7500 photos from around the world were received. The best were divided into the following categories:

• people
• americana
• altered images
• the natural world
• travel

There's some good stuff here, but I have to wonder how much longer people will find value in projects like this. Sites like Flickr are rapidly blurring the lines between professional and amateur photography as well as removing the filter that previously prevented people from seeing only "the best" photographs. Additionally, in the digital era, it's almost offensive that organizations offer only glorified thumbnails of images when they can easily serve up the original.

• Smithsonian Photo Contest

Filed In: photo art