2017 has been another great year at the annual British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) awards with New College Lanarkshire students scooping an outstanding 5 awards. 

The awards were held on Sunday 14th May at the Marriott hotel in Edinburgh and for the first time the professional and student awards were presented in the same session.  30 students and staff from New College Lanarkshire attended the awards to hear from the judges Kevin Wilson and Bryn Griffiths.  We were all encouraged by the comments from the judges on the high standard of the work from the students and in particular that they felt the students work wouldn’t look out of place in a professional competition.

Samantha Sweeney picked up the first award of the day for NCL with a Bronze award for her image “Be Bold in Gold”.

The Gold award for the advertising category was awarded to Sally Neil for her image of an Adidas trainer.  The judges loved the professional simplicity of this shot which showed an eye to detail and commented on the lighting technique and the texture retained in the leather of the shoe.

The photojournalism category saw Helen Fleming awarded a Bronze award for her image “A Master & His Hounds”.  This image was shot as part of a larger documentary project looking specifically at fox hounds and the relationship between them and the hunt party.

The Open category in the awards is the largest category encompassing all images which do not fit within the other defined categories so contains a range of images including landscapes, natural history, event photography and creative editing.

Jim McFarlane was given a Bronze Award for his image “Rub a Dub Dub” which was shot on an early morning landscape photography trip.  The judges commented on the motivation which was shown in the image to get up and out early to catch the best light.

Finally, Samantha Sweeney was awarded Silver in the Open category for her image “The Bay of Five Lands”.  The judges recognised the location and commented on the fact that they had used it for their own location shoots.  They were particularly impressed with Samantha’s technical knowledge and use of slow shutter speed to portray such a beautiful location in a special way.

Special congratulations also go to 2 recent New College Lanarkshire Photography Graduates Gary Lee and Edgar Basmakov.  Gary was awarded the Gold award in the Portraiture category and Edgar picked up both Silver and Gold in the Fashion category.  Both Gary and Edgar graduated from the HND in Photography at NCL last year and are now completing their BA in Photography at Edinburgh College.

LtoR: Samantha Sweeney, Bronze Advertising Category and Silver Open Category; Sally Neil, Gold Advertising Category; Helen Fleming, Bronze Photojournalism Category; Jim McFarlane, Bronze Open Category.

Congratulations to all the winners on the day and those who took part in this years awards!

To see the winning NCL Students’ images in print and many more examples of New College Lanarkshire Photography be sure to visit our Creative Showcase on May 25th 2017 at the Motherwell Campus from 6pm.

https://www.facebook.com/events/223860838090192