Royal Photographic Society International Print Exhibition Awards 2008

Generations 2, the Gold Award winner by Richard Crompton.

Press Release:

The Royal Photographic Society are pleased to announce the Award winners of The 151st International Print Exhibition, held in partnership with international legal practice Allen & Overy LLP. This year, as sponsorship partner with The Royal Photographic Society, Allen & Overy has also provided a prize fund to be given in the form of Allen & Overy Awards for The Society's Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners.

Almost 3,000 prints were submitted from over 700 photographers worldwide – an increase of nearly 25 per cent of the number of entries in 2007. Entries came from 39 countries – 15 of which are represented in the exhibition. From these entries 124 prints were chosen for the exhibition. The selection panel was chaired by The Society’s President, Barry Senior Hon FRPS Visual Art Photographer, and included Brian Griffin Hon FRPS Corporate Photographer, Lucilla Phelps FRPS Fine Art Photographer, Nick Scott FRPS Social & Visual Art Photographer and Tara Moore Contemporary Photographer, who replaced Julia Fullerton-Batten.

Barry Senior Hon FRPS said, “The exhibition that has been selected faithfully represents the best of the various genres of photography submitted. My warmest congratulations go to the medal winners and to those who have had work selected. I am delighted to acknowledge the partnership with Allen & Overy LLP. Their involvement will ensure that the exhibition is seen more widely around the world than has been previously possible.”

Gold Award:
The £10,000 Gold Award winner is Richard Crompton for his print titled Generations 2. Generations 2 is a montage of family faces. Richard says, of his award winning image, "Faces fascinate me. Beguiled by their infinite variations and seduced by random similarities, I decided to explore the genetic links to a family's look. With careful framing and reconstruction, my image was complete. The image was captured on a Nikon D2Xs with a 150mm Sigma Macro, Manfrotto 058 Tripod, three Elinchrom 400BX flash heads and mid grey Colorama background."

Discussion for the award winners was lively and passionate, not surprising for such a diverse group of selectors from differing backgrounds in photography. Each selector was able to nominate prints for the awards and the Gold Award image shows how powerful the familial face can be.

Allen & Overy Prize:
In addition to the awards, the theme of the newly introduced Allen & Overy LLP Prize was Justice Around the World. Its first winner is Jeff Vickers FRPS for his image Captured and Released. Jeff has donated his prize money to the Save the Children fund.

Judges from Allen & Overy commented: "We found this image fascinating and deeply moving. The composition initially implies that the child is being held captive in some way. But your sense of injustice is dispelled when you discover that the child was in fact photographed in a makeshift play pen made from the debris of the Boxing Day tsunami, turning your interpretation of the image on its head."

Under 25's Gold Award:
Another highlight of the 151st exhibition is the Under 25's Gold Award. Introduced last year, in celebration of IPE’s 150th anniversary, the award is designed to encourage and reward young photographers at the start of their careers. This year’s winner is 18-year-old James Carver-Grenside for his print Ascend. James also receives an Olympus E510 Digital SLR with double zoom kit, kindly donated by Olympus. Six other photographers under 25 are represented in the exhibition.

Judge Tara Moore commented that, for her, the Under 25's was the most exciting section. She said: “Looking at all the images up for selection in this category reminded me of my early days starting out as a photographer. The excitement of entering a competition, the overwhelming thrill of winning an award and being recognised by other professionals – you just can’t beat that!”

151st International Print Exhibition Award Winners:

1. Gold - £10,000

• Richard Crompton for Generations 2 (UK/Semi-professional/Non-member)

2. Silver - £2,000 each

• Vicky Hodgson ARPS for Identity Revisited (UK/Amateur/Member)
• Paula Smith for Dingo – Born Free (UK/Semi-professional/Non-member)

• Johnny Jetstream ARPS for The Captain (UK/Semi-professional/Member)

4. UK/Semi-professional/Member

• Maz Mashru ARPS for Indian Elegance (UK/Professional/Member)
• Bob Pearson FRPS for Elegance (UK/Amateur/Member)

4. Allen & Overy LLP Prize – Justice around the world - £1,000

• Jeff Vickers FRPS for Captured and released (UK/Semi-professional/Member)

5. Gold - Under 25 years

• James Carver-Grenside for Ascend (UK/Amateur/Non-member)

For more information and to view a gallery of the winners, please visit the RPS website.