The Winners of the ESA Photographic Competition 2020
Judging a photographic competition is never easy. The main problem is, of course, that when there is only one judge the decision is inevitably subjective. However, in judging the Eurostar Staff Association 2020 competition I have made a determined effort to pick out winners that best expressed the three themes of Landscapes, Portraits and Transport.
Although I didn’t quite know what to expect, I have to say the overall standard was high and some of the images were truly impressive. I spent a good deal of time looking, and re-looking at them all, whittling it down to the final choice. Besides the winners, there were other images in each segment that deserve commendation, so here are the winners with my thoughts around each.
Category One: LANDSCAPES
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Winner: Image L029 by Paul Weston
There were several beautiful entries in this category, but for me this pastoral scene really captured the mood and atmosphere – a true’ sense of place’. Rays of sun are just breaking through the clouds throwing golden light onto the foreground while the hills in the background are still shrouded in mist. The focal point is the lone tree, rendered almost as a silhouette, the whole composition creating ‘planes of distance’ which draw the eye in. Superb.
Also in this category were some excellent sunrise/sunset images including L021 Alta Sunrise by Anne Storey in Norway and L017 by Roger Priolet, with a wonderful stratified cloud formation.
I also liked L20 Alta Landscape by Anne Storey, a chill Nordic snow scene with an isolated ‘Christmas’ tree in the foreground and L024 Falkirk Kelpies by Steve McNally, although this probably had more to do with the striking sculpture than the photograph itself. Then there was the near-perfect reflection of the castle in L002 Bodiam by Peter Kendall, something that’s not always easy to get right.
Category Two: PORTRAITS
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Winner: Image P004 My Boy Charlie by Jeremy de Souza
The difficult thing about portraits of people is that they tend to mean a lot to the friends or relations of the photographer. Therefore, for a portrait to be truly successful it has to tell the viewer more about the subject than just their identity. It needs to express true character and soul. The winning picture does that – and who said the portrait had to be of a person?! This picture immediately tells us about the bond between Charlie and his keeper. Not only is Charlie’s character and expression beautifully captured, but the photographer has used controlled depth of field and vignetting to ‘lift’ the subject from the background.
Other animals and birds featured in the Portraits category, including a blackbird, fox and other dogs, all of which showed skill in successfully capturing subjects which can be challenging.
In terms of human portraits I rather liked P001 Lady of the Lake, Thatcham by Brian Baz Banthorpe, a contemplative and unusual back-view, and two engaging child portraits P005 Bethany aged nearly 3 by Bill Stevenson and P006 Oakley by Annette Reeves.
Category Three: TRANSPORT
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Winner: Image T005 Sheffield by Colin Charman
This is a great example of quick thinking to make the most of an opportunity. The coupled noses of two Voyager sets – as well as their reflections in the building on the opposite platform – perfectly frame the businessman intent on catching his train and oblivious to the fact that he is being photographed. For many photographers just the noses of the two trains and their reflection would have been enough, but to get the businessman as well you would have to be right on the button.
There was a very nice shot from above T004 by Sue Welburn of a rank of horse brakes, but for me the runner-up in this section has to be T003 Cruise liner in The Caribbean by Annette Reeves which instantly in one photograph conveys both the appeal and horror of these mega-ships.
So there we are. If your entry wasn’t mentioned it’s not because it didn’t rate – they were all good. If you keep taking shots to this standard every entrant will have good reason to be proud.
Adrian Knowles
27 December 2020
Our judge, Adrian Knowles, was the features editor of Amateur Photographer for many years.
He now runs his own graphics business as well as being the Editor-in-Chief of the Great Western Echo, the excellent quarterly magazine for members of the Great Western Society, Didcot.
Adrian is also a well-recognized photographer in his own right.
Peter Storey, ESA Secretary
