Canon has announced the winners of its 2012 EOS Photo5 competition. Now in its sixth year, EOS Photo5 begins when entrants receive a brown box containing five photographic briefs. This year’s briefs were spaghetti, tissue paper, little people, fishing wire (which had to be photographed in black and white) and an open brief – ‘wind’.
More than 6,600 images were uploaded and the competition was judged by professional photographers Daniel Boud, Peter Coulson, Christopher Ireland, Mike Langford, Daniel Linnet and Tania Niwa.
The winner of each brief and the the Portfolio competition, will undertake a three-day creative photography workshop with Jackie Ranken and Mike Langford at Uluru in the Northern Territory valued at up to $5,000. Each winner will also receive a canvas print of their choice from photoPICO powered by Canon valued at $399 each.
Winners and judges' comments are published below.
Winner: Sarah Pembroke (Brief One – Wind, Open): "The beauty of this ‘flower like’ image is in its simplicity and vibrancy of colour.The choice of the author to capture the windmill on an angle, successfully gives it the impression of being a flower stem. The central axis also provides an anchor for your eye to start and finish at when looking around at the blended colours and irregular shapes created by the motion blur." - Tania Niwa (Judge).
Winner: Jono Ward (Brief Two – Spaghetti; Portraiture): "Very clever shot. This looks at the concept of portraiture in an interesting way. It’s one person’s interaction with the subject – it feels like it could be in one of those sci-fi movies. Love the blown out light in the middle of the spaghetti." – Peter Coulson (Judge).
Winner: Steven Merrifield (Brief Three – Tissue Paper; Strong Colour): "The tissue paper as a background warps in a fun way in these water filled glasses. The mirrored surface they’re placed on is also an excellent way to ensure the colour fills the entire frame." – Daniel Boud (Judge).
Winner: Michelle Smit (Brief Four – Little People; Scale): "A popular idea taken to another level entirely. Considered use of complementary tones. Great balance, emphasised by the reflection line. Shoe texture artfully lit- this would otherwise not have been so effective. The apparent fate of the snail gives the small figure's outstretched arms purpose." – Christopher Ireland (Judge).
Winner: Wayne Sorensen (Brief Five – Fishing Wire, Black & White): "Impossible not to get drawn to this beautifully textural image. Fishing wire is cleverly used to create a tactile foreground which obscures almost everything but the subjects eyes and thumb. I liked seeing just enough detail to make out the character and shape of the subjects features yet not enough to detract from the main focal point, the eyes. I love the way the straight lines of the fishing wire are broken and punctuated by the round shapes of the eyes. The sharpness of the eyes perfectly contrasted by the soft textural nature of the wire." – Daniel Linnet (Judge).
Winner: Kylie Garners (Portfolio): “Great imagination in this image of the little figure mowing the hairs on the dogs nose. The shallow depth of focus really makes you look at the figure but still give us context. A great idea! The soft pastel colours of the paper birds added to the soft focus on the background birds all work together in this image. The lighting is both sensitive and creative.” – Mike Langford (Judge).
