Reflect, Reflect and Reflect Again

The prestigious Port of Tyne Reflect Awards is here again giving all photographers this year the opportunity to exhibit their work in the renowned BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, and I am honoured to be involved in the competition as a member of the judging panel.

Tapping into the creative pulse of the region, the Port of Tyne launched Reflect in 2007. The awards have now become a fixture in the region’s cultural calendar.

Now in its third year, Reflect is bigger and better than ever with an impressive judging panel, a cash prize, and broadened horizons with which to capture on camera the splendour of the north east region and its people.

Andrew Moffat, the Port of Tyne’s CEO said: “We’ve been delighted at the overall response to Reflect. It shows how important cultural life is to the people of the North East and it’s fantastic for the Port to engage with the community in this way.

“This year we have widened the choice of subject categories to give a broader regional perspective and the winners will be exhibited in one of the biggest temporary art spaces in Europe. What is also exciting is that we’ve introduced Reflectyouth especially for the Under 16’s in response to the many requests from young people wanting to take part last year and felt this is a great addition to Reflect.”

Reflectyouth is the only section that allows mobile uploads. Entrants to Reflectyouth can choose any of the subject categories and submit up to a maximum of ten images to their category. The winner will receive £250 plus a workshop with a professional photographer.

Some of the region’s leading figures in the world of art, culture and business make up the judging panel. These are: Margaret Fay OBE Chair of One North East, Stella Hall, Creative Director of Culture 10, award winning freelance photographer and writer Jason Friend, Liz King, Managing Director of Visible Media UK Ltd and Godfrey Worsdale, Director of BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

The Places, The People, The Rivers and The Environment make up the four subject categories of Reflect 09 and entrants can submit up to ten images across any of the categories.

To enter, first read the rules then upload your images via the website at www.reflect-tyne.com. The awards close at midnight Tuesday 1st September 2009.

Steve Middleton, last year’s winner of the Reflect 2008 Maritime Tyne category with his photograph entitled Rough Seas, said: “The Tyne is something everyone in the region is aware of and this competition has allowed so many aspects of the river to be explored. It is a fantastic opportunity whether you are hoping to further a budding photography career or even if you just want to see your hobby advance.”

Northumberland Spirit

The last few months have seen me photographing the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh and whilst this may have given me something of a creative rush of blood to the head, I must admit to being somewhat pleased about the subject for my next two books to be released by Halsgrove in 2010.

It probably seems an obvious choice for someone based in Newcastle to be commissioned for a book (or two) on Northumberland but I seem to have only managed to work on books based on areas surrounding the county, so I am delighted to announce that the Spirit of Northumberland and Perfect Northumberland are the titles of my latest projects!

Work is well and truly underway with 'Spirit of Northumberland' and I am hoping to have it finished by the summer of this year - There is one advantage to having a large stock photography collection of the region! 'Perfect Northumberland' is slightly different as it is going to be very much based around the seasons and as such it will take me a year to capture the images. It really is a hard life!

I photographed this little fellow (or lass) today whilst visiting the National Trust owned Wallington. There were a few of these little red devils playing in the warmth of the spring sun (I suspect they may have had more than playing in mind... use your imagination) but this one squirrel continued to return to a small patch of land immediately in front of the wildlife hide. It took a couple of hours to capture this shot and whilst I doubt Andy Rouse will be quaking in his boots, I must admit that I like it!

Guest photo from North Tyneside

As you may have seen in a previous news entry, the weather for the North Tyneside Photography Workshop was less than ideal. However, I think that workshop participant Ritchie Coatsworth has produced some stunning images from the day including this image of Tynemouth Pier. But what did Ritchie have to say about the day?

"I had a great day and picked up some valuable advice and tips. I am really pleased with the images I ended up with even though the weather wasn't at it's best. It was good to be around others that enjoy trying to take a good photo, I'll certainly be doing some more workshops."

You can view some more of the images from the workshop by taking a look at the Flickr group or in particular Ritchies photostream.

We still have a few places remaining for the forthcoming Hadrian's Wall Photography Workshop on the 15th March. Click here if you fancy the opportunity to capture some great images like Ritchie!