CityLife

Shot Up North winners announced

Winner: Zara Portrait by Jonathan Oakes

IF the gallery of 50 images selected for the Shot Up North final is a demonstration of the prevailing collective psyche, then we’re currently fascinated by faces.

“Every year, there’s a different accidental theme and a prominence of this style or another, which is the exciting thing about this prize,” says co-founder of the Shot Up North photography competition Ed Horwich. “This year, we’ve had a huge number of portraits, which is very unusual.

“I remember a couple of years ago, everything was landscapes.

“These days, we tend to see very strong, individual styles. Sometimes the photographers work in an historical style but this year we can see the personalities of the photographers coming through rather than them aping traditional styles.”

Attention to detail

As always, this year’s judges believe that the current set of 300 or so entries from professional photographers working across the north of the UK (from the Midlands right up to the Scottish Highlands and islands) have raised the bar again for all future competitions to live up to.

Stealing the crown this year is a Manchester-based artist, Jonathan Oakes (his photograph is pictured, above), who works primarily in advertising. 

Ed says Oakes’ image was the only choice for the title. “It was just such a standout image that there was almost no way any other image could have come top,” he enthuses.

“Very often, the winning image is very obvious – it’s got the attention to detail, to quality and that certain je ne sais quoi that lifts it above everything else.

Spread of talent

“I didn’t get involved in the judging but I did see the images coming in, and when you see the judges’ decision you think, ‘I wouldn’t have picked that one’.

“But then, when you see all the entries together, as the judges do, you see exactly why that one stood out.”

Established to recognise talent outside of London, SUN is now celebrating its 21st year. It remains one of the only prizes of its sort around the world, recognising the geographical spread of talent and establishing a collective showcase for it.

The showcase opens today at Matt & Phred’s, on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter, and features the three winning images by Oakes, Rii Schroer and Nigel Hillier, plus 47 other favourites chosen by the judges to feature in the SUN 2009 catalogue.

At Matt & Phred’s until December 31, 2009 (call 0161 831 7002 for opening times). Free entry.