Results 2014

On Tuesday 6th January 2015 we had the third Will McCrum Memorial competition for portraiture.

Our judge this year was Jim Maginn of the Belfast School of Arts, University of Ulster. Jim’s background in portrait photography is highly regarded and some of his work can be seen at these links: jimmaginn.com and The Light of Other Days. With more than 25 years experience in Editorial, Documentary & Portrait Photography Jim’s experience and knowledge for judging this competition is unquestionable.

It was great to see such a fantastic gathering once again for this competition. It very well supported with 67 large format prints from 21 photographers from 7 NIPA affiliated clubs.

Jim began by introducing himself and giving some detail about his background in photography. Unlike the judges from previous years, Jim choose not to talk about any of the prints individually, but to explain how he went about making his choice and what were the key attributes of a portrait and in fact any image.

He talked about the interaction between the photographer and the person being photographed, the expression in the eyes, the story that he could read from the image and the decisive moment.

Jim held the attention of the audience of over 60 people for 50 minutes, engaging and encouraging questions from anyone in the room. From the many comments I received I know that everyone thoroughly enjoyed and learnt sometime from Jim.

 

 

After refreshments the results were announced and certificates presented. Jim then gave individual comments on the placed prints, explaining what made them special for him.

His choices were as follows:

1st) Dean Irvine, Catchlight – “Stare”
2nd) Paul Killeen, CBPPU – “Counting Days”

Highly Commended) Darren Brown, Bangor CC – “Eva”
Highly Commended) Paul Killeen, CBPPU – “All Right Big Son”
Highly Commended) Damian McDonald, CBPPU – “The Empty Chair”
Highly Commended) Damian McDonald, CBPPU – “Paul”
Highly Commended) Ross McKelvey, Catchlight – “Geordie”

Many thanks Jim for your time and effort.

Congratulation to Dean for his success in this competition.