Capturing the Oceanscape: SMMI launches Images and Sounds Competition
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The SMMI is pleased to announce the launch of Capturing the Oceanscape a creative and research media competition.
An oceanscape is more than a view of the sea. It is the meeting of water, coast, life, technology, and people, the shifting space where research, livelihoods, culture, ecosystems, and industry connect.
We invite you to share your captured experiences and research within the oceanscape through sight and sound.
Submit your original images and sound recordings reflecting marine and maritime research, environments, technologies, fieldwork, education, and lived experience across the following categories:
- Ocean Arts, Humanities and Communities
- Ocean Life and Environments
- Ocean Innovations and Technology
- Ocean Use and Sustainability in Shipping
- Ocean Law, Policy and Social Impact
- Open
Deadline: Wednesday, 6 May 2026
In line with our mission of “Addressing Global Marine and Maritime Challenges”, we particularly welcome submissions that reflect the need to understand, protect, and responsibly manage this vibrant and important space.
We also encourage submissions that showcase student involvement in marine and maritime research and learning.
Why enter?
Winners in each category will receive a £50 Love2Shop voucher , which can be redeemed at many stores.
Winning images will be featured on the SMMI website and an exhibition.
Your image submissions may also be used across SMMI communications, including digital platforms, publications, reports, and events, with credit given.
Sound submissions may contribute to a forthcoming creative collaboration translating marine research into musical compositions and workshops.
Who can enter?
The competition is open to anyone, both within and beyond the University of Southampton, provided you have signed up to the SMMI community.
Not an SMMI member yet? Sign up now .
How to enter
1. Complete the online submission form
2. Drop off your image or sound file via SafeSend to smmi@soton.ac.uk
If you are submitting multiple entries, you must complete a separate form for each submission. Please ensure your file name matches exactly what you enter in the form.
Deadline: Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Judging and timeline
All eligible entries will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges drawn from across the University of Southampton and externally.
Entries will be assessed on:
- Technical quality
- Relevance to the theme and category
- Originality and creativity
- Research connection
- Clarity of accompanying description
The judges’ decision is final.
Winners will be announced by early June and notified directly by email.
Preparing your submission - what you need to know before entering
What counts as an image?
Image submissions must be your own original work but may include a wide range of visual formats. This includes photography, microscopy images, scans, data visualisations, renderings, or other research-generated visuals.
We welcome images captured in the moment, including those taken on a mobile phone or in field conditions, particularly where they offer rare access, insight, or a meaningful perspective on marine and maritime research. Technical polish is less important than relevance, authenticity, and the story your image helps to tell.
For University of Southampton contributors, recording and photographic equipment may be available through your Faculty or specialist facilities, such as the Digital Humanities Hub. If you are interested in developing a new image or recording a sound submission, we encourage you to explore what support may be available within your School or research centre.
If your image includes recognisable faces, you must have permission from those individuals (See Rights and Permissions)
What counts as a sound recording?
Sound submissions must be your own original recordings.
We welcome a wide range of audio formats connected to marine and maritime contexts. This may include:
- Natural soundscapes (e.g. waves, wind, marine wildlife, underwater acoustics)
- Fieldwork recordings (e.g. research activity, equipment in use, vessel operations)
- Working waterfront or shipping environments
- Spoken reflections, interviews, or conversations (with permission)
- Creative or experimental audio pieces grounded in research
- Short musical compositions inspired by marine or maritime research or environments
Submissions may be documentary or creative in style, but they should clearly connect to marine and maritime research, environments, technologies, communities, or challenges.
Professional equipment is not required. Recordings captured in the field, including on a mobile device, are welcome where they provide insight, atmosphere, or a meaningful perspective. Clarity is important, but authenticity and relevance matter more than studio-level production.
If your recording includes recognisable voices, you must have permission from those individuals.
Accepted file types
Images: JPG, JPEG, PNG
Audio: MP3, WAV, M4A
AI use guidelines
The SMMI recognises that AI tools are increasingly used to enhance research visualisations and creative outputs. To ensure fairness, transparency, and compliance with research and intellectual property standards, the following rules apply:
1. Acceptable AI use
AI tools may be used for:
- Colour correction
- Sharpening or contrast adjustment
- Noise reduction or quality improvements
AI tools may also be used to generate research-based visualisations, including:
- Microscopy renderings
- Data visualisations
- Models or reconstructions of marine environments or structures
Any AI-generated content must be directly connected to original research and must accurately represent the underlying data or subject.
2. Prohibited AI use
- Fully AI-generated submissions without a research basis are not eligible.
- Work created entirely by AI must not be submitted in a way that misrepresents it as original observation or research.
3. Transparency
Entrants must declare any AI use in the submission form and are encouraged to briefly describe how AI contributed in the Additional Comments section.
Rights and permissions
By submitting your entry, you confirm that the material is your own original work.
You grant the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (SMMI) permission to use, edit, crop, reproduce, and publish the image or sound recording in exhibitions, communications, digital content, printed materials, research outputs, workshops, and reports, with full credit given to you.
If AI-generated research visualisations are submitted, you confirm that the underlying research or data is your own or that you have permission to use it.
If your image includes recognisable individuals, a signed release form is required. Download and complete the relevant form below and submit this with your sound or image file through SafeSend to smmi@soton.ac.uk:
If your sound recording includes recognisable human voices, you must have permission from those individuals.
The SMMI reserves the right to review submissions for compliance with these guidelines and may exclude non-compliant entries from judging or exhibition. Responsibility for copyright and intellectual property compliance rests with the entrant.
Email smmi@soton.ac.uk if you have any questions.
We look forward to seeing and hearing how you interpret and capture the oceanscape!