It has been a huge
year for young Brisbane-based photographer Raphaela Rosella who has just been named winner of the 2012 Qantas
Spirit of Youth Award (SOYA365) for photography. It’s the third big accolade
for Rosella in 2012 having won the Documentary/Photojournalism category in
Capture magazine’s 2012 Emerging Photographer of the Year awards and been named
a finalist in the 2012 Head On Portrait Prize.
More than 800 photographers
submitted images to the SOYA365 photography awards this year, vying for a
chance to win $5000 in cash and a trip to Les Rencontres D’Arles in France to
experience Europe’s biggest photography festival. Rosella has also won a 12-month
mentorship with UK-based Australian photographer Polly Borland.
Borland, who regularly
shoots for international publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Independent and Dazed and Confused, also judged the
photography competition.
“I have decided to
award the prize to Raphaela Rosella for the subjects she’s interested in
representing and the beautiful way she depicts them” says Borland. “Raphaela
manages to document and articulate subjects in a poetic yet direct way.”
More info: www.soya.com.au