How to stand out in the shortlist by Caroline Kenyon

 

In our 14th annual cycle since the Awards began in 2011, the first months of the year have a now familiar and exciting drum beat. Firstly, Last Call for Entries, and then the time set aside with our brilliant judges for shortlisting, days of intense looking, discussing, arguing (in a friendly way) and deciding. 

We know how much it means to you all to be shortlisted - you tell us, and that means a lot to us too - and we take the process incredibly seriously. We hugely respect the trust you have placed in us by sharing your photography. 

I am delighted to share with you below some of the very many images that jumped out at me during the shortlisting last year. They captured my attention for all sorts of different reasons - they made me smile, or they made me wonder, they had great technical skill, or they showed me something I’d not seen before, and if I had, in a fresh new way. 

There’s still plenty of time to enter! Do have a look at the categories to see where your images could go. We are here at the end of an email if you need any help. Whether you want advice on which category would suit a particular image or have any other questions that aren’t covered on our FAQs. 

 

Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers - Little Girl Always by Shih Yu Chang

The highly controlled colour palette and composition of this shot jumped out at me. Blue is a colour not often seen in images with food. I liked the almost Vermeer-like figure of the young woman in her flowing dress, seen in profile, with the deep black shadow behind her. And then her absorption in the almost gruesomely-coloured candy floss she’s eating with such apparent pleasure. It combines the traditional, pleasing portrait with a slightly-shudder inducing reaction, very clever.

 

Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration - Pearly Kings & Queens London Harvest Festival by Simon James Smith

This is a joyful window into a past age. The pearly kings and queens are traditionally families from the East End of London, who started to dress up covered in pearly buttons in the 19th century to raise money for charity. There are very few of them left. This eccentric and charming image juxtaposes the pearly characters - see the little boy carrying a vivid plastic supermarket basket - against the clerics, clad in red robes, all in the grandeur of a church portico. It’s witty and unusual.  

 

Cream of the Crop - Michigan Maple by Corynn Coscia

I really liked the simplicity and clarity of this image, but there is much to see, nonetheless. The warm, bright drips, the sensuous coating of the luscious maple syrup set against the cold grey metal of the scoop, but the scoop is battered and etched with the marks of years of use. The image is perfectly positioned within the frame, it is soothing and beautiful at the same time.

 

MPB Food for Innovation - Melted Candies by Cristina Burns

A dentist’s nightmare here! But I loved the sumptuous melding of the melted sweets, you can imagine their sickliness from the brightness of their colours, nothing natural about them. They flow together like Florentine inks on book papers, drawing the eye into the maze-like patterns. 

 

Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year (People) - Vineyard Portrait by Daniela Marchi

A lovely fresh take on a portrait from the world of wine. No wine glass here, with nose pressed seriously against it. But a beautifully composed shot of a winemaker, standing against a coloured wall that echoes the colour of his bronzed worker’s arms and his sun-weathered face, just enough of him showing through the huge and abundant bouquet of vine leaves he holds like a bride. A memorable and original shot. 

 

Do enjoy looking at the 2024 Commended Gallery - you will find it so inspiring and it may remind you of photographic treasures sitting in your archive which will be ideal to enter in 2025! Entries close Sunday 9th February 2025.