I Wear My Sunglasses at Night 2026

Submit one original nighttime fashion photograph featuring at least one registered Modishads model, with sunglasses as a prominent part of the image.

Any qualified registered Modishads member may submit an entry, regardless of primary profession. Each entry must include a registered photographer and a separate registered model. All credited collaborators must be registered Modishads members and accept their credited participation before official submission. Credit every featured model using a Model role. This competition uses Option A: identity verification is not required to prepare or officially submit an entry. If the image wins, every featured model and the submitting member must pass identity verification before the prize can be claimed or paid. A submitting member who is also a featured model needs only one current verification. The submitting member must own the necessary rights or have the photographer's authorization and all other permissions necessary to enter the photograph.

The photograph must not contain AI-generated or AI-replaced people or major visual elements. Standard adjustments such as cropping, color correction, exposure, and retouching are permitted.

Entrants must have permission from every recognizable person appearing in the photograph and must accurately credit all collaborators.

Each member may participate in only one active entry in this competition across all roles, including submitting member, photographer, model, or other credited collaborator. Creating an owner draft or accepting a credited role reserves that member's participation, including while the entry is a draft. Pending invitations do not reserve participation. Before the submission deadline, a collaborator may leave through Competition Credits, or the submitting member may withdraw the entry. A released member may then join another entry. Removing or leaving a submitted entry returns it to draft; its owner must complete all team and acceptance requirements and officially resubmit before the deadline. Restarting a withdrawn entry requires the other collaborators to accept again. These actions do not extend the deadline. Participation may not be transferred after the deadline. The same photograph may not be submitted separately by teammates or through multiple accounts. Duplicate entries, duplicate participation, or multiple-account circumvention may result in disqualification.

Entries must not contain unlawful, hateful, sexually explicit, violent, stolen, or otherwise prohibited content.

All competition times use Eastern Time (America/New_York), observing daylight saving time where applicable. Submissions open October 1, 2026 at 8:00 AM and remain open through October 16, 2026 at 11:59 PM. The closing boundary is midnight at the beginning of October 17. Voting periods likewise include their entire stated final 11:59 PM minute and close at the following midnight. The competition may close earlier if the maximum of 50 entries is reached.

The competition has a minimum target of 10 eligible submissions. If fewer than 10 eligible submissions are received, Modishads may extend the submission period, continue the competition, postpone judging, or cancel the competition, with notice of any change. The system will not cancel the competition automatically.

Stage 1 community rating opens October 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM and remains open through October 23, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Eligible signed-in registered members may rate available entries from 1 to 5 stars, subject to the platform's account and voting restrictions; judges do not need to be appointed for Stage 1 community rating. Members may not rate their own entry or an entry in which they are an accepted credited collaborator. Entries must meet eligibility requirements and receive at least 10 valid Stage 1 ratings to qualify for finalist consideration. The target is 20 finalists through the official Bayesian-score ranking process, subject to manual eligibility and integrity review and finalist confirmation. If between 2 and 19 entries qualify, all qualifying entries advance. Ineligible entries will not be added to fill vacant places. If zero or one entry qualifies, advancement is paused and Modishads will announce an extension or cancellation rather than silently waive qualification requirements.

All qualifying entries tied at the official Stage 1 Bayesian-score finalist cutoff advance, even when this produces more than 20 finalists. There is no separate judge tiebreak to remove an entry from a cutoff tie. Modishads must review and confirm the finalist list before Stage 2 can open. If confirmation cannot be completed before the scheduled opening, a revised Stage 2 schedule will be announced.

Stage 2 community voting and judge scoring open October 24, 2026 at 9:00 AM and remain open through October 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Stage 2 community voters must have an account at least seven days old and a complete profile, and meet the platform's voting eligibility requirements. Eligible members rank the required number of available finalists (up to three); those choices earn 5, 3, and 1 points respectively, with community scores normalized by the platform. Members may not vote for their own entry or an entry in which they are an accepted credited collaborator. The judge panel is separately appointed by Modishads; community registration does not appoint a member to the panel. At least three assigned judges must each score every finalist. Judges score each of five criteria from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest): Composition (framing, balance, visual structure, and use of space), Creativity (originality, concept, and distinctive visual approach), Technical Execution (lighting, focus, editing, and photographic execution), Theme Fit (how effectively sunglasses and the nighttime brief are expressed), and Overall Impact (the strength, memorability, styling, and overall effectiveness of the image). Each criterion contributes 20% of the judge score. The judge component is the mean of all assigned judges' completed rubric scores, scaled to a maximum of 100. Final scoring is weighted 50% community voting and 50% judge scoring, using the platform's official community-score calculation. Judges must disclose conflicts of interest and may not score an entry in which they participated; a replacement judge must complete the required coverage. Fraudulent votes, vote manipulation, or coordinated abuse may result in disqualification.

Results are scheduled for November 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM Eastern Time, subject to completed eligibility checks, full judging coverage, score validation, and any necessary review. Any necessary schedule change will be announced. An exact tie for the highest final score, using the score precision applied by the official scoring system rather than a rounded display value, results in shared first place and an equal division of the $400 USD prize pool; no winner-selection runoff is used. Two tied winning entries receive $200 USD each. If three or more entries tie for first, the pool is divided equally to the nearest payable cent by rounding each share down to whole cents and allocating any remaining cents in order of earliest official submission, with stable entry ID order resolving identical submission timestamps. The total prize pool remains $400 USD.

Modishads pays the prize, or the applicable tied-winner share, to the registered member who officially submitted the winning photograph. Modishads does not divide that payment among the entry's collaborators. Any agreement to share, transfer, or otherwise distribute the payment is solely between the participating members, who are responsible for their own arrangements. The recipient must satisfy applicable eligibility, tax, and payout requirements. Every model featured in the winning image and the submitting member must have current, successful identity verification before prize claim and payout. Failed, missing, expired, or revoked verification of any required person blocks payment of that entry's prize. This requirement applies separately to every jointly winning entry. Modishads may request proof of the rights and permissions necessary to submit the photograph.

The prize recipient has 30 calendar days from creation of the official in-account winner notification to complete their own identity verification, ensure every featured model in the winning image passes identity verification, and complete the required prize claim. This notification is created when Modishads creates the winner's award after publishing validated results, states the exact claim deadline and timezone, and links to Account > Prizes. The deadline is based on notification creation, not when the recipient reads it; any supplemental email does not restart the clock. Required claim steps must be completed before that exact deadline. Failure to complete these requirements may result in forfeiture under the Modishads Competition Official Rules, subject to applicable law. Completing a claim within 30 days does not guarantee payment within that period; payment follows verification and processing.

Ownership, permissions, credit, and usage rights for ordinary submissions, finalists, and winning entries are governed by the Modishads Competition Official Rules (https://www.modishads.com/competition-rules). This competition does not expand or replace those platform-wide licenses.

Modishads may remove an entry or disqualify an entrant for violating these rules or compromising the fairness of the competition. Eligibility and enforcement decisions are governed by the Modishads Competition Official Rules. Material changes, extensions, pauses, or cancellations will be communicated to affected participants. Results will not be published without valid community scores and the required complete judge coverage. Missing community voting data will not be replaced with zero scores or judges-only scoring; Modishads will announce an extension, pause, or cancellation and any revised voting schedule.