Shutter bugs get ready to click away to some cold cash.. See the AASHTO presser below. 

Washington — The annual Faces of Transportation photography contest is marking its 10th year by adding a video category. Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the national contest asks State DOT employees and private citizens to send in photographs and videos of people, projects, and personal experiences that demonstrate the benefits of transportation.

This year’s competition, themed “Transportation in America,” includes seven awards. Five will be presented in the photography section and two prizes will be awarded in the video portion of competition.

Photography: Photographs will be judged in three new categories: Quality of Life/Community Development, Historic Projects, and Taking the Road Less Traveled. A $125 cash prize will be awarded to the best photograph in each of the three categories. $500 cash prizes will be presented to the winners of both the People’s Choice and the Best Overall Photograph award.

Video Section: Videos will be judged on two levels and in two separate categories. Amateur or novice videos must demonstrate travel experiences in a category called Safe, Smart and Fun. Professionally produced videos will be judged in a category called Innovation in Motion.

The videos (one winner in each category), as selected by AASHTO, will each be awarded $150 cash prizes. The winners, along with other submitted videos, may be featured on AASHTO’s Transportation TV or AASHTO’s YouTube Channel.

Winning video and photography submissions must prominently feature people designing, constructing, using and enjoying the nation’s transportation systems. All entries must represent the positive effects of all modes of transportation on individuals and communities. Photographs and videos which include recognizable individuals must be accompanied with a model release form regardless of category; all photos and videos must include a caption that describes the scene. Failure to meet these requirements may lead to disqualification.

All entries must be received by July 31, 2014. Judging will begin on August 8, 2014. The general public will vote for the People’s Choice Award photograph at the Faces of Transportation web site, www.facesoftransportation.org. Judging will begin August 8 and end August 31, 2014.

The winners of the 2014 Faces of Transportation competition will be announced at the AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation Communications (TransComm) annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona in September. Entry forms and contest rules are available at www.facesoftransportation.org.

(Source: Good Magazine)

The French writer and philosopher Jean Baudrillard once wrote of the freeways of Los Angeles as being “ideally suited to the only truly profound pleasure, that of keeping on the move.” Indeed, nowhere is the pleasure of keeping on the move more profound than in a city whose freeways rarely offer it.