The Age of the GIF is well under way, with the Internet’s favorite file type capturing the hearts of artists all over the world and reaching from the Game of Thrones fandom to forward-thinking street artists.
Now, the Saatchi Gallery is opening its gates to the Internet’s best GIF artisans, inviting them to compete for the Motion Photography Prize.
Contestants can submit their work through Google+ to one of several categories: Landscape, Lifestyle, Action, Night, People, and Urban.
We've dug through some of the entries, and it's going to be stiff competition. The moving photographs are consistently stunning, as they paint surreal pictures of moving objects, tell brief-but-effective stories, or just look really cool.
Six finalists will be chosen on April 16 and The Saatchi Museum will fly them to London where their work will be displayed in an interactive exhibition that invites visitors to create their own motion photography art. Stay tuned for the cream of the crop, and see some awesome entries below:
By Rocco Giove
By Martin Hahnl
By Jay Bee
By Sumie Garcia
By Ben Vine
AND NOW: 10 More Gorgeous GIFs