LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (Top40 Charts/ Bing) On Monday 16 May 2011, multi award-winning music artist, Dizzee Rascal, is launching Bing.com's 'Your Britain' national photography competition and continuing in the search engine's quest to attract its audience using inspirational visuals. Dizzee will curate Bing's homepage, Bing.com, with a collection of original images he has taken which show the places, buildings, environments and the moments in time that, for him and through his eyes, make Britain a beautiful and inspiring country. A different image will be showcased each day this week on Bing.com to inspire Brits to enter the competition to win �10,000, and a chance for their image to be on Bing.com's homepage for 24 hours later this summer.
Dizzee Rascal and art director, Ben Drury, have travelled across the country to photograph places that have inspired Dizzee through his life's journey to today. Dizzee grew up in the East End of London, so he revisited some of his old haunts, including a school where he met an inspiring music teacher, to a street in Bow where he painted his first mural, both of which helped to start his creative journey. He also visited the Olympic Stadium, which he will be playing a lead role in as an ambassador for the East End, as well some of his favourite music spots from festival sites to clubs. His journey also took him to unexpected places, such as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and a Carp Lake in Dorking, where he enjoys relaxing with one of his favourite hobbies, fishing.
Brits will be able to enter images of what inspires them about the unique beauty of Britain across a range of categories, from Monday 16 May 2011. The images will be judged by a panel of experts including Dizzee Rascal and Ben Drury among others to be announced soon. Categories include my local Britain, my natural Britain, my Britain at night and my urban Britain.
Dizzee Rascal said: "I hope I can spark some creative energy in people to take shots of what inspires them about Britain. Beauty doesn't have to be about traditionally accepted perceptions; it can be anything from memories to ideas - beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's important for everyone to be inspired by what's around them, so this is a great opportunity to visualize what you see as beautiful about Britain. It's worth it - you can win �10,000 and get your images out to 16 million people on Bing.com."
Alex Payne, Head of Search for Bing, said: "This will be the first time Bing has allowed a guest editor to curate its homepage and broadcast images to 16 million users. We are delighted that Dizzee Rascal is taking the lead in deepening Bing's view on the world, and that he is so keen to express his own view of life in Britain through photography on Bing. We hope his take on Britain will inspire Brits to take photographs and share their views of what makes Britain so special."
Art directing the project is the designer Ben Drury. Ben and Dizzee have collaborated since Ben designed the sleeve for Dizzee's Mercury Award winning first album Boy in Da Corner. He has worked extensively in the music industry as well as on numerous other projects including designing trainers for Nike.
Your Britain competition launches on Monday 16th May and closes on Friday 24th June. For more information visit www.bing.com or www.your-britain.com.
