We know it’s been a while since O-Week, and you’ve all been busy (ahem) with your studies, but the time has finally come to whip our your cameras, get your creative juices flowing, and show us what you can do with 5 random items!

For those of you who’ve been living in a burrow these past few months, here’s a brief run down of what this whole envelope thing is about. So, you’ve heard of the box challenge right? Well this is kind of the same thing…but in an envelope.

Within this most mysterious of envelopes you found 5 items (well, one of them is more of a concept if you want to get philosophical): a balloon, a playing card, a pencil, a toy soldier, and a theme…’favourite’.

All you have to do is incorporate these items into a series of photographs (a photograph for each item or ‘category’), the only limitation being the bounds of your imagination. Props, themes, concepts…it’s really up to you, and the more creative the better. In a nutshell, you can do ANYTHING with the images, so long as the item is in the frame. A toy soldier on fire. A colour pencil bleeding into a bathtub of rainbow coloured water. As we said, it’s up to your imagination.

So what’s in it for you? A SHIP LOAD!

The top three entrants (people, not pictures) will be in the running for:

1^st prize – $150 cash, 2010 Photosoc Journal, and Photosoc T-Shirt. ZING!

2^nd Prize – 35 mm Image Fusion Split Cam, 1 Roll of Lomo Redscale Film, 1 Roll of Rollei 100 B&W Film, Journal, and T-Shirt.

3^rd Prize – Hole-On Ex Pinhole Camera Kit, 1 Roll of Lomo Redscale Film, 1 Roll of Rollei 100 B&W Film, Journal, and T-Shirt.

But wait, there’s more. If you don’t find yourself in the top three, the game’s not over. There will also a member’s choice award for the remaining entrants. The shortlist will be uploaded to a gallery on Photosoc’s Facebook page and the picture with the most ‘likes’ will win:

a Rollei Black & White Disposable Camera, a Lomo ‘20%’ Keyring, Journal, and a  T-Shirt.

Excited yet? Chomping at the bit? Damned straight. So here’s the important stuff:

Submissions will close on Friday 26^th of August 8pm, and the winners will be announced at our third lunch, which will be Wednesday 31^st of August, 1pm, at Isabel Fiddler.

Oh, we almost forgot. For instructions on how to submit your photos, exact rules and all that other serious stuff, it’s all here: mysteryenvelope2011. And if you don’t already have an envelope, just ask for one at the next photosoc event you attend and we’ll swap you $2 for one (to cover the cost of the items). If you can’t attend, no sweat, just drop us an email at usydphotosoc@gmail.com and one of our execs can arrange to meet you at uni.

So now that you’re all set, there’s really no excuse not to take a couple of hours one afternoon and get those creative juices flowing. BTW, if you’re old school and have a print you’d like to submit, not to worry; just make a scan and upload the file.

Good luck guys!!

PS. Questions? Just comment on this post, or email us at usydphotosoc@gmail.com