A 2023 photography competition for SSLP staff and students!

The 2023 SSLP Photography Competition ran for 5 months from January to May. We received a total of 321 entries, with the most popular month being February when we had 107 submissions to round 2. Our five rounds were supported by five excellent guest judges.

The five rounds were

• The Extraordinary Ordinary judged by Lillie Eiger (101 entries)
• Natural Worlds judged by Alice Cazenave (107 entries)
• Motion and Distortion judged by Mel Bles (55 entries)
• Forgotten Objects judged by Sophie Bullen (30 entries)
• Reflections and Perspectives judged by Karl Simms (28 entries)

For the final we invited SSLP Co-Directors to be the judges.

and all entrants who had submitted a picture in each of the five rounds were considered for the prize of Best Portfolio.

Best Picture

All 321 entries were considered for the final award of Best Picture.

Student photographs were shortlisted by Katie Barretta, SSLP Coodinator, and Chloe Lecuyer-Mayo, JAGS teacher and competition facilitator. You can see all the shortlisted images here.

Dr Joe Spence, Master of Dulwich College, has picked a winner and runner-up from the student entries; and Marcus Huntley, Principal of The Charter School Bermondsey chose his favourites from the staff entries.

Student

I’ve nominated a winner and runner-up and I found it very difficult to choose between them. I’m very conscious that I have chosen two relatively naturalistic photographs (and two nature photographs at that), but I think this is accidental.

The two photographs work for me in different ways.

Dr Joe Spence

Winning Student: Edie, Kingsdale Foundation School

If photography is an art form that looks to affect observers emotionally then my winner is celebrated because the photograph is beautiful and uplifting and yet carries a touch of melancholy.

Dr Joe Spence

Thank you so much for picking my image to win this competition I am so pleased.

I am very delighted to of won this competition and thanks so much for this opportunity.

Edie

Runner-Up Student: Chloe, JAGS

My runner-up is one of the most painterly of the short-listed photographs and it’s the photographer’s sense of colour and composition that I am rewarding here.

Dr Joe Spence

Staff

All staff entries were considered for the Best Picture prize. You can see all the eligible entries here.

Winning Staff: A Sayedi, Charter School Bermondsey

I cannot imagine the technical expertise that enabled the recording of this stunning moment from the Universe’s distant past. The image is incredibly composed, and encourages the viewer to to explore the heavens as a place where nothing is static and much work is done.

Marcus Huntley

Runner-up: G Wallner, Kingsdale Foundation School

A moving image, conjuring feelings of solitude and hope. Wonderful composition.

Marcus Huntley

Best Portfolio

Students and Staff who entered an image into each of the FIVE themed rounds were automatically entered into the competition for Best Portfolio. Both judges then selected their choice for Best Portfolio. Everyone will receive prizes.

Joe’s Choice

Eliska, James Allen’s Girls’ School

Eliska‘s work includes both the single images I find most appealing and effective, notably the Shard in the mist, and also the most consistently winning shots across the portfolio. Eliska’s photographs are sharp and the compositions creative

Dr Joe Spence

Marcus’s Choice

Esmé, Kingsdale Foundation School

Esmé’s portfolio captures beautiful moments where light is either reflected or creates a silhouette that adds drama to the scene. My favourite is the beach photo, where Esme takes a more experimental approach to composition.

Marcus Huntley

Round 5: Reflections & Perspectives

Guest judge Karl Simms has announced his winners and runners-up. Congratulations to all the students and staff who entered images.

Winning Student:
Malek, The Elmgreen School

A confusing collage of reflections and refractions, a really complicated and exciting image. Well done

Karl Simms – Guest Judge

Runner-Up Student:
Llavinya, Kingsdale Foundation School

This is a beautiful image, haunting and quite eerie. The reflections really help to create a sense of atmosphere. Great work!

Karl Simms – Guest Judge

Winning Staff:
G Wallner, Kingsdale Foundation School

This is an amazing image! Kaleidoscopic and other worldly, an excellent submission.

Karl Simms – Guest Judge

---

Round 4 Forgotten Objects – Winners Announced

Congratulations to winners and runners-up in Round 4. All the student and staff entries can be viewed in the relevant SSLP Google Photo albums.

Winning Student:
Malak, The Elmgreen School

It’s almost theatrical in how its lit, I like how there is such a clear sense of fore-, mid- and background. The warmth of the light in the centre of the image draws the viewer in.

Sophie Bullen – Guest judge

Runner-Up Student:
Hailee, Kingsdale Foundation School

Plays with light in a pleasant and light-hearted way. The work is funny! A single dandelion has sprung up in derelict, urban setting. It has such a perfect shadow, unobscured or blurred.

Sophie Bullen – Guest judge

Winning Staff:
G Howell, Kingsdale Foundation School

his has a nice familiarity to it, both in the teddy depicted but also the pose and viewpoint. The colours and textures blend well and are pleasant.

Sophie Bullen – Guest judge

Runner-up Staff:
G Howell, Kingsdale Foundation School

The person depicted has a funny expression, I like how its framed by stones — it’s intriguing and presented in a way that suggests a story.

Sophie Bullen – Guest judge

---

Round 3 Motion and Distortion – Winners Announced

Congratulations to winners and runners-up in Round 3. All the student and staff entries can be viewed in the relevant SSLP Google Photo albums.

Winning Student:
Abigail, The Charter School East Dulwich

I really love the individual approach and reaction to the theme. Definitely my winner here! I chose my winner because I love a brave, experimental, very individual approach to photography. This image felt personal, beautiful, weird and modern all at the same time. Love that.

Mel Bles – Guest judge

Runner-Up Student:
Llavinya, Kingsdale Foundation School

A unique personal approach with a good feel of composition. I love the feeling of activity and chaos here.

Mel Bles – Guest judge

Winning Staff:
T Pierce, Kingsdale Foundation School

A great observation of light and shadow from the Staff winner. This picture could look beautiful in black and white.

Mel Bles – Guest judge

Runner-up Staff:
G Wallner, Kingsdale Foundation School

An image that really pulls the viewer in. I love how it fades from light to dark.

Mel Bles – Guest judge

---

Round 2 Natural Worlds – Winners Announced

Congratulations to winners and runners-up in Round 2. All the student and staff entries can be viewed in the relevant SSLP Google Photo albums.

Thank you for the opportunity to judge this competition. It was a pleasure to see such a range of compositions, narratives, and textures in the works! 

Alice Cazenave

Winning Student:
Florence, James Allen’s Girls’ School

The light, composition, and detail of this scene is captivating. It is a beautiful scene to have noticed, and demonstrates a good eye!

Alice Cazenave

Thank you so much! It’s so exiting and I have really enjoyed the entire process! I have only just started photography so this is really encouraging.

Florence

Runner-up Student:
Tess, Kingsdale Foundation School

I like that this photographer has looked to the ground to see this upside-down world.

Alice Cazenave

Winning Staff:
A Sayedi, Compass School Southwark

This has a beautiful, mystical atmosphere, and seems to blur the boundaries between photography and painting.

Alice Cazenave

Runner-up Staff:
J Spence, Dulwich College

There are many textures and layers to this image that make it striking. For me, it carries serenity, majesty, but also sadness and isolation.

Alice Cazenave

---

Round 1 The Extraordinary Ordinary – Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners and runners-up in Round 1. All the student and staff entries can be viewed in the relevant SSLP Google Photo Albums.

Winning Student:
Rahul, Kingsdale Foundation School

“I really love this image! It exuded a lot of emotion, a sense of homeliness and longing. I really love the colours and the creative way of using the mirror with the subject looking away. It’s really beautiful. A great image caught in a moment!”

Lillie Eiger – Guest Judge

Thank you so so much for this amazing news. I am extremely happy and grateful that SSLP team/ Lillie Eiger selected my photograph as the winner. I look forward to hearing further from you and participating in future competitions. 

Rahul, Winning Student – The Extraordinary Ordinary

Runner-up Student:
Fathia, The Charter School North Dulwich

“I love this image. The way the portrait is collaged is really clever. The radial pattern of the cuts explores a sense of noise and internal struggle. This piece shows a lot of hard work and a real sense of understanding about the different techniques of image making. Bravo!”

Lillie Eiger

Winning Staff:
J Rogers, The Charter School East Dulwich

“This image has a fantastic atmosphere. The contrast of the textures of the rocks with the clear sky, the composition of the man and bird so perfectly centred and the overall tone. Love it!”

Lillie Eiger

Runner Up Staff:
A Sayedi, Compass School Southwark

“The skyscape is great. The way the celestial bodies are framed draw the eyes to the centre and the contrast of dark and light make for a very interesting image. I wonder where this was taken!”

Lillie Eiger

This year’s competition

Any camera can be used, but special consideration must be given to the subject, the light, the composition and the emotion within the image, as this will bring your photograph to life.

The SSLP Photographic competition is spread over five months will test your resilience and ability to regularly produce work of a high standard and to a given brief. You will be asked to submit one photograph each month that should be inspired by the monthly theme. Good Luck!

To register your interest in this competition for future years please complete the registration form.

This year the themes were:

• The extraordinary ordinary
• Natural worlds 
• Motion and distortion 
• Forgotten Objects
• Reflections and Perspective