UPDATE: June 6th 2024 – I won something! I took home the ‘Catering and Food & Drink’ award, and was Highly Commended in the Best Portfolio award, which was won by my friend Al, a deserving winner. Overall pretty good considering I threw together my entries in literally the last two hours before submissions closed!
ORIGINAL POST: I’ve been shortlisted in three categories at the Event Photography Awards 2024, to be announced in (checks diary) three days on Wednesday June 5th at RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects, come on) in London – which leaves me feeling a strange combination of proud, excited, miffed, modest, and whatever the German word is for ‘wanting to win but hoping to be fine with not winning’.
Proud and excited coz, well duh. People who aren’t my clients like my stuff! Validation! Not actually being sarcastic, I’ve spent many a therapy session talking about how us photographers crave validation. Okay fine me, it was about me, I crave validation.
Miffed? Well, to be entirely frank (it’s my preferred mode, even when it makes me look stooopid) the difference between what us photographers think is our best work and what any given panel of judges were looking for this year never fails to amuse and bemuse me. Some of my favouritest photos of the year didn’t make the cut! What were they thinking? THE FOOLS. They just don’t get me. Etc.
Modest, because us tortured artist types hate to blow our own trumpets even when we really want to blow our own trumpets REALLY FUCKING HARD. I’m really super fucking chuffed – so much so I dropped the F bomb twice in one paragraph – and yet I’ve left this post to the very last minute and even then I feel a little bit vomity bigging myself up this much, even though I’m super fucking chuffed (thrice). GO ME *wretch*. And yes sarcasm is a coping strategy, that was another couple of therapy sessions.
Enough of the self-effacing modesty slash smuggery, what did I get nominated in?
Event Photography Awards 2024: Catering and Food & Drink
This one’s called ‘Undistractable’ because this chef at Berry Bros. & Rudd didn’t pay any attention whatsoever to the troupe of beglittered dancing girls using his prep space to get ready for their big entrance.
This was at a private event – Lloyd’s 50th – last January and I liked how it’s a ‘chefs at work’ shot, an ‘amazing food’ shot, and a great story moment all at once.
Event Photography Awards 2024: Venues
I called this ‘Through The Ornate Door’ which was me playing on “through the round window” from Play School (an old BBC children’s show, only people my age are gonna remember that). It’s during set-up shots for a corporate event at the V&A, looking back through the old doors on the opposite side of Madejski Garden towards the main museum building.
It feels quite simple to me at first glance, but I always end up looking at it much longer than I expected. Lots of detail, pleasing lines. The doors aren’t symmetrical but I’m going to claim artistic choice, I like the more organic feel.
Event Photography Awards 2024: Best Portfolio
Wasn’t expecting this one at all. You have to choose the categories you’re entering photos into usually but this one is entirely selected by the panel. There’s about 15-20 photographers shortlisted here, out of 100+ I guess, so even greater competition, but just getting selected here was shocking to me, and even more gratifying is the choice of photo to represent me.
I took this at Lucy & Peter’s wedding in Chelsea, summer 2023, and entered it in the Weddings category. It didn’t get shortlisted, but that’s fine because this was a really fleeting, personal moment, entirely for them, and I know they love it. But clearly it did touch someone because here it is standing for me alongside so many other talented photographers.
What else did I enter?
I entered a bunch of photos across a bunch of categories, mostly because I really liked them and also because I have absolutely no idea what to really pick, what they’re looking for, what might appeal to the judges, etc. So none of these got shortlisted but it doesn’t really matter coz I love them, and my clients loved them, and ultimately that’s who pays me! So in no particular order here’s a taster of what else I entered…
