Release Date: 24 February 2008
Fujifilm Professional announces winners of the 2007 Fujifilm Distinctions
Awards
The overall winner of the Fujifilm Professional Distinctions Awards 2007 was
Afshin Dehkordi, who collects a cash prize of £1,000. Lou Bradbury was
runner-up and picks up £500, while Indre Serpytyte was given third place
and £250.
Over 3,000 images were submitted electronically, via www.fujifilmdistinctions.co.uk
and from these initial entries the judges chose 35 Merit Awards and each Merit
winner was asked to submit a print for final judging.
Afshin's winning image was taken on 4x5" Fujicolor Pro 160S. Afshin combines
his career as a photographer with multimedia work and lecturing. He also established
a photography project for disadvantaged teenagers in south Tehran and has just
returned from Istanbul where he was teaching photojournalism to international
journalists for the BBC World Service Trust.
The winning shot was taken at 'Darya-che Namak' which literally translates as
Salt Lake, a two hour drive south of Tehran.
Afshin explains how the shot happened: "I had heard about the lake from
various people and wanted to shoot there at dusk, so I called a cab and off
we went. But we misjudged the distance, arriving much earlier than expected.
We pulled off the highway onto a dirt track and headed into the scrubland. As
we approached the lake we saw the dry brown earth transitioning into white salt
beds, this is where they mine for salt."
He continued: "There wasn't much there, just the odd hut, some labourers
and a few mangy guard dogs, keeping watch over the mining equipment. If you
arrive during the heat of afternoon, as we did, the dogs and their owners are
all sleeping under the relative cool of the shade. We drove to the edge of the
mine - beyond that my cab driver wouldn't go, having heard stories of day trippers
driving out into the lake bed and never being seen again. The drivers is actually
in the photo, he's asleep at the wheel, the doors left open to keep cool."
One of the judges, Jon Levy, had this to say about the winning entry: "Afshin's
image has an ambiguous quality which, combined with the colour transforms what
could be an ordinary scene into something quite mysterious. The simplicity and
openness makes this photograph into an iconic image."
This is the second year Distinctions has been a 'film-only' award and 30% more
entries were received this year, compared to 2006. Since its initial launch
in September 2002 over 25,000 images have been submitted, making it one of the
most prestigious professional photographic awards in the UK. Entry to Distinctions
is free and is open to all UK based professional photographers.
The judging panel was made up of Jon Levy from Foto 8 Magazine (www.foto8.com),
Michael Olu Odukoya from Kilimanjaro Magazine (www.kilimag.com) and Jerry Deeney
from Fujifilm Professional.
The following photographers were given Merit Awards: Ahmet Unver (3), Andy Martin,
Andy Stewart, Ben Pipe, Craig Gun-Munro, Dafna Talmor, Frederic Aranda, Frederique
Cifuentes, Gigi Cifali(2), Graham Barratt, James Abbott & Rosie Clarke,
Jason Larkin, Jill Smith, John Pridmore, Jonathan Ford, Kate Potter (2), Kelly
Hill, Lambie Brothers, Lydia Polzer, Mark Taylor (2), Moira Blackwell, Nick
Rochowski, Pascal Ancel, Paul Schatzberger, Robin Hayes, Steve Atkins and Will
Woods.
Entries to the 2008 Distinctions Awards can be submitted from 1 April 2008.
The winning image, together with all the Merit winners, can be viewed at www.fujifilmdistinctions.co.uk
ENDS
* Note: this news release is issued electronically and will not be duplicated
with a posted copy
Image Downloads:
http://www.newsfeeduk.com/fujipro/index.shtml
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Fujifilm (UK) Ltd
56 Poland Street, London W1F 7NN
Tel: 0203 040 0404
E-mail: jdeeney@fuji.co.uk
http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/professional
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