Noted photographers Pablo Bartholomew, Prashant Panjiar and Devika Singh sifted through more than 4,700 entries from across India to select the winning shots for the Ramnath Goenka India Press Photo Awards 2006, to be announced in September. Over 218 lensmen from across India had sent the best photographs clicked by them between October 1, 2004 and December 31, 2005 for the nation's biggest photography award contest, instituted by The Ramnath Goenka Foundation and executed by The Indian Express Group. Now in its second year, the competition has several categories ranging from spot news to sport, from art and entertainment to personalities, and nature and environment.

As per competition guidelines, the Ramnath Goenka Picture of the Year 2006 award goes to the picture that demonstrates an outstanding level of visual creativity and journalistic skill. The winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

Prashant Panjiar, who works with Time magazine and runs his own photo agency, said, ''The number of entries has gone up dramatically this year, as is bound to happen with the contest getting more popular. But I think the bar hasn't significantly risen.'' The judges were also disappointed that the photographs from Mumbai's 26/7 floods did not come up to expectations.

Pablo Bartholomew said: ''we go strictly by merit. If there aren't any award-winning shots in a particular category we would rather not hand it out.''

The judges went through every image - subjects ranged from the strife in Kashmir to people hit by the tsunami to newsmakers like Amitabh Bachchan and Bal Thackeray - narrowing down selections through various rounds. The photographers remained anonymous all through the selection.

Devika Singh, who heads a Delhi-based photo agency, said aspiring entrants need to pay attention to the rules carefully. ''I think as the contest evolves, we must also introduce a category on cultural affairs since several entries are in that realm.''

Bartholomew added, ''the competition is doing a great service to photography, but is still young, the organisers and photographers must work hard to realise its potential.''

The award winning photographs, as selected by the three judges, will be displayed first at an exhibition in Mumbai and then travel throughout the country.

The Jury

Devika Daulat Singh: A graduate from St Stephen's College, New Delhi, Singh completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has worked in the New York City bureau of Contact Press Images and is presently director of photography at PhotoInk, New Delhi.

Pablo Bartholomew: A photojournalist and documentary photographer with GAMMA-LIAISON Photo News Agency, New York, Bartholomew has recently done a project on Indians in America, funded by the Starr Foundation Fellowship of the Asian Cultural Council, New York. In 1985, he bagged a World Press Photo Award for his photos on the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Prashant Panjiar: A Master of Arts in Political Science from Pune University, Panjiar is a self-taught photojournalist. He has worked with India Today, Outlook and has been extensively published abroad too. Panjiar runs Livewire Images, his own photo agency. He now works for Time magazine.