Terms and Conditions

Definitions 

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings:

• ‘NTACE’ means Nōku te Ao Capital E’ (‘we’, ‘our’ or ‘us’). 

• ‘The Competition’ is the Young Photographers Competition, managed by NTACE. 

• ‘Participants’ or ‘Young Photographer’ means the child or young person entering the Competition (‘you’, ‘your’, or ‘entrant’). 

• ‘Parent/legal guardian’ means the person who can legally give permission on the child or young person’s behalf in relation to consent. 

• ‘WPEW’ means ‘Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington’, the trading name of Wellington Museums Trust Incorporated, the registered charity which independently manages NTACE on behalf of Wellington City Council.  

• ‘Category Winners’ are the people who submitted the winning photo in each age category.  

   

Theme

The theme for the 2025 Competition is ‘Ako Kori Hanga, Learn Play Create’. Participants are encouraged to incorporate one, two, or all three of these concepts into their photo. The theme can be interpreted as broadly as the Young Photographer wishes and does not need to conform to a dictionary definition. Participants are encouraged to use their creativity to show what this theme means to them. 

Cost

When entries close / photo submission period

Entries open at 9.00am on Tuesday 16 September 2025 and close at 5.00pm on Sunday 7 December 2025.

The Competition period may be changed at NTACE’s discretion, without prior notice. 

How to enter

Enter via this submission form Young Photographers Competition form

Only photos submitted via the entry form will be considered a valid entry. 

How to withdraw a submission / right to withdraw

Young Photographers may withdraw their photography submission from the Competition at any time before 5:00 PM on Friday, 6 December 2025, for any reason including withdrawal of consent from people in the photographs.

To withdraw:

• Submit a written request via email to [email protected].

• Include your name and the image you wish to withdraw.

• Confirmation of withdrawal will be sent once the request is processed.

Please note:

• Once withdrawn, the entry will no longer be considered for judging or eligible to win the prize.

Valid entry 

Number of entries per person

Two entries per person can be submitted to the Competition.

Incomplete entries will not be accepted.

Who can enter? Eligibility

NZ resident/citizen

Participants must be:

• A New Zealand citizen or permanent resident

• Living in the Greater Wellington Region. This includes Wellington City, Hutt City (Lower Hutt), Upper Hutt City, Porirua City, Kāpiti Coast District, South Wairarapa District, Carterton District, and Masterton District.

Conflict of Interest 

Board trustees, employees, contractors, or suppliers associated with Nōku te Ao Capital E or part of Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington, and their immediate families are not eligible to enter the Competition. This includes:

• Staff and immediate family members of Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington and all organisations that are part of Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington.

• Any individual in a business that supplies Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington.

Judges of the Young Photographers Competition and their immediate families are not eligible to enter.

Immediate Families include:

• Spouses or partners

• Children (including stepchildren and adopted children)

• Parents

• Siblings (including stepsiblings)

• Household members (those living in the same residence).

Plagiarism or Close Copies

Plagiarised or ‘close-copied’ images are not permitted in the Competition. It is important that we protect the work of creative individuals. Whilst we are all inspired by the work of others, there is without doubt a grey area where inspiration carries over to close copying. For our Competition ‘close copying’ is where, to a reasonable person, the submitted entry appears remarkably similar in significant important respects to a body of work created elsewhere. We are looking for original pieces, not copies, which match the theme of the Competition. Participants must not use any apps which produce any part of their submission, if detected the entry will be disqualified.

Disqualification

NTACE reserves the right to disqualify any entry deemed inappropriate or offensive.

Nōku te Ao Capital E reserves the right to disqualify a Category Winner from the Competition or receiving a prize (without liability or compensation) if the Category Winner or their immediate family/guests, during the producing or selling of the retail product as part of the Wellington Museum Retail Experience prize, in Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington’s opinion (which shall be final), conducts themselves in a way which:

• exposes them or others to any medical, security, safety or other risk whatsoever (including being intoxicated or abusive in any way).

• is otherwise inappropriate or contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition.

• or might bring Nōku te Ao Capital E or Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington into disrepute or affect the reputation of the Competition.

In the event that a Category Winner is disqualified, NTACE reserves the right to select a new Category Winner.

Photo requirements 

Date taken

Photos must have been taken in 2025.

Intellectual property

The photos must have been taken by the Participant. In submitting a photo for entry, the Participant declares that they have taken the photo and own and have sole and complete Intellectual Property Rights to the photo.

‘Intellectual Property Rights’ means any copyright and moral rights, both registered and unregistered anywhere in the world.

Previous winner

Photos must not have been a winner in any other Competition or be currently submitted for any other competition.

Technical Specifications

Photos must be submitted in .jpeg/.jpg or .png file format. Videos cannot be entered.

Please supply a high-resolution image, 300dpi if possible.

Device

Photos can be taken on a phone or any type of camera (including DSLR, Mirrorless, action, compact ‘point-and-shoot’, instant, film, etc.). Photos cannot be generated in AI software. 

Orientation

Photos can be either portrait or landscape orientation. 

Editing and digital manipulation

Post-production and editing must be the work of the entrant.

Basic post-processing is permitted, including cropping, rotating, adjusting colour levels, and balancing light and contrast. However, entries must retain a natural appearance. Excessive digital manipulation (such as heavy retouching, compositing, or the use of filters that significantly alter the original image) is not allowed.

The use of AI noise reduction and sharpening technology is allowed, as long as the integrity of the original photographic image is maintained. NTACE reserves the right to request original image files (this may include RAW files and images taken before or after the entered image) to confirm the photographic authenticity of the image. NTACE reserves the right to disqualify any image if they feel it lacks authenticity due to over-manipulation.

AI-Generated Images

Images generated or significantly altered using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as text-to-image generators or AI-based compositing software, are not permitted. Any submission found to be AI-generated or manipulated beyond acceptable guidelines will be disqualified.

Safety and Legality of your photo

You warrant that your entry:

• Does not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights, privacy or any other rights of any third party.

• Does not contain anything which is untrue, defamatory, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening.

• Does not violate any applicable law or regulation (including any laws regarding anti-discrimination or false advertising); are not obscene or pornographic.

• Does not contain any viruses or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information.

Prize

Each Category Winner will win:

• A Rubber Monkey prize pack

• A Wellington Museum Retail Experience

• Artist fees for the use of your photo

Rubber Monkey prize pack

• A Canon EOS R50 Mirrorless camera with 18-45mm Lens (RRP $1,699, Rubber Monkey Price $1,469)

• A Canon Backpack

• A Lexar 64GB SD Card

• A $100 Rubber Monkey gift card

Wellington Museum Retail Experience

Each Category Winner will meet with the Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington Retail and Design team to transform their winning photo into a retail product that will be produced and sold in the Wellington Museum shop, learning how a creative passion can make a viable career. Winners will be required to travel to Wellington CBD for this experience.

Artist fees for the use of your photo

A one-off artist’s fee will be paid to the Category Winner for the reproduction of your image on a retail product, based on a mutually agreed format and usage. This fee will be determined in alignment with the anticipated return on investment. As a guide, artists’ fees may fall in the range $50 to $100 but could be higher depending on the value of the retail product within the context of the project.

Terms of the prize

Exchanging or transferring of prizes

Prizes are non-transferable, non-exchangeable, and cannot be redeemed for cash. Specifically:

• No prize or part of a prize can be transferred to another person.

• No prize or part of a prize is exchangeable for cash, tickets, or services.

• NTACE or WPEW reserves the right to offer alternative prizes of equal or lesser value in the event of unforeseen circumstances.  

• All prizes are non-transferable, non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for any cash alternatives, in whole or in part.  

NTACE or WPEW reserves the right to change the prizes throughout the Competition. Any change to prize/s will be updated in the Competition terms and conditions and on the Young Photographers Competition webpage.

Collection of prizes

The physical prizes will be picked up from Wellington CBD. Category Winners will be provided with details of where and when at the time they are informed of their win.

Travelling to the Wheako Pōneke offices as part of the Wellington Museum Retail Experience prize

The Category Winners must be available to travel to Wellington CBD in the days or weeks after the announcement on Tuesday 20 January 2026. NTACE and WPEW will try to accommodate the Category Winners and their Parent/Legal Guardian or support person’s requests as to times and dates of meetings during weekdays only. NTACE and WPEW reserves the right to make any final decisions regarding these meetings.

NTACE or WPEW is not liable for any additional costs that the Category Winners and their family/support persons may incur as a result of travel or any time away from school or work.

The Category Winners and their family’s/guests are responsible for their own health and safety during their travel and their time in Wellington CBD.

Payment of artist fees for use of your photo

The artist’s fee will be paid to the Category Winner’s bank account. Payment will not be made into the account of a Parent/Guardian, immediate family, support person, or friend.

Proof of bank account details must be provided to NTACE before the commencement of the Wellington Museum Retail Experience. Proof of bank account can be either a bank deposit slip or a copy of the entrant’s online bank statement (without the transactions) clearly showing the bank logo, their bank account name and bank account number.

Judging

Judging process

There will be one winner per category.

A panel of judges selected by NTACE will vote to select the Category Winners.

The judges will select the winners from all valid entries.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be judged on how well the photo fits the theme: Ako Kori Hanga, Learn Play Create.

A photo will be judged equally if the participant focuses on one, two, or three of the theme ideas.

Announcement of Winners

NTACE will announce the Category Winners on or about Monday 26 January 2026 via its website and social media channels.

The three winners will be notified via their guardians provided email address (ages 8-15) or their own provided email address (ages 16-18).

The Category Winners will be notified by NTACE via the contact details submitted when entering the promotion or through third-party websites where the Competition is promoted, such as Facebook. We will make reasonable attempts to contact the winner the week prior to the announcement date. Where attempts to contact the winner fail, NTACE reserves the right to forfeit your prize, and your claim will be invalid and select another winner.

The Competition winners will also be announced on NTACE social media channels, the NTACE website, and any other communications channels owned or managed by NTACE.

Beware of scams, only staff members of Nōku te Ao Capital E have the ability to grant the prize.

 Judges’ decisions are final 

All judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding these decisions.

Forfeit of prize

At NTACE’s sole discretion, a category winner may be required to forfeit their prize in accordance with these terms and conditions, if the selected winner

• is unreachable,

• declines or cannot accept the prize for any reason,

• fails to comply with these terms and conditions.

In such cases, an alternate winner may be chosen from the remaining eligible entries for that prize.

Consent / talent in photos

By submitting the photo, the entrant declares that they have the informed consent of all IDENTIFIABLE individual(s) captured in photo(s) to share and publish their image for full usage rights by NTACE, WPEW and Rubber Monkey.

Where the image shows any persons under 16, the informed consent of that participant(s) Parent/Guardian has been obtained. The Category Winners and their family/guests agree to NTACE, WPEW and Rubber Monkey using their names and photos for promotional purposes.

Copyright

Each participant retains copyright of their images.

The entrant provides NTACE, WPEW and Rubber Monkey a limited-use authorisation to display, print, and distribute their photos for the purpose of promoting the Competition, future Young Photographers Competitions, in publicity, fundraising, and marketing in print, online, on social media, and other marketing mediums at NTACE’s, WPEW’s, and Rubber Monkey’s discretion for up to three years at no cost to the participant.

After three years, the image/s will be deleted from the organisations (mentioned above) files.

Images will be credited with the first name of the participant where appropriate for use in the Competition but may not be credited across all the other mediums previously mentioned which are not in the Competition.

NTACE, WPEW, or Rubber Monkey will never sell a participant’s image (except for the Category Winners by agreement) at any time for profit.

The entrant must be the creator of any images they enter into the Competition.

The entrant must be the copyright owner of any images they enter into the Competition.

Cancellation, amendments or modifications

If for any reason any element of the Competition cannot be fulfilled due to current or any unforeseen events, NTACE and WPEW reserves the right to:

• Amend or modify these Terms and Conditions at its discretion, or

• Cancel the Competition.

NTACE or WPEW shall not be liable to any entrant in such circumstances as outlined in the above clause.

Collection of personal information / personal information

The collection, use and disclosure of personal information provided in connection with this Competition is governed by the Privacy Laws of New Zealand. Your personal information shall not be provided to any third parties without your prior consent, but you do authorise NTACE to be able to contact you with information pertaining to the Competition or related promotions.

The Category Winner’s personal information will be shared with Rubber Monkey, e.g. for the purposes of the physical prize warranties, display of images in their offices.

Acceptance of terms and conditions

Participation in the Competition is deemed to be acceptance of these Terms and Conditions and shall be binding in all respects.

If the Category Winners do not accept these Terms and Conditions, their prize will be forfeited.

NTACE or WPEW reserves the right to amend, change or cancel the Competition and/or the terms and conditions of the Competition at any time.

Thanks Rubber Monkey!

The inaugural Young Photographers Competition wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of Rubber Monkey. Their generosity has taken this Competition from cool to INCREDIBLE, with the amazing prizes donated to each of the category winners.

Endorsements

The promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with any third-party website, such as Facebook or Instagram, which is used to promote the Competition.