The Association Of Photographers Awards 2016

The annual AOP awards covers 11 different categories covering entries for both series and single static and moving images. Last week Stuart Fawcett (Jackalltog) went along for ePz.

Markku Lahdesmaki, Comm Advertising, Single - Best in Category

The standard of entries in this, the 33rd AOP awards ceremony, was superbly high with fresh ideas complementing tried and tested approaches. To deal with the categorical diversity in each section, a Curator is assigned to each category whose job is to bring together the right entrants into the shortlist for the exhibition to ensure the brief is met and the work is of sufficient quality and substance. Each of the categories and the curators are listed below:

• Commissioned Advertising: ANDY TAYLOR - Executive Creative Director at Iris Worldwide
• Commissioned Design: STUART RADFORD - Creative Director at The Partners
• Commissioned Editorial: PIERS MORGAN - Journalist
• Non-Commissioned Portrait: TERENCE PEPPER –Photocurator and exhibition organiser
• Non-Commissioned Object: HENNY MANLEY - Photo Director of Esquire UK
• Non-Commissioned Life: KIRSTIE JOHNSTONE - Creative Production Partner at AMV BBDO
• Non-Commissioned Environment: LAURA NOBLE - Director at L A Noble Gallery
• Non-Commissioned Fashion and Beauty: PERRY CURTIES - Co-Founder of 125 Magazine
• Project: IT’S NICE THAT – creative arts blog
• Open Stills: BRUNO BAYLEY - Editor of VICE magazine
• Open Moving Images: NICK MORAN - Director, Actor & Producer

Obviously, there were many entries and even the shortlist was hundreds of photographs – you can take your time and drill down into each category here on the AOP Awards gallery website later if you wish. 

I’d like to mention images of some of the finalists that didn’t win this year but really did catch my eye. These include the dramatic primary colour impact series from James Day in the Noncommissioned fashion and beauty category, to very simple looking images of a decanter from Tai Silverman and a balloon dog from Robert Walker. To contrast this simplicity was the crashed car from Eric Almas in the fashion and beauty category.

Ok, so onto the winners... With both single and series awards, there were loads of accolades to be awarded.

The last two pictures above are of Markku Lahdesmaki’s son who was rightly very proud of his dad’s achievement. To see the winning images, have a look at them on the AOP exhibition website and remember the Open category is open to all of us next year.

The exhibition layout, as a whole, was designed and curated by Laura Noble (above left) who cuts out vast sections of paper at home to layout and plan the visual impact of the exhibition for the visitors. This involves looking at how the pallets of the pictures move from one to the next, how treating blocks of related images bring them together and how transitions of negative space help introduce you to a new subject. With more detailed images lower down and more shape-driven ones up high, the viewer's eye should be guided through the exhibition (with photographers knowing so much about composition this really makes a lot of sense). Second left is Flo Lewis-George whose job seemed to involve having to be everywhere at once, otherwise known as Events & Awards Manager. Flo and Marketing Manager Charlotte Giles seemed to be very much in control of the whole event.

Jumping back to the photos (third from left), another set of eyes that were everywhere were those of actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, photographed by Robert Wilson for the Times magazine. It's a super photo and his eyes look at you wherever you stand in the room. Staying with photos, you might think that in a room of perhaps a 1000 people many of whom had smartphones or were photographers, that there would be no need for the photo booth in the fourth image in the set but no, this was a key attraction  which goes to show that print photography is far from dead.

The AOP print all of the shortlisted entrants each year in the AOP Photography Awards book with a small introduction to each section from each curator and Mark Atkinson of the 'By March' design agency produces this. 

You can take a closer look at some of the winning entries in our AOP Photography Awards Round-Up.