When Louis-Jaques-Monde Daguerre and his colleagues invented the process of photography in 19th century Paris, little did they realise what they had inflicted upon the world. Out-of-focus pets, demonic red-eyed children and headless workmates were unleashed upon us as clumsy and incompetent people across the globe turned the seemingly innocent camera into an instrument of chaos. 
Photos of Shame (15 pictures)
Inspired by our own photographic fumbles, we at BBC Gloucestershire thought it was time to start documenting some of the county's worst crimes against the art of still imagery.  | | Some shiny...things |
Our personal favourites from the past months include the breathtaking 'Blurry Shed by Night', the challenging 'Out-of-focus Dog on Pavement (probably Terrier)' and the inspiring 'Office carpet and Bit of Someone's Foot'. After some investigation we discovered, to our amazement, that dedicated purveyors of bad photography did not have an award which reflected their tireless dedication to the art of taking poor quality pictures. So we've invented one. Competition Email your worst snaps (.jpg format please) to [email protected] and not only might they appear in our esteemed Photos of Shame gallery, but you could also be the proud recipent of our Grand Photo of Shame Award 2005. The winner of this auspicious title will receive (courtesy of the nether regions of our prize drawer) a frisbee and a round orange plastic thing, which we think is probably supposed to go on your car aerial. Wowee!  | | Having a blurry good time |
The judging panel will be headed by David Bailey - not the world famous fashion photographer and sixties icon, but BBC Gloucestershire's very own namesake, who formerly presented the Drive Time show. Which makes him cooler, in a way. Our David (right) has taken numerous photos over the years, several of which have been more or less in focus, making him the ideal person to judge this unique competition. He said, "I can't wait to start ploughing through a big pile of poor quality photos."
The deadline for you to send us your efforts is October 31st 2005 (or thereabouts, depending on how things are going at the time).
Remember you can win not only a FRISBEE but also an ORANGE THING and we might even dig out some OTHER STUFF to stick in the envelope with them. Exciting, eh? Happy snapping!
If you would like to comment on this story get in touch at [email protected]or have your say on our messageboard | 
Does your photography leave a little to be desired? We've got just the thing for you - our monumental Photos of Shame competition. Bad is the new good!
