Help us build a visual archive of Somers Town or Camden that tells us about London’s experience of heat from 1945 to today. Play a part in research on climate change and a global project into heat histories.
Send your photos of urban heat in the city in Then/ Now categories.
WIN £100!
YOUR WORK IN AN EXHIBITION!
Join in the competition not only to have a chance to win £100 but also to see your work on display – fifteen images will be blown up at large format for display outdoors and you will be part of the London Melting Metropolis project in New York Paris London!
See below for competition Deadline; Themes & Inspiration; How to enter; and competition rules:
DEADLINE: November 1st 2026
THEMES & INSPIRATION
We are looking for photographs that bring to life the experience of urban heat in cities – how people cope, inside housing or outdoors.
Judges will be looking for images that illustrate the theme of urban heat and will prioritise images of Somers Town, Camden, London.
1945–1969: Rebuilding the City
What was life like without air conditioning and outdoors?
Themes:
- Limited car ownership with less air conditioning.
- Children playing in streets.
- Post-war housing estates.
- Early concerns about pollution rather than heat.
1970–1989: The Heatwave Era Emerges
Themes:
- The famous hot summer of 1976. e.g. Workers during the summer heat of 1976
- Water shortages and drought.
- Expanding road networks and urban surfaces.
- Changing public attitudes to extreme heat.
1990–2009: A Warming City
Themes:
- Urban heat island research becomes prominent.
- Growth of dense developments.
- Heatwave impacts on public health.
- Increased awareness of climate change.
2010–Present: Living with Urban Heat
Themes:
- Record temperatures.
- Cooling strategies.
- Trees, shade, and green infrastructure and how people use these
Competition Categories
THEN
- Real photographs only. Family memories or named photographer
- An authentic historical photograph set in or around Somers Town or south Camden or of Somers Town people on holiday in the UK E.g. Festival; Pram Race; The 1976 drought in Camden London/ Commuters at Euston or King’s Cross/ St Pancras during the 1976 heatwave.
- Original capture required.
NOW
- Real photographs only.
- Original capture required in 2026
AI-Assisted Creative Category – animation
- AI-generated or AI-enhanced animated photos are ONLY allowed if used to enhance the historical theme not invent; to enhance a realistic theme (not fantasy or ilustration) (e.g. no dinosaurs on WW2 bombsites!) SO must be based based in history
- AI can be used to bring to life museum-quality reconstructions such as:
- Somers Town during the summer of 1947.
- Children playing in bomb-damaged Somers Town or King’s Cross during a hot spell in the late 1940s.
AI IMAGES MUST ALSO HAVE:
- A contextual and process description is required
- Timeframe and context given
- Details that are not historically accurate will be discounted
HOW TO ENTER
To enter, participants must:
- Follow your Instagram account.
- Post a photo or video on a public Instagram account.
- Use the competition hashtag. Post on instragram using the tag #meltingmetropolislondon
- Tag your account.
OTHER WAYS TO ENTER:
OR
Email to meltingmetropolis@gmail.com
Drop your printed image into 52 Phoenix Road, NW! 1ES
COMPETITION RULES
- By entering your photo into this compeition you give:
- Permission to exhibit submitted work in exhibition and hold in archive and at University of Liverpool Wellcome archives for resaearch purposes
- You must give Credit to photographer where known
- Do not use existing archival images without the archive’s permission
- No nudity or offensive content will be allowed
- Images only of UK LONDON
- Please gain consent for subjects if this is a contemporary photograph; written consent from parents if a child is in the picture.
- Eligibility
- The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers, videographers and creators. Entrants must be aged 18 or over or have the permission of a parent or guardian.
- Entry Requirements
- To enter, participants must:
- • Follow the organiser’s Instagram account.
- • Submit an original photograph or video relating to the competition theme.
- • Post the entry on Instagram using the official competition hashtag and tagging the organiser’s account.
- • Ensure that they own the rights to the submitted work.
- Ownership and Copyright
- Entrants retain full copyright ownership of their submitted photographs and videos.
- Licence to Use Submitted Material
- By entering the competition, entrants grant the organiser a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to:
- • Display submitted works in museum exhibitions, street exhibitions and public displays.
- • Include submitted works within the organiser’s archive and collections.
- • Reproduce submitted works in print and digital publications.
- • Use submitted works on websites, social media channels, press releases, newsletters, educational resources and promotional materials.
- • Use submitted works in future exhibitions, research projects, reports and public engagement activities relating to the themes of the competition.
- The organiser may resize, crop or make minor adjustments to submitted works for display, publication or accessibility purposes while preserving the integrity of the original work.
- Credit
- Where reasonably practicable, the organiser will credit creators by name in exhibitions, publications and online use.
- Permissions and Consents
- Entrants are responsible for obtaining any permissions required from identifiable individuals appearing in their work and for ensuring that submitted material does not infringe the rights of any third party.
- Archive Preservation
- Entrants acknowledge that submitted works may be retained permanently within the organiser’s archive for historical, educational, research and cultural purposes.
- AI-Generated Content
- Where AI-generated or AI-assisted imagery is permitted, entrants must clearly disclose the use of AI tools. The organiser reserves the right to display such works separately or with appropriate labelling.
- Judging and Prizes
- Judges’ decisions are final. No correspondence regarding judging decisions will be entered into.
- Acceptance of Terms
- Submission of an entry constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
A space for us People’s Museum in partnership with Melting Metropolis Wellcome project.