AN EDINBURGH College student has won a new UK-wide photography award.
Oliver Henderson, who is studying HND Professional Photography at the college, beat more than 1,000 students from across the UK to the top spot as Student Photographer of the Year.
He won a prize of £11,000-worth of photography equipment from Calumet – one of the largest photography companies in the UK.
Oliver’s winning photo is of a woman in a red dress under a spotlight on a rooftop, set against an industrial background. The judges praised the imagination, passion, meaning and flair behind the photo.
Competition judge and managing director of Calumet Photographic UK, Jon Warner, said: “It was extremely difficult to pick a winner as the quality of entries was so very high, but we felt that Oliver’s image not only employed a high degree of technical merit, it is also an image of great impact, creativity and style.
“The use of light, composition and storytelling really set it apart from some very worthy runners-up.”
Oliver said: “I feel very proud and thankful to the people who have helped me to achieve this, like the tutors at Edinburgh College who constantly push me to realise my potential – although I feel I still have far to go.
“My inspiration for the image was something my brother once said: “fashion is pure fantasy”, which made me think of science fiction. I loved the idea of aliens spotting this beautiful girl and wanting to try and get close to her in the only way aliens can – it’s kind of weird thought process but there you go!”
Jon presented Oliver with his award at the Canon Student Conference at The Photography Show at Birmingham NEC. Canon’s product intelligence professional, David Parry, also judged the competition, alongside professional photographers Rory Lewis and Tom Barnes.
