After being named the winner of the Canon Light Awards Travel Photography challenge in Melbourne, I progressed into the state finals along with the winners of the other three categories. This second challenge was to select a photographer to represent Melbourne in the Grand Final at a mystery destination.
We received a brief via email and had a week to shoot and submit our image. They don't call it a challenge for nothing, it was definitely challenging.
Over the challenge week I played with lots of ideas but in the end I decided to keep it simple. I chose to shoot something that is taken for granted and overlooked and that was grass. I wanted to make it come alive, be interesting and beautiful so that viewers would take a second look and see the beauty.
The Challenge Brief:
Capture something that we might ordinarily overlook, using your image to bring it back to our attention. We’re surrounded by visual information, so it is inevitable that there’s a multitude of sights that escape our notice, every single day.
For this challenge, we want you to find inspiration in something that’s often ignored or fails to catch the eye. The brief is open to any style or genre you choose, meaning your subject, and how you choose to make us look again, are both entirely up to you. Judges will be looking for more than just technical skill. They’ll be seeking a unique and fresh take on the brief - an image they haven’t seen before. We encourage you to think about the balance between your subject, the story your image is telling, and technical skill.
Create an image that will reward the viewer for taking the time to consider both the photograph and the subject they may have ignored. Include a photographer statement of the work with your entry (there will be a space in the submission form for you to enter this)
My Submission - Photographer Statement:
"On any other day I would have walked straight passed without noticing it. But today it caught my eye, it was translucent with the light behind it and it was fresh and delicate in contrast to the rusty paddock fence. I have never noticed how beautiful grass is when it is dancing in the breeze".
Feedback from the judges is:
“This is a nice image. But it’s very simple. It’s simplicity and confidence in the subject matter makes this work. The light is really beautiful and the motion captures the moment well. Is it enough to win?”
As you can tell, the judges still loved your image and the competition in your state was very strong. In saying that, at the end of the day, another image just nudged passed your own to make the Grand Final.
Here are all the State Finalist submissions, with the winning shots from each state marked.
Congratulations to the winners!
For further info click on the link: https://www.canon.com.au/lightawards/gallery?filterby=state%20finals%20-%20look%20again
