Left To Our Own Devices - Photo contest challenges us to think again about how the elderly use technology
Last updated 10/24/2011 8:38:01 AM
Left To Our Own Devices - image courtesy of Manchester City Council - Photography by Lee Garland
A national photography competition is challenging preconceptions about how older people interact with technology.
The winning images will be displayed in an exhibition appearing at all four national parliaments, visiting the Houses of Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament.
The competition is called Left to Our Own Devices and is run jointly by Age UK, a national charity, and KT EQUAL, a research consortium dedicated to improving the lives of older and disabled people, including researchers at the University of Bath.
The judges are looking for engaging images on the theme of older people's experiences with technology, and particularly images that challenge stereotypes, deliver a powerful message, surprise or entertain.
The competition has four categories and one winner from each area will win £250. They are Gadgets and Gizmos, In the House, Out and About and an open category.
The competition was initiated in Bath by Professor Chris Eccleston, in the university's Department for Health, who said: "The image should capture older people's relationships with technology, whether good or bad. The winning images will raise awareness of the experience of older people."
Phil Rossall of Age UK said: "Technology for older people can take many forms. It's not just computers and smartphones, it's anything which can make later life more comfortable, more rewarding or less arduous. At Age UK, we're interested in new technology less for its technical merits than for its tangible benefits for quality of life – something we hope this competition will help to promote.