Competitions
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entries from countries as varied as Kuwait, India, Poland and Thailand. The 2014 awards are being held in association with VisitBritain and Countryside is GREAT and they both aim to get the world thinking and feeling differently about Britain, so that we are seen as a vibrant, inspiring and innovative place to visit. The VisitBritain You’re Invited Award is a special award for the best image from an overseas entrant. Last year it was won by Bart Heirweg of Belgium. Unlike other similar competitions, Landscape Photographer of the Year doesn’t distinguish between professionals and enthusiasts, why? To me, going out to take photographs of the British landscape has many advantages, including: n a chance to escape from the rapid pace of our lives today n a creative process, where your imagination comes into play n a reason to discover and explore and to reconnect with your environment n an involving experience that can then be shared with others. Why would you not want to share these with as many people as possible? Which is themost popular category? This is probably best answered by the debate ‘What is a landscape?’ The Oxford Dictionaries suggest that it is “all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal”. When we started the competition, we decided on a broad interpretation; we wanted to appeal to those who like to take pictures of snowboarders in a Scottish
be and when! Although we speak about plans on most days, my main role could probably be said to revolve around judging and spreading the word about the competition. I am very involved in the judging process and it is something that I take very seriously and actually find quite challenging, as I appreciate what each image means to its photographer. From a media point of view, I give radio interviews, lead tours of the exhibition, write articles – it’s a many and varied role but one from which I derive a great deal of satisfaction. Does the competition continue to growmuch? The reach of the competition continues to grow and, although on one level, the extent of the interest does not surprise me – as I personally find the process of landscape photography endlessly intriguing, why should others not feel the same? – it is still wonderful to find our enthusiasm shared and reciprocated. Last year saw our spin-off exhibition of the Network Rail Lines in the Landscape Award at the National Railway Museum, together with a series of smaller exhibitions at some of Britain’s largest stations. Over the last two years in particular, the level of global coverage has increased rapidly and winning images have appeared in the news across the world – from Australia to the USA. Do you get many entries fromoutside the UK? The competition has always had entrants from overseas; in fact our 2009 winner Emmanuel Coupe was born in France and divides his time between Paris and Greece I believe. The publicity we have been getting in the global media has encouraged
TOP Gursky goes to Margate, Kent, England by Valda Bailey, Commended, 2012 ABOVE Hebridean Sea III, Scotland by David Baker, Category Runner-Up, 2013 LEFT View over Derwentwater from Catbells, Cumbria by Bart Heirweg, VisitBritain You’re
Invited Award Winner, 2013
I amvery involved in the judging
process and it is something that I take very seriously and actually find quite challenging
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