There’s a big photography contest going on now in Second Life, with over 100,000 Lindens in prizes. It is the SL Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night, Act 1 Photography Contest on Koinup, starting March 1 and lasting through June 15. For more information, visit the SL Shakespeare Company’s blog. If you want to visit Second Life’s Globe Theatre, you can teleport to slurl.com/secondlife/sLiterary/19/33/22.

The following is from the SL Shakespeare Company’s press release about the contest:

Shakespeare, Second Life and Brescia, Italy: The SL Shakespeare Company joins forces with Koinup to launch the world’s first major photography contest featuring a professional theatrical production based entirely in the virtual world of Second Life. Starting March 1, the contest invites participants to attend the SL Shakespeare Company’s open-ended run of Twelfth Night, Act 1 and take photos. Over L$100,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winners.

SL Shakespeare Company poster

The contest consists of a main contest whose final submissions deadline is June 15, 2009. Several mini-contests with weekly or bi-monthly deadlines and prizes will be held starting in April. These mini-contests will be held in conjunction with several “Variations” on the open-ended run, where, for example, an all-female or switched-genders cast interpretation is tried.

To give all participants a chance, the contest introduces a special “Unedited SL Photography” category with its own exclusive prize.

The contest also has a special Avatar Photography category for photography that focus particularly on actor avatars. To help facilitate this specialized component, the SL Shakespeare Company will be holding special actor avatar photography sessions starting in April.

The Globe Theatre stage seen from the second level seating

In efforts to recognize photography based not only on artistic merit but also on their appeal to different people, the contest will be judged by a panel of well-known Second Life residents from several different arenas. Judges include Ananda Valeeva, AM Radio, Beyers Sellers, Eshi Otawara, Frolic Mills, Ina Centaur, Jaymes Kjeller, Prad Prathivi, Rightasrain Rimbaud, Sarah Nerd, Tara05 Oh, Vint Falken, Verde Otaared, and others.

Shows occur weekly on Sundays at 1 PM PST and Tuesdays at 6 PM PST at the SL Globe Theatre. Performances are free except for shows on the last Tuesday and Sunday of each month. Donations are gratefully accepted.