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Snapshot Contest Form

Summer & Fall 2025 Snapshot Contest
Did you study abroad with us in Summer or Fall 2025? If so, IES Abroad wants your photos! We will pick our five favorite photos from each category and share them on Instagram. After a public voting period, the most-"liked" photo from each category will then receive a $200 prize.

View past winners, contest details, history, and more on the Snapshot Contest webpage!

Submission Deadline
Wednesday, February 11, 2025 at 11:59pm

Submission Categories

  • A Day in the Life: We want to see study abroad from your point of view; show us where you could be regularly spotted during your time abroad! Photo(s) submitted should be of you or your peers in your housing accommodations, with your roommates or host family, at your favorite café or study space, or visiting your IES Abroad Center.
  • Candid Captures: It’s impossible to stage the best parts of study abroad. We want to see the real moments; the ones where nobody but the photographer knew there was a camera around. Photo(s) submitted could be of you or your peers gazing at your host city’s indescribable architecture, dancing the night away, or being authentically caught in the moment of life in your new playground.
  • Pics or it Didn’t Happen: Every study abroad experience has moments you will never forget. Photo(s) submitted could be of you or your peers tasting your new favorite local cuisine, seeing a famous landmark for the first time, or going on a trip you’ve always wanted to go on. What moments were most memorable to you? Show us you were there!
  • Putting the ‘Study’ in Study Abroad: The school part; Study abroad is all about learning and being immersed in your host country! Photo(s) submitted should be of IES Abroad students learning and enforcing our Global Good Commitment abroad; in their classrooms, field studies, internships, community-based learning placements, with their instructors or faculty, or at cultural events and activities.
     

Rules

  • Number of submissions: Up to five photos total per student will be accepted. (For example, you can submit two photos to the Pics or it Didn't Happen category and three to the A Day in the Life category, etc.) Anything beyond your first five photos will be disqualified.
  • Photo quality: must be at least 1200 x 1600 pixels
  • File names: Photos MUST be named with the following format: "Photo Location_Caption for Instagram_Your Name" (Example: "London_Found the perfect Big Ben photo spot!_Sarah Jones"). Incorrectly-named files will be disqualified.
  • Preferred locations: Submissions from an IES Abroad Center or our field trip locations are highly preferred. Submissions from personal trips to locations where IES Abroad does not operate are not likely to be selected as finalists.
  • No professional photography: Photos taken by a hired/professional photographer (who is not an IES Abroad student) cannot be accepted to ensure fairness for all student participants.
  • No filters or edits: Highly-filtered- or -edited photography will not be accepted.
  • Number of submissions: Up to five photos total per student will be accepted. (For example, you can submit two photos to the Pics or it Didn't Happen category and three to the A Day in the Life category, etc.) Anything beyond your first five photos will be disqualified.
  • Photo quality: must be at least 1200 x 1600 pixels
  • File names: Photos MUST be named with the following format: "Photo Location_Caption for Instagram_Your Name" (Example: "London_Found the perfect Big Ben photo spot!_Sarah Jones"). Incorrectly-named files will be disqualified.
  • Preferred locations: Submissions from an IES Abroad Center or our field trip locations are highly preferred. Submissions from personal trips to locations where IES Abroad does not operate are not likely to be selected as finalists.
  • No filters or edits: Highly-filtered- or -edited photography will not be accepted.
By submitting a photo or video for the Snapshot Contest, I represent and warrant that anything that I submit to IES Abroad in connection with the Snapshot Contest is either (i) my original work and I own all right, title and interest in and to the work; (ii) I have obtained all necessary rights to allow for the intended uses herein; or (iii) the work is in the public domain as defined by applicable law or otherwise designated for lawful free use by third parties.  I also represent and warrant that the work does not infringe the rights of third parties, that the work does not contain material which is defamatory, against IES Abroad policies, or otherwise actionable or illegal, and that the publication or inclusion of the work on public sites or forums, including without limitation, IES Abroad.org, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and other future IES Abroad online and social websites will not violate any other rights, agreements or laws. Photos or videos depicting any activity that is against IES Abroad policy will not be accepted in the Snapshot Contest. This includes photos or videos of skydiving, bungee jumping, and zip-lining, or other similar activities.

I hereby grant IES Abroad and any third parties designated by IES Abroad in its sole discretion, an irrevocable, exclusive, global, royalty-free license and permission to reproduce, edit, publish, disseminate, copy, publicly display, publicly perform, and create derivative works or collective works from or including, in whole or in part, my submission to the Snapshot Contest for any educational, marketing, advertising or publicity purposes in any form, format or medium now existing or hereafter created. I understand that I will not be given the opportunity to inspect or approve the finished video footage or the printed or electronic matter that may be used in connection therewith. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the aforementioned license shall be non-exclusive, provided I have obtained IES Abroad’s prior written consent to share my submission with other parties.

By submitting a photo or video for the Snapshot Contest, I hereby authorize and permit IES Abroad to use my name, likeness, image and personal information such as my age and institutional affiliations, in conjunction with my submission. I further acknowledge that IES Abroad has no obligation, now or in the future, to verify the authenticity of social media accounts utilized to vote during the voting period.

The following submission button will take you to our external partner site, Brandfolder. Here, you will fill out your information and upload your photo files.

All files for a given category can be uploaded at one time. If you want to submit files for a second category, you will need to do so as a separate submission. (For example, you would make one submission of three files to Pics or it Didn't Happen, then a second submission of two files to Candid Captures.) Please remember that you may upload a maximum of five files altogether.

Make sure all files are correctly named before submitting them.

Submit Snapshots!