Flickr Announces “20 Under 20” Collection Of Young Photographers

flickr 20 under 20

In an effort to promote young artists using its service, Flickr has put together a collection of 20 artists under the age of 20 who have shown exceptional talent in their early work.

Users can choose their favorite photographers from the group and nominate their work (on Twitter) in three different categories: creativity, technical skills, and strength of overall portfolio. Those who rack up the most votes will win Audience Choice Awards at a Flickr-hosted gala in New York City on October 1.

Along with the presenting the Audience Choice, Flickr’s gala will display the work of Laurence Philomene. Vogue Photography Director Ivan Shaw selected Philomene’s work for the Curator’s Choice Award and will mentor Philomene for one year.

In a briefing at Yahoo’s offices in San Francisco, Flickr VP Bernardo Hernandez explained to TechCrunch that the motivation behind the collection was in the (sometimes disputed) concept of the “10,000-hours rule” from Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers.” Basically, Flickr’s logic is that some of these young photographers will one day be considered among the best in their field, as they have put in the time and been given the right opportunities to focus on developing their talent at the same time as technology has allowed photographers to be more productive than ever.

I imagine that these photographers have put quite a bit of time into their craft, as several of them have uploaded nearly 2,000 photos to the service.

Here’s a sample of some of the work from the photographers in the 20 under 20:

Flickr 20 under 20