Press Release: 8th Annual Oscar Fashion Photo Contest

"Around the Grid," the Second Life blog published by Harper Ganeswort, Conan Bankersbox, and Jern Sternhall, has opened it's 8thAnnual Oscar Fashion Photo contest, to run from January 8 until March 5, 2017. The guaranteed prize fund for this year's contest is L$50,500, with L$25,00 going to the 1st-place winner.

"The calendar has rolled around again to January," Harper Ganesvoort said, "and so it's time for my annual question. Once again, if you received an inviration to this year's Academy Awards and the various after parties, what would you wear?

"Just as people enjoy critiquing the actors' and actresses' evening wear on the red carpet every year, and imagining ourselves wearing those clothes, we like to take a look at what our friends and acquaintances in world wear. Our annual photo contest combines the two pastimes into one, allowing
us to imagine ourselves on the red carpet in Los Angeles while the cameras of the world are on us, or on other aspects of that day for the Real Life Hollywood crowd. Second Life gives us a chance to not only talk about what we think would look good, but to demonstrate our concepts to the world through displaying the photos on Flickr and in our blogs.

"The 2017 prize fund holds steady from last year's advance,"Harper said. "First Place will receive L$25,000; Second Place L$10,000; Third Place L$7,500; and the four Honorable Mentions will receive L$2,000 each. I can't recall if there have been richer prize packages for other peoples' contests in the past, but I'm pretty sure that the OFPC's package is the biggest and most consistently awarded over its eight-year history, as well as possibly the longest running annual contest aside from the well-known beauty pageants such as Miss Virtual World. When this year's winners are paid, the total cash prizes over eight years, based on guaranteed pools, will have hit L$185,000."

Taking a look at the current technical aspects of Second Life fashion, Harper noted the increasing preference for wearable mesh body components, as opposed to the "classic" SL system bodies. "Mesh has definitely taken hold of the fashion industry with both hands. The latest advance, SL's Bento skeleton changes, is just now starting to feed into the stores. It may be too early to see much in terms of the new articulations in contest entries, but it still promises to make for wonderful new photographic opportunities, including for Second Life's artistic photography in general.

"As always, we hope that Residents will help us spread the word, and we wish the entrants the best of luck."

Complete contest rules may be found in the official contest announcement, at http://harper-ganesvoort.com/2017/01/08/ofpc-8-announcement/ 

Harper Ganeswort