National Trust launches new competition to capture the spirit of Octavia on camera

The National Trust has launched a new amateur photography competition called 'Your Space' which will celebrate green spaces and the life of the National Trust founder Octavia Hill.

Run in conjunction with National Trust Magazine, the competition will run from May until August and asks people to capture what green spaces mean to them.

Four internationally-acclaimed photographers, Mary McCartney, Joe Cornish, Arnhel de Serra and Charlie Waite, have helped launch the 'Your Space' competition with a new collection of pictures at National Trust places that capture the relationship between people and green places.

Octavia Hill was a leading environmental campaigner in Victorian Britain. She campaigned to save green spaces in and around London, such as Parliament Hill, and, years ahead of her time, saw the benefit of spending time in the outdoors and closer to nature.

As one of three founders of the National Trust, Octavia Hill, set about acquiring green places and built heritage to be looked after by the charity for the benefit of the nation until she died in August 1912.

The competition is based around her writings on green space: 'We all need space; unless we have it we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us gently [and we need] places to sit in, places to play in, places to stroll in, and places to spend a day in…'

The competition includes all green space in the UK, not just National Trust places, and hopes to capture images of everyday green places.

These could include pictures from the local park, where people play with their kids or walk their dogs, or favourite strolls in the countryside.

What is important is that the images capture what these places mean to the photographer and why they matter.

Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust, said: "This competition is all about using photography to reflect on why green spaces matter to us as a nation. We're looking for powerful and inspiring images that celebrate this special relationship that we have with our parks and countryside."

There are four categories in the competition: ten and under, 11-16 year olds, over 16s and smartphones. Entries need to be submitted by 31 August 2012 and the full terms and conditions can be found on the website.

The prize for the overall winner, worth £1,500, will include a bespoke one-to-one day long workshop with award winning landscape photographer Charlie Waite, a special landscape print and up to two nights stay in a National Trust holiday cottage.

The three runners-up will join Charlie at a National Trust property for day which includes lunch and behind-the-scenes tour.

A panel of judges, including Mary McCartney, Joe Cornish, Arnhel de Serra, Charlie Waite, Sue Herdman (Editor of National Trust Magazine) and Chris Lacey (National Trust Photographic Manager), will decide on the winners for the four categories. One of the category winners will then go on to be the overall winner of the competition.

Entries for the competition can be uploaded at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/yourspace and shared via Facebook and twitter.