Wow. Just wow. When we decided to re-run our ‘Young Photographer Award’ for 2018, we put up our hands and admit we were concerned, concerned that the standard may not be as high as last year’s knockout and concerned, too, that there might be less enthusiasm – and submissions – overall.
How completely BRILLIANT it is to have been proven SO WRONG!
As the following ‘around the world in 16 images’ go to show, your children are one talented bunch, demonstrating not only that they can master subject and composition but can capture at-a-glance just how special the world we live and travel in really is.
Without further ado, we are delighted to announce the winners in our Stubborn Mule Travel Young Photographer Awards, as judged by Liddy Pleasants (Stubborn Mule founder), Arthur Ridout (overall winner of the 2017 inaugural Stubborn Mule Young Photographers competition) and John Warburton-Lee (photography professional and AWL Images library owner).
Each category winner in both age groups receives £50, whilst the ultimate winner receives £150. We’ll also be sending some chocolate to the eight runner-ups.
A broad topic, but one you ran with, submitting as you did everything from images of ruins, temples and architecture to portraits of local people to weird and wonderful culinary offerings from hawkers’ stalls. These, though, were chosen as the stand out winners. Unusually, given the colourful costumes of Peruvian dancers, the under 11 winner chose black and white as the medium, something which made the juxtaposition of dancer and shadow especially pronounced, whilst it was the ‘birds eye view’ of the Under 18’s winner which delivered big. Huge well done to both of you!
Emmett Barkoff, aged 9, Peru
“The choice of black and white was perfect here, the lines of dancers with their shadows contrasting against the black and white road crossing was really well framed.”
Arthur Ridout
Harrison Gilder, aged 16. Thailand
Matilda Boxall, aged 10. Crushing chillies, Sri Lanka
Elsie Brett, aged 15, Masai Mara, Kenya
Again, a broad topic, including as it could, landscapes (mountains, beaches, sea-scapes, deserts, jungles) and animals, the latter a perennially popular subject choice for children and teens. Like last year, we were blown away by the quality and number of submissions in this category, by far the most popular of the four subjects and where competition was most fierce. An extra ‘well-done’, then, to our deserving winners and runners-up.
Matilda Boxall, aged 10. Elephants in Sri Lanka
Sasha Kay, aged 17. Chameleon, Sri Lanka
“Good use of depth of field to focus on the chameleon’s eyes and a nice play on colour to show camouflage.”
John Warburton-Lee
Freddie May, aged 10. Moody mountains, Borneo
Bo Cresser, aged 13. An elephant’s lunch, Sri Lanka
Stubborn Mule’s raison d’etre, ‘families experiencing the world together’ elicited some wonderful and inspiring pictures.
Lucy Youatt, aged 11. Sri Lanka
Maisy Sykes, aged 15. Bali
Rory Gray, aged 11. Sibling madness at Pidurangula, Sri Lanka
Jess Trask, aged 14. Elephant shower, Sri Lanka
A new category for this year and a popular one, despite its rather open-ended brief. Thanks to everyone whose entries made us smile, laugh or, like the winning pic in the 18 and under category, scratch our heads wondering just how they’d managed it.
Haydn D’Adda, aged 9. Faces on a train, Sri Lanka
Alina Bartolini, aged 13. Having fun exploring the temples, Burma/Myanmar
Rory Gray, aged 11. Hamish returns fish to the sea at Nilaveli, Sri Lanka
Ruby Boxall, aged 13. Sri Lanka
Drum roll, please!!! As you’ll gather from the above, choosing the best-of-the-best was no mean feat for our judges. That being said, the pin-point accuracy and clarity of the subject matter in this picture, despite it being just a shade different from its surroundings and background, united the judges.
On behalf of Stubborn Mule, we have great pleasure and delight in awarding Sasha Kay, 17, for her outstanding chameleon image. We see a great future for you, Sasha, and do hope your winnings will encourage you to keep up the fabulous work.
Sasha Kay, aged 17. Chameleon, Sri Lanka
Once again so many excellent photos were entered across all the categories and age groups. We wanted to recognise this and share a selection of those that the judges particularly liked. In no particular order, the highly commended photographs are…
Tom Bradshaw, aged 16. Costa Rica (Natural World)
“The judges were very impressed with this photo. It takes real patience to get a good shot of lightning in the night sky and we love how the shot is framed. Well done.”
Liddy Pleasants
Maisy Sykes, aged 15. Indonesia (Culture)
“This is not an easy photo to take – it’s after dark and there’s a lot happening. The photo captures the action and ambiance of a night time festival in Indonesia well.”
John Warburton-Lee
Sasha Kay, aged 17. Sri Lanka (Natural World)
“An excellent photo focusing on the eyes of the Macaque, good short depth of field to intensify the focus on the subject, with nice overall colour contrast.”
John Warburton-Lee
Sophia Bartolini, aged 13. Vibrant Colours of the Market, Burma (Culture)
” It can be hard to capture the vibrancy of a local market but this colourful shot taken in Myanmar/Burma caught my eye. ”
John Warburton-Lee
Joseph Collini, aged 12. Costa Rica (Natural World)
“Nicely observed subject”
John Warburton-Lee
Suzie Bach, aged 14. South Africa (Natural World)
“This photograph has caught the moment when the sunlight highlights the leopard’s head. So good timing and a lovely illustration of the camouflaging effect of the animal’s coat and the leaves.”
John Warburton-Lee
Rosie Purdie, aged 9. Baboon for lunch, Tanzania (Quirky/Unusual)
“A brave photo, documenting real life in the African bush. Well done!”
John Warburton Lee
Zoe Street, aged 14. Costa Rica (Natural World)
“I just love sloths and this rainforest portrait both captures the texture of the sloth’s coat and its appealing, gentle expression.”
Liddy Pleasants
Emily Purdie, age 12. Blacksmiths tribe, Tanzania (Family)
“A nice photo for the family album, something you’ll all look back on and it will bring back a host of memories ”
Liddy Pleasants
Pierce Malone, aged 10. Sri Lanka (Natural World)
“Initially picked out by Arthur, we all liked the keen observation here and the detail of the bird’s feathers as they go about their grooming, unaware of the photographer.”
Liddy Pleasants
Tom Bradshaw, aged 16. Costa Rica (Culture)
“I like the way this photo captures a quiet personal moment, as the young Costa Rican boy looks at his reflection and we simultaneously look at him”
Liddy Pleasants
Sarah Bennett, aged 9. Costa Rica (Natural World)
“A sharp representation of a grasshopper, capturing a mix of lush colourful greens both on the insect and in the background. ”
John Warburton Lee
Suzie Bach, aged 14. South Africa (Natural World)
“This has been a favourite in the office, a fantastically evocative image that beautifully captures the light filtering through the trees. ”
Liddy Pleasants
On behalf of all of us at Stubborn Mule, a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who submitted entries into our Young Photographer Awards. We do hope that you had as much fun composing and taking them as we did judging them.
Liddy Pleasants
MD Stubborn Mule Travel
All ages mentioned in this blog relate to the date the photograph was taken, on a Stubborn Mule Travel holiday.
Please do share this blog on social media with your friends and family – the photographers really do deserve a huge amount of credit. Thank you.
Check out our Destinations page if you’d like to find out more about all the wonderful countries our young photographers visited.