cizucu Presents “Round Things” | Challenge #402

“Round Things” is a global online photography contest presented by cizucu and open to all creators registered on the platform. By curating outstanding submissions, the contest seeks to discover emerging talent and support creators as a community.

This edition’s theme is “Round Things.”

Round forms quietly inhabit the scenes all around us.
The moon and sun suspended in the sky, fruit on the table, signs and windows along city streets.
Beyond perfect circles, gentle curves and shapes that irresistibly draw the eye lend rhythm to everyday life.

Round forms also carry a certain sense of comfort and familiarity.
Contours with neither beginning nor end evoke cycles and connections, while at times commanding a powerful presence through light, shadow, and composition.

Turn your attention to the round things around you.
Circles discovered in ordinary moments, curves shaped by nature, and rounded forms embedded in human activity—we look forward to seeing the beauty you frame through your own perspective.

Rei
Afterglow

📷 FUJIFILM X-T5

cizucu Editorial Team
A convex traffic mirror reflecting the sky just before sunset creates a miniature world in a quiet corner of the city. Suspended in the darkness, its circular outline may be an ordinary piece of road infrastructure, yet it also resembles a window holding the evening landscape within it. The moon, utility poles, and silhouettes of buildings overlap inside the mirror, conjuring a temporality subtly removed from the surrounding reality. Particularly striking is the work’s perspective, which invites us to look anew at a familiar scene through an everyday round object.

fuu111

cizucu Editorial Team
Plums spread across the entire bamboo tray reveal a rich array of expressions beneath the sunlight. Each is a small sphere, yet subtle variations in color, wrinkles, and cast shadows convey the individuality of nature within a repetition of like forms. The rhythm of the woven lattice meets the fruit’s rounded contours, evoking even the passage of time embodied in harvesting and handwork. This work captures the formal intrigue of a familiar ingredient with a warm and attentive gaze.

yNAK

📷 NORITSUKOKI QSS-32_33

cizucu Editorial Team
Between buildings enveloped in shadow, the Japanese flag suddenly appears, stirring in the wind. The red circle at its center draws the eye and brings definition to the surrounding shadows and open expanse of sky. Here, the round form functions not only as a symbol but also as a focal point that guides the viewer’s gaze. The work compellingly captures a circle encountered in a casual upward glance, framed through the contrast of light and shadow.

KBT

cizucu Editorial Team
Countless bicycle wheels overlap to create a scene reminiscent of an abstract composition constructed entirely from lines and circles. Straight spokes, curved rims, and shafts of light intersect in a complex visual weave, transforming familiar bicycle components into something altogether different. Round forms do not merely exist in isolation; when layered, they can generate rhythm and depth. The work’s incisive eye for the formal beauty hidden within the urban landscape is especially compelling.

berryberryberrry

📷 SONY α7R III

cizucu Editorial Team
Soap bubbles drift across the sky, bathed in blue light and unfolding like a dreamscape. Their circular contours, large and small, are fleeting forms carried by the wind, overlapping and vanishing. The presence of a child reaching upward heightens both their transience and delight. Through the shifting light and color reflected within these transparent circles, the work conveys the softness and buoyancy inherent in round forms.

【Submission Period】
Saturday, August 22, 2026 – Monday, September 21, 2026

【Selected Artists Announcement】
Around Friday, October 2, 2026

【Prize】
Complimentary admission to the “photo poster project” presented by cizucu (two recipients)

【How to Submit】
・Select the “Round Things” contest
・Tap “Agree to the Submission Guidelines and Post”
・Select the content you wish to post and submit your work

【Jury Criteria】
(1) Relevance to the theme: Does the work respond to the stated mission?
(2) Clarity of subject: Does the work communicate what the photographer seeks to express and convey their intent?
(3) Expression: Does the work demonstrate strength in perspective, composition, balance, focus, color, and other formal qualities?
(4) Decisive moment: Does the work successfully capture the right moment and timing in relation to its subject?
(5) Originality: Does the work demonstrate a distinctive approach to its setting, subject matter, or other elements?