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Visitor Information: The RPS Gallery and coffee shop will be closed on Saturday 7 December

The Travel Group is very grateful that Dr. Hazel Frost FRPS, Chair of the Travel Assessment Panel and of Licentiate panels accepted the invitation to judge this year's competition.

Introducing her decisions, Hazel said:

Thank you very much for asking me to judge this year’s  Image of the Year competition. It was a pleasure to be able to look at so many images from different parts of the world- close to our homes and distant lands.  It was a challenging task that took time to look at each of the 158 individual images. I reviewed them all several times before deciding on what I felt were my favoured images and then from there gradually making my decision.  It was difficult as there were so many strong visually and technically excellent images all of which gave that “sense of place” I was very impressed by the diversity and strength of the images 

The Travel category is broad and open to all sorts of interpretation which makes it so exciting. My aim was to look at the images within remit of “sense of place” but then to look further at images which had that photographer’s individual vision- something different, perhaps communicating more of the unexpected.  Visual storytelling, catching a decisive moment, or using a different composition or crop added to the image.   

Travel can mean all sorts of different things to different people and at these times it can mean a dream of something past, the place one finds oneself at in the here and now, or ideas for the future. All sorts of emotions can be evoked particularly during these challenging times when photography has been so important for people. 

 A Travel Image is different from a Travel panel. In a panel of 15 or 20/21 images one is looking at the images as a whole body of work, with an individual image one has to show intent in a single frame which leads to a different approach from the photographer and the viewer 

Beyond communication and understanding of the subject I then looked at each in terms of technical merit- use of composition, a decisive moment, use of light and appropriate depth of field, exposure and shutter speed. 

Once I had reduced the images to those I felt were worthy winners I then revisited them on several occasions on different days to come up with those I felt were worthy of awards and commendation. 

Early Morning At Vestrahorn Iceland Kathryn Phillips ARPS
CREDIT: Kath Phillips ARPS

Gold Medal

Early Morning at Vestrahorn - Iceland

by Kathryn Phillips ARPS

Hazel writes:

'This image caught my attention immediately and I felt it was worthy of the Gold medal.  The use of light and composition give one a sense of atmosphere- the stormy clouds just capping the mountains, but the hope of the sun rise and the light to come. The small sliver of light where the waves are breaking has been well timed.  It suits the panoramic format which allows the light to be the prominent feature rather than too much foreground. The grasses add to that foreground interest but the whole image is held together by the placing of the person in red on the shore- again adding to that atmosphere of loneliness and wide expanse of our world – reminding us we are all but a small part of what is around us. Although there is darkness in the clouds there is a sense of peace and calmness to come which I feel illustrates our current situation in the world.'

Silver Medal Spiderman Meets Old Men Muscat Sanjoy Sengupta LRPS
CREDIT: Sanjoy Sengupta LRPS

Silver Medal

Spiderman meets old men – Muscat

by Sanjoy Sengupta LRPS

The Silver Medal has been awarded to this image of Muscat. One could not go past this image without smiling.  The injection of humour is the strength of this image. The decisive moment to press the shutter has been caught and I doubt such a composition could be caught again.  Spider man is so bright and bold- striding purposefully into the frame.  The child exudes confidence and purpose and incongruity. The light on “him” is perfect. The three men tell their own stories- they immediately add to that sense of place by their dress. Each of them has a different expression form the first looking down, the second and third looking intrigued. The light is harsh and there are deep shadows and bright highlights – but within this all the detail has been caught in the robes of the three men. The deep shadows giving an impression of the architecture simplify the composition but tell us it is the Middle East and also frame the child walking into the image. 

Had there been just a little more space around the feet of the three men and their sticks it would have made this an even stronger image 

1000X72bronze Medal Peace Talks, USA Lynda Golightly LRPS
CREDIT: Lynda Golightly LRPS

Bronze Medal

Peace talks USA

by Lynda Golightly LRPS

I have awarded the Bronze Medal this year to this image titled - Peace Talks USA. I thought long and hard about this image but again it was immediately an image that held one’s attention by its simplicity and the message it told.  The three elements of the image- the statue the girls and the background were perfectly balanced within the frame. Careful though being placed to where the girls are standing. Th background is graphic and this along with the knotted gun rely on control of the textures within the almost mono colour palette. The girls add the small amount of colour to the image, they are interacting with each other – that small gesture of the hand of the girl on the right on the others arm is important. Congratulations on an usual and individual image. 

600X7201 Ocean Beach, San Diego, California Rob Kershaw ARPS
Ocean Beach - San Diego California
by Rob Kershaw ARPS
600X7202 Winter Moving, Xinjiang Weng Sang Wong ARPS
Winter Moving Xinjiang
by Weng Sang Wong ARPS
600X7203 Isolated, Scotland Rachel Dunsdon LRPS, CPAGB, EFIAP
Isolated Scotland
by Rachel Dunsdon LRPS
600X7204 St Marys Church Of Zion, Ethiopia Patricia Mackey LRPS
St Mary's Church of Zion Ethiopia
by Patricia MacKey LRPS
600X7205 After Sunset, Milos, Greece Dimitra Salmanidou
CREDIT: Dimitra Salmanidou
After Sunset - Milos Greece
by Dimitra Salmanidou
600X7206 Lining Up For The Hyena's Lunch,Serengetti Yvette Smith CPAGB
Lining up for the Hyena's lunch - Serengeti
by Yvette Smith
600X7207 Birdman, New Delhi Ngar Shun Victor Wong FRPS
Birdman New Delhi
by Ngar Shun Victor Wong FRPS
600X7208 Lima Cathedral, Peru David Cummings ARPS
Lima Cathedral
by David Cummings ARPS
600X7209 Tuscany,Italy Harry Roth
Tuscany Italy
by Harry Roth
600X7210 Louvre Cellist, Paris David Cummings ARPS
Louvre Cellist - Paris
by David Cummings ARPS

 

 

The Group would like to thank Hazel for the time and thought she put in to give useful critique of the images and for the more general tips she passed on.

Thanks are due, also, to John Speller for his tireless work in organising the competition and to all the photographers who took part and gave us an interesting competition.