Okay, so it’s actually second place, but for me it is the highest award an individual piece (or a series for that matter) has achieved to date. I was surprised to find I was one of seven prize winners on Tuesday and never expected to receive more than an honorable mention. To be honest I’m still a little stunned.
I’m especially pleased because the trend, rightly, is that photos that win contests are usually of a journalistic nature or political, and one can argue that this is appropriate given that we need to document the important happenings in our world. My work is purely artistic and so a bit of a luxury creatively, but as a couple of friends have reminded me sometimes we need art for art’s sake. Sometimes we need calming and pretty images. Many have said they find “Into Dreamtime” peaceful and soothing. Maybe it’s an ideal second image to look at after all the politics and turmoil of the year.