Army Photography Competition Winners Revealed

Cpl Timothy Jones RLC; Crown Copyright 2016

A portfolio containing an eye-catching image of a Fijian soldier wading through deep water in the jungles of Brunei has been awarded the top accolade in this year's Army Photographic Competition.

Army Photographer Corporal Tim Jones captured the image as part of his professional portfolio portraying military life during the past 12 months and Tim was crowned the overall winner of the competition at a ceremony held at the Imperial War Museum, London, where a display of the winning images is being hosted.

Commenting on his win, Tim, aged 31, who’s based at Army Headquarters in Andover said: "It’s pretty groovy to be honest. I take photos for my job and at the end of the year look through my archive and pick out my favourites. I wasn’t expecting it; it’s cool."

Best overall image was taken by Huddersfield Army Photographer Corporal Paul Shaw, aged 31, who captured an atmospheric photograph of a boxer from 3rd Battalion The Rifles in training. The same photograph also topped the best professional portrait category.

Corporal Paul Shaw; Crown Copyright 2016

New for this year was the professional story category, and photographers were required to submit a small selection of images to tell a story. Winner of the pro category was Sgt Rupert Frere, who last year claimed most of the top categories. His story about the guards was the judges' favourite.

Sergeant Rupert Frere RLC; Crown Copyright 2016

The online image, as chosen by the public in an online vote on Facebook and Instagram, was ‘Big Hugs' by Scotland-based photographer Mark Owens, based on a combination of votes on both channels.

Mark Owens/Army HQ Scotland; Crown Copyright 2016

Sergeant Russ Nolan, aged 38 of Exmouth in Devon, took the top prize in the video category with a short film on caving in the Yorkshire Dales who in collaboration with Sgt Gary Kendall, produced the video to show off some of the Army’s adventurous training antics while the winner of the best Multimedia was Sgt Jamie Peters with his short film of the Queen's Own Yeomanry live firing from the RWMIK Land Rover. 

For the second year running, the winner of the amateur portfolio category is Glasgow Reservist Bombardier Murray Kerr and the professional soldiering category winner was Corporal Pete Brown, who has been a professional Army Photographer for a year. His image of a soldier mid-battle on exercise was one of his first after joining the photographic trade.

Bombardier Murray Kerr RA; Crown Copyright 2016

Corporal Pete Brown; Crown Copyright 2016

Finally, the winner of the short online video was Sgt Gary Kendall with his insightful video about an Army Luge competitor in the winter sports competition.

14 categories were featured in the 2015 Army Photographic Competition and the full list of winners include: 

Winners: 

• Professional Portfolio: Cpl Tim Jones, RLC
• Overall Professional Army PR Image: Cpl Paul Shaw, RLC
• Professional Portrait: Cpl Paul Shaw, RLC
• Professional Sport/Adventure Training: Mr Dominic King AMC
• Professional Category Soldiering: Cpl Pete Brown, RLC
• Professional Story: Sgt Rupert Frere
• Best Online Image (voted by the public): Mr Mark Owens
• Amateur Portfolio: Bdr Murray Kerr, Royal Artillery
• Amateur Portrait: Cadet LCpl Jozef Gwizdala, Woodbridge Army Cadets unit
• Amateur Sport/Adventure Training: Cpl Ian Chapman, Royal Engineers
• Amateur Category Soldiering: Capt Ben Norfield, RGR
• Professional Video: Sgt Russ Nolan, RLC
• Professional Online Short Video: Sgt Gary Kendall, RLC
• Multimedia: Sgt Jamie Peters, RLC

Runners up

• Professional Portfolio: Sgt Rupert Frere, RLC
• Professional Portrait: Sgt Rupert Frere, RLC
• Professional Sport/Adventure Training: Sgt Rupert Frere, RLC
• Professional Category Soldiering: Mr Graeme Main, Soldier Magazine
• Professional Story: SSgt Mark Nesbit, RLC
• Amateur Portfolio: Capt Ben Norfield, 2RGR
• Amateur Portrait: Maj Ken McIntosh, 102 MWD
• Amateur Sport/Adventure Training: OCdt Harvey Marsden, HMS Forward
• Amateur Category Soldiering: Bdr Murray Kerr, Royal Artillery
• Professional Video: Cpl Tom Evans, RLC
• Professional Online Short Video: Sgt Rupert Frere, RLC
• Multimedia: LCpl Pete Dobson, Royal Signal

The annual Army Photographic Competition is open to all regular and reserve personnel, staff and cadets of the Combined Cadet Force, Army Cadet Force, University Officer Training Corps (Army), and MOD civilians and contractors who work directly with the Army.

For more information and to learn more about the 2016 awards, visit the MOD website.