The last preliminary judging for the 2010 National Photographic Awards took place in Kilkenny on Monday. 800 photographs were judged on the evening during a marathon session. I entered 12 images and picked up 7 Gold distinctions, my best return ever. Now the hard work of compiling my final panels begins. I’ll be entering at least three categories at the national awards, possibly six, but most likely five. You can tell I’m in two minds. Possibly three minds.
Anyway, here are the photographs that picked up the golds, along with some commentary.
An alternative view of a bride getting ready. This provoked quite a bit of debate among the judges, not least because its documentary nature didn't sit well with some of them to begin with. They also disliked the horizontal format. However, once they started to analyze the picture more and the story started to flow from it, including the religious theme of the cross, they warmed to it more, eventually agreeing it merited a Gold. (c) Roger Overall 2009
This is my daughter dancing in the streets of Austin, Texas, in September. She loves music and she loves to dance. The temptation was too much. Some people thought she was part of the act. What always makes me laugh is that she thinks she has to pay buskers in order to dance to their music. A straightforward Gold on the night of the judging. (c) Roger Overall 2009
My daughter brushing her teeth. Houston, Texas. I loved the light and the way it made a commonplace daily event into something almost heroic. At the same time it is a very tender photograph. (c) Roger Overall 2009
This is the most personal photograph I've ever published. Another one from my recent visit to the USA, it shows dinner time at my Dad's house. My daughter had concocted something she called "ice cream" (all of her concoctions are called ice cream) and Dad is being fed a spoonful by his wife. I loved the way Emily is caught in the light and the joyous expression on her face. For once, the ice cream was palatable. (c) Roger Overall 2009
Kids. They're great at weddings. They get so incredibly bored that they have to make their own entertainment. I'd been watching this little girl for a while and her boredom culminated in this photograph. (c) Roger Overall 2009
Another child picture. As an adult, we forget what it was like to live life at 4 feet high. (c) Roger Overall 2009
On their wedding day, the bride and groom actually have very little time together on their own. This was taken just prior to their entrance to dinner and for me it is all about the two worlds existing next to each other, each without knowledge of the other. And there's me with a view of both sides. (c) Roger Overall 2009
