Innovative Belfast artwork vying for international best image of year award

A satellite image of an art installation in Belfast entitled Wish and featuring the face of an anonymous child is competing to become DigitalGlobe's best image of the year.

The image was taken by the company’s World View 2 space orbiting camera in early December. The work was created by Cuban-American artist, Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada, for the 2013 Ulster Bank Belfast International Festival at Queen’s.

Wish features a portrait of an anonymous local girl photographed by the artist in the process of making a simple wish for the future.

Spanning an 11-acre site in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, the photographic image of this girl is made of topsoil, sand, grass and stones.

This innovative artwork is one of the most ambitious land art projects in the world.

Making WISH was no easy task. With 30,000 wooden stakes, 2,000 tonnes of soil, and 2,000 tonnes of sand, the WISH team had just four weeks to complete one of the largest (if not THE largest) realistic portraits the world has ever seen.

Wish was created by the artist, in partnership with the city of Belfast and its people. Volunteers and community groups contributed hundreds of hours, while local businesses and contractors donated generously.

Votes can be cast on the Digital Globe Facebook page until tomorrow – facebook.com/DigitalGlobeInc