictures on the bridge, but I think this one has a unique feeling. I was in the right place at the right moment.”

Winner 2011 – 2012 – Denis Gostev  – Baruch College

‘We Did It!’ Denis Gostev (Baruch College, 2012) captures the victory of the Staten Island Dolphins over the Baruch Bearcats in the 2011 CUNY Athletic Conference Baseball Championship. He won the September 2011 competition with this image and captured the January 2012 competition with another.