spotlight awards 2023 Oct 2023

Title: Ollie

Location: Brick Lane Station Park, London. "I’ve been thinking about the environment a lot and wanted to shoot a series of images that touch on the subject of rewilding. As if the sitter has created their own personal wild space.

I was introduced to Ollie through a friend and thought he would be really great for this portrait. We tried to keep the shoot as environmentally friendly as possible. The flowers were a mixture of real and artificial. We hired all the artificial flowers from a company that specialises in supplying plants and foliage to the film industry and live events. The real flowers at the end of the day were given to crew members so they could take them home and enjoy them."

Title: Real Magic with Mo+Th

Location: Cape Town. "The shot was part of a social media campaign for Coca-Cola, an excellent reminder that the most captivating stories are often the ones that unfold naturally, reflecting real life and human experience.

During each project, my primary goal is to uncover a narrative that is both unexpected and authentic. I seek to go beyond the confines of the script, allowing the moments to happen, capturing the raw and genuine emotions of the subjects in their true essence. For this approach, clients need to place their trust and take risks, the only way of reaching new limits. This mostly will be rewarded by stories far more compelling than any preconceived ideas, revealing the unscripted beauty of life itself."

Title: Jamar

"At the moment, my main specialty is a product designer; I have been working in this field for more than 10 years. I am engaged in interfaces, solving business problems and user scenarios.

At the same time, I have always aspired to creativity and learning new tools, from freehand drawing and photography to 3D graphics and animation. Ai for me is a means of self-expression. I'm exploring the possibilities of Midjourney, I'm drawn to exploring the boundaries.

I am in an endless dynamic experiment to find the uniqueness of images; sometimes quite unexpected results inspire me. Now I am fond of portraits close to photorealism. I am a follower of minimalism, in the center of my works is an image in classical angles. In these images, you can see a mixture of ethnicity, religion, other worlds and fashion."

Title: Woad

"Lets call the image ‘Woad’ as that’s the name of the blue paint on the door... and takes its name from the most important natural blue dye known to man: first used by the Celts, apparently!

I shot the image in a lovely outhouse bedroom in Langebaan, Western Cape, South Africa. So it’s a rustic stone bedroom with latte roof and latch/brace door.

I shot it for Little Greene (door colour ‘woad’; stone wall colour 'linen wash’), it was styled by Sally Denning, with location by Perfect Hideaways and lit with Elinchrom flash due to failing natural sunlight!"

Title: The bold

Location: Cape Town, South Africa. "Me and my team, model Nondi as well as hair & make-up artist Claudine Németh, went to the beach on a bright and sunny afternoon to create different beauty looks.

The goal of the shoot was to highlight each make-up look with some shiny light effects to make the colors pop and really stand out from the rest of the image. So we played around with different mirrors and sunlight to get that desired effect on Nondi's skin."

Title: The new Renault Austral

Location : Gökçeada / Çanakkale. "I took the launch photos of the new Austral for Renault Turkey.

We used Gökçeada, the westernmost point of Turkey, for the two-day shoot. We had a hard time against the wind on this island, which is popular for windsurfing. Despite everything, it was a great job."

Title: Vida Breakthrough

Location: West Gate Tunnel Site - Melbourne, Australia. "I was originally positioned at the front of the pack to get the shot of the actual breakthrough which was spectacular. Not being satisfied that it gave a sense of scale - considering Vida’s almost 16m width, I walked back 150m and used my 200 lens to try and compress the image which I think has given an extremely effective result.

This is the largest ever tunnel boring machine breakthrough in the Southern Hemisphere."

Title: Co-Creation

“Working closely with artists, process designers, and creative consultants Marisa Burn and Raphaela Pichler of House of Change, I created a striking visual world that illustrates their transdisciplinary artistic work.

The visualisations invite us to explore the connection between people, nature, and personal development and are thought provoking.”

Title: Egg & Soldier, London

"We shot ‘Egg & Soldier’ in my studio Kings Cross London. I wanted to capture a simple graphic image with a sense epic scale, while still focusing on the taste appeal.

And who doesn't love a perfectly cooked boiled egg and soldier!

Food styling by Janet Watson and retouching by Chris Tarbet."

Title: Farm kids nap time

Location: Central Otago, New Zealand. "Our kids are so fortunate to grow up on a sheep and beef farm in Central Otago, New Zealand.

They connected to the land and growing food from an early age, hauled around the farm, taken to work to get stuck in to 'helping' their parents.

My youngest son would steal a nap when ever he could, captured here with his dad out mustering cattle in the old 1980’s Toyota Hilux."

Title: James Stout - Morning of the dance, Amsterdam

"This image captures James Stout, Principal dancer with the Dutch National Ballet, just after he has woken up in Amsterdam. It's one of his few quiet moments in the day before he embarks on his rigorous daily training, a testament to his unwavering dedication to his craft before he steps onto the stage.

In this image, you can see a glimpse of James's vulnerability as he clenches his arm, contemplating the hard work and pain he may have to endure to meet the exacting standards of performance he demands of himself.

I had never realised the sheer amount of effort that goes into being a ballet dancer until I undertook this shoot. Spending two days with James in Amsterdam for The New York Times has given me a newfound respect for the art."

Title: The Fencer

Location: Kingsize Studios, Auckland, New Zealand. "This is a part of an ongoing personal series, in which I look into capturing different sports and their movements.

I was so taken with the sport of fencing, how elegant and regal it is in its movement. I also love the anonymity of the mask; there is something so intriguing about not being able to see the opponent’s face, which puts more focus put on the fencer’s form and stature."

Title: Hermes in Dreams

Location: Kraxberger Studios (Ney York, NY - 2023). "I believe a strong photograph starts out with an even stronger concept.

For this image, my stylist (Kirby Sandifer) and I set out to create a playful and dreamy look into the world of beauty. Shot on glass and from below, this approach helped us create a beautiful world for the Hermes products to thrive in."

Title: Driving dog

Location: Hochgurgl, Austria. "On the way to work over the Timmelsjoch, from South Tyrol to Austria, I stopped briefly to stretch my feet. There I met Lisa, Richard and Frankie who were on their way south. Frankie was the driver and was behind the wheel. At least in the parking lot. I couldn't miss the situation and had to stop for a moment. However, he immediately caught me in the rearview mirror.

That's how I came up with this snapshot."