awards winners 2018 Nov 2018

Title: Priest

"For the last few years I have been photographing people from different backgrounds and lifestyles. The priest in the picture has been living in the same monastery that I have visited with my family since I was a child. The day I took the photo, I had planned with my wife to visit the monastery and the priest. I took my equipment with me as I always wanted to take a picture of him.

When we got there, we sat down with him, got his blessing and heard his life story.

When I took the photo it was such a pure moment because the priest is almost blind but all his positive energy and emotions were shown in one picture."

Title: Putting on a Brave Face

"Our world has become emotionally disconnected. Through social media we are projecting a reality that we control, allowing people to see only the positive moments of our life that we wish to portray. These moments are then artificially enhanced through filters and special effects overlaid on the image, building upon this false projection of their identity.

‘Putting on a Brave Face’ is a visual interpretation of the emotional and psychological state that is all too commonly hidden. Depression unfortunately holds an air of stigma making people find it extremely hard to speak about, masking their true emotional state behind a positive projection of themselves."

Title: Concrete Cross

"The image is part of my series “Concrete Cross”, a series about churches, built in the style of “Brutalismus”, mostly in the 1970’s.

One of the main architects of this genre is Pritzker prize-award winner, Gottfried Böhm. He has been considered to be both an Expressionism and post-Bauhaus architect, but he prefers to define himself as an architect who creates "connections" between the past and the future, between the world of ideas and the physical world, between a building and its urban surroundings.

The picture was shot in the Church of The Resurrection of Christ (1971) and shows a part of the entrance.

In the series, I play with fragments and details of concrete facades and elements, which are illuminated through colorful church windows. This shows a wonderful interaction between the somehow clean but organic surface of the concrete and the light."

Title: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

"The image is a portrait of electronic musician Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith for the cover of her album “The Kid”. The music is quite cosmic in a sense of style, so we wanted the art to reflect this. Working with makeup artist Laura Stiassni we used her face as the surface for a this reflective, otherworldly feel."

Tim is represented by Stem Agency in the UK.

Title: Fanny

"This image is shot in Skye, Scotland for the launch of the new Volvo V90CC, featuring the model Fanny Fournier. The idea behind this image, and many other images we created for Volvo, is to capture an authentic feeling, something more than just a shot of a product. We strove to find the right conditions to portray this, always using natural light."

Title: Bayer Silos

"This image was shot for the Bayer Corporation’s Agriculture Division. Honestly, this shot wasn’t even on the original shot list. We were shooting on top of those silos. I finished that shot and had just walked down. As I looked up to say something to my assistant, I instantly saw the shot. I got our model in position right away. It took less than five minutes and we went on our way. That is why you always have to keep your eyes open!"

Title: Xenophobia

"Our model Huguette is a Rwandan national living in Johannesburg, so we took her to downtown and shot her looking a little out of place, an 'alien', as a commentary on the xenophobia that flares up in South Africa sometimes.

Downtown Johannesburg is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. It is a melting pot of cultures from all over Africa. There’s an energy that can’t be explained. It is dangerous and beautiful and energetic and inspiring and scary all at the same time. If you can harness some of that energy, often the results are special. I wanted to take a foreign African and take her into this environment and make her look completely alien."

Title: Egg Yolk

"I wanted to play with figures, textures, and shapes freely in a way that I could sort of mislead the viewer’s perception. The shoot itself was quite easy to do, but creating the idea and finding the right materials was, in the end, the challenge."

Title: Sapology

"This image is part of an editorial called Sapology, for Holligans Magazine. This photo was the cover. As I also live in Cape Town, I was always mesmerised and inspired by the styling of the Sapeurs du Congo. From that inspiration, we (me, the art director Natasscha Girelli and stylist Karen Lebrati) worked our story about our amazing little sapeurs."

Title: Dekotora - Junichi Tajima

"For more than 40 years, Japanese truck drivers have been piling on lights, patterned fabrics, and other over-the-top adornments to their work trucks, creating moving masterpieces covered in LEDs. This tradition of decorated trucks or “Dekotora” originated from a 1970s Japanese movie series inspired by Smokey and the Bandit titled Torakku Yaro or “Truck Rascals.” In its heyday there were many thousands of dekotora drivers. Junichi Tajima, the subject of the image, runs a waste disposal company in Japan, but he is not a regular truck driver. He is one of an estimated 600 remaining dekotora drivers in Japan, owns three extravagantly decorated vehicles and is the head of the ‘Utamaro-Kai’, the national association of dekotora truck drivers. 

When I asked him what "Dekotora" means to him, he said: ‘After 40 years, "Dekotora" is my children, my brothers, my family’."

Title: Greyhound

"This shot is part of a series which aims to do justice to the greyhound, and its embodiment of pure power and elegance. It is also a technical exercise; to freeze a precise moment, capturing it with three cameras at the same time with alternative angles from above and head on.
 
Initially, the plan was to use a laser trigger to sync the firing of cameras and flash, but due to unforeseen technical and weather issues, I had to completely change my approach and shoot in pitch darkness in order to capture the set of images.

I went through the GBGB (Greyhound Board of Great Britain) to find an approved trainer and assess the conditions in which the dogs were kept. This particular trainer has their own retirement kennel to ensure all their retired racing greyhounds are either well looked after by them or re-homed.

This photograph marked a defining moment in the progression of my photography and I am delighted it was recognised by the Spotlight Awards."

Title: Endless Paperwork

"The image was created for Kinfolk Magazine as part of a series illustrating an article on business tips and paperwork. This particular image was created to go alongside a section on endless legal contracts.

The subject matter could have been seen as mundane and monotonous and I wanted to create a series that was elegant and interesting, which is not something you might expect from paperwork!

On this project I worked with the talented set designer Sandy Suffield, who I knew could help elevate the subject."

Aaron is represented by AWA in the UK.

Title: Evidence of Resilience

"The photo is just one in a series of 40-50 pictures depicting the inhabitants of 15 villages in Eastern Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda). I met the founder of the NGO Spark Micro Grants at a convention hosted by the Global Good Fund (GGF). I had helped the GGF in the past, documenting their work (leadership and fundraising development for smaller NGOs) and I took a liking to Spark’s approach in helping these villages. I spoke to GGF who helped me get in contact with Spark. The agreement was that I was going to document the work they do in the villages with stills and video as long as I could do his personal project with these portraits.

The winning image is from one of the first villages we visited in Rwanda and the name of the village is Kintobo"

Title: Luxury - from the '(an)organic' series

"This picture, titled Luxury, is part of the (an)organic series. (an)organic explores the history and purpose of still life as a genre. Still life is not just a random constellation of objects, its choice and composition defines the person who owns it or at least the way of presentation to the public.

Animals display their human-like characters through the interaction with their surrounding- still life compositions creating the landscape they find themselves in. In typical fashion for the genre, every subtle detail contains a meaning, a metaphor hidden between the fruit or in the  piece of meat. The sphynx cat, the symbol of the rich, sitting fat and comfortable not paying attention to the tasty, delicate dishes served on the table - it represents 'Luxury'."

Title: Beach Day

"I made this photograph during a family holiday in Hawaii. I was with my fiancée taking an early evening walk on the beach, just before dinner. I hadn't brought my “good” camera with me. Along the way, I spotted two ladies sitting on the beach and was immediately excited by the overall composition. I made a few photos with my iPhone while stating, under my breath, that I could not believe I had left my SLR at the house. Fortunately for me, I used my iPhone to make this photograph!"