Photography News Issue 50

Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk

25 Landscape Photographer of the Year

Landscape Photographer of theYear 2017 The results have been announced and will be on display at a train station near you (probably) in 2018. Here, the photographers tells us all about their successful images and the thinking processes behind them

Diminutive Dune is a personal favourite from my 2016/17 portfolio so, in that respect, the award is especially meaningful. It was one of about a dozen or so images that I entered this time, out of which three were shortlisted and the winning one was selected. I like the image’s textural simplicity and relative emptiness. The minimalist composition with the simple motif and the quiet, analogous pastel palette work for me too. Finally, its scale is indeterminate – the double S-curve of sand forms could be two metres long or 2000. In reality it was about 20 metres. East Head sits at the mouth of Chichester Channel, at the north-western end of West Wittering beach. A decent tidal movement creates constantly shifting sand patterns and tidal pools on the extensive beach. A Tuesday evening in early October guaranteed a mostly

deserted location. The sun had set tenminutes before I shot this image – the soft pale light with its pastel hues casting the contours into subtle relief. I am blown away by the photos in the 2017 book and I am honoured beyond beyond to be represented in the publication. It’s humbling to be among them. When Charlie Waite phoned to break the news to me I only managed to blurt unintelligible gibberish for about two minutes. I was so flabbergasted, at one point I literally started telling him how to take minimalist pictures… I know, right. Me telling Charlie Waite how to compose using simplicity and exclusion! What a dork I must have sounded. When it finally sank in that I really won LPOTY 2017 I concluded that I should be referred to as El Poty. It’s a bit like El Presidente but way cooler, obviously.

Benjamin Graham

Overall prize –Winner Image title Diminutive Dune: sand forms at low tide Location West Wittering, West Sussex Technical details Nikon D810 with 50mm f/1.4 on a tripod. Exposure of 0.6sec and f/11 at ISO 64 Contact benjamingraham.co.uk

A decent tidal movement creates

constantly shifting sand patterns and tidal pools

Above Minimalism and a muted palette paid off for LPOTY winner, Benjamin Graham

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