UK joins PhotoBox 10 year celebrations and a chance to win fame, world record gallery acclaim plus travel adventures to the six corners of the world

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - June 18, 2010) - PhotoBox, Europe's favourite online destination for photo printing, sharing and photo booking is celebrating turning 10 this week. Not one to do things by halves, PhotoBox is embarking the nation on an 80 day race around the world in photos.

There will be rewards galore including six holidays of a lifetime to the far corners of the world courtesy of leading holiday company Thomson; a Guinness World Record attempt for the biggest photobook known to man and plenty of photography kudos as photos will be judged by a world class panel and winning entries exhibited at the trendy Old Truman Brewery during PhotoMonth and immortalised in the world's largest photobook.

Let the race begin!
Our voyage kicks off this Friday 18th June - we're following in the footsteps of the World Cup and journeying to where it all began - Africa. The aim, to complete all the countries of this continent in photos in less than 14 days, then move on to the next - America, followed by South America (with a quick stop in Antartica) back to Europe, then off to Asia and finish things off in Oceania.

6 winning photos from 6 continents will be selected from the estimated tens of thousands of entries, but all participants are in with a chance of having their photos grace the pages of the world's biggest photobook. Everyone's a winner.

To succeed in this mammoth task, especially with some of the less visited more far flung locations; we're calling on the nation to help us. We plan on getting everyone's friends and family involved. Our own facebook fan page will be the race hub, the place to get your daily dose of dares, competitions, hunts and forfeits to keep spirits high during the 80 day feat!

So, who will be judging?

• David Noton - award winning landscape photographer and author of 'Waiting for the Light' and ground breaking DVD 'Chasing the Light'

• Annabel Williams - world class portraiture and wedding photographer, published author and tutor, providing pioneering photographic training cemented in simple techniques and the refreshing mantra that photography is 90% psychology and 10% technical

• Manfred Baumann - International celebrity photographer who's had the joy of working with Sir Roger Moore, Bruce Willis, Tony Curtis and Juliette Lewis, amongst others

• Damien Demolder, esteemed editor of the UK's leading photography weekly, Amateur Photographer

• Linda Buttle - PhotoBox Editor and regular judge across all photo competitions

• Christian Cull - travelling the globe to amazing destinations in far flung places as part of his responsibility for media and customer communications, Thomson's Communication Director has a keen eye for a winning travel photo that appeals to 'the people'

All photos will be judged on two key criteria:

1. The photo that best captures the spirit of the continent, portraying its culture, people, landscape and feeling it evokes

2. The photo's composition and impact

Prizes and Rewards
The comp runs from June 18th to September 5th, with winners announced by the judging panel on Friday 10th September. The six winners will receive the holiday of their lives to each of the continents featured in the race, provided by the UK's leading tour operator Thomson. Well known for its exciting holidays and tours in 59 destinations around the world, Thomson is offering a range of stunning resorts with unique activities to enjoy. It offers the perfect balance between independence and providing customers with a helping hand on their financially secure holiday experience.

The first 14 day holiday adventure for two, involves a seven-day 'Taste of Kenya Safari' with spectacular game drives and views across 3 national parks set in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, with a stop at the heart warming Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, followed by a relaxing seven-nights at the exclusive Voyager Beach Resort in Nyali Beach.

Paparazzi at the ready
What's more, the winners will take centre stage with a rare opportunity to be seen and contacted by the media, art critics, photography peers and the general public, with their own page in the World's largest walk-in photobook.

This staggering 19.6ft/6m by 13ft/4m book will be displayed at London's prestigious Old Truman Brewery Gallery as part of photo fest extravaganza, Photo Month, now like PhotoBox in its 10th year.

A media preview and drinks reception kicks off proceedings on Thursday 14th October, where the book, which fills half a room, will let visitors enjoy these stunning photos on an epic world scale with pages taller than any person, giving a magical 'Alice in Wonderland' effect!

Back where it all began
Mark Chapman, MD and co-founder at PhotoBox, commented: "When Graham and I set up PhotoBox in 2000, we knew it was a gamble. We had a passion for photography and digital cameras were starting to take off, so we dived in with both feet. A bit like Phileas Fogg, we gambled on our dream to succeed and despite the dot.com crash, we held on, inspiring the nation and continuing our quest to set photos free."

Chapman added: "10 years later, not only did we survive, we're now Europe's leader and we owe this to our customers. So when it came to celebrating 10 years as the nation's favourite, we couldn't find a more fitting way to express our gratitude, values, spirit and epic journey, than to create a people powered photo campaign capturing people's best loved memories and adventures."

"It's a very proud moment for us. To think we started with a good idea, a couple of printers and four pair of hands, just mine and Mark's, and now have 3.5m members in the UK alone, makes this 10 year milestone very special indeed" concluded Graham Hobson, Co-founder and CTO.

Competition details
The 'Around the World in 80 days' photo competition goes live this Friday, 18th June. Entries to be submitted here http://80days.photobox.co.uk, which also features further information on the competition, its judges and everything else you need to know.

About PhotoBox
PhotoBox is the leading online photo printing and publishing service in the UK and Europe, pioneering online printing, storing, sharing, community and publishing services for digital photos, before extending its range to innovative products such as photo books, calendars, wall decor and greeting cards.

Merging with leading French service Photoways in April 2006 to create the European market leader, PhotoBox now boasts over 11 million members and nearly 200million photo prints and has won more awards than any other online photo printing website with the latest including Which? Magazine's Best Buy and Gartner's CRM Excellence Award.

The group is backed by leading Venture Capital firms Index Ventures, Highland Capital and HarbourVest. Stan Laurent, formerly Chief Operating Officer at AOL Europe, is President and CEO and Mark Chapman, co-founder of PhotoBox, is Managing Director of the UK business.