Port of Tyne Reflect awards

The Port of Tyne opens its fourth Reflect Awards on Monday 22nd March, adding a new section, ReflectFilm in association with Northern Film + Media, to the awards. This year’s competition will close at midnight on 1st September and the port is delighted to have confirmed that Matt Baker, BBC Countryfile presenter and former Blue Peter presenter, will be judging ReflectYouth.

The winners of Reflect 2009 were announced at last September’s glittering awards ceremony in the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and, once again, the 2010 awards night will be at the BALTIC.

Since the 2009 awards opened in March, talented entrants spent the following five months submitting photographs in categories covering the region’s Places, People, Rivers and Environment from the Borders to North Yorkshire.

The Port of Tyne Reflect Awards has now established itself as one of the region’s foremost photography competitions aimed at discovering hidden talent and encouraging creativity and vibrancy. Celebrating record entries in 2009, Andrew Moffat, the Port of Tyne’s CEO says: “We were overwhelmed with the phenomenal number of entries which, at 2,750 is a staggering 292% increase on 2008. Our judges had a difficult time in choosing the winners.”

Master of Ceremonies for the evening and Port of Tyne Writer in Residence, was celebrated playwright Michael Chaplin. 2009’s winners were Tom Hill with Memories of Sunrise, Allan McKever with Sir Bobby Robson Tributes to a Gentleman, Fred Smith with The Wear at Stanhope Ford, Ian McWilliams with Industrial Disease and Jack Bucknall, who has won ReflectYouth with Steppin Out.

Margaret Fay Chairman of One North East and judge of ‘The People’ category said, “North East England has so many iconic landmarks, stunning landscapes and a vibrant cultural scene which continue to inspire both people living in the region and visitors.

“The Reflect Awards celebrate the region’s fantastic assets and will encourage amateur photographers to capture what the region means to them and it is great to see that the 2009 awards included an under 16 category”.

Liz King Photographer and judge of ‘The Rivers’ category added “The excellent standard of the images submitted for the Rivers category proves the breadth of talent that often lies undetected within the Region. Some of the images were very good, but I was looking for a winning image that stood out above the rest. One that reflected the imagination and passion of the photographer more than the expense of the equipment, the Wear at Stanhope Ford did just that”.

Reflect is growing in popularity year on year; it offers a fantastic conduit for creative energy and inspiration and represents the Port of Tyne’s continued involvement and commitment to both the region and the community. ReflectYouth the under 16s category is designed to inspire children and teenagers to become interested in photography. And Stella Hall Creative, former Director of Culture10 had the unenviable job of selecting a winner, says:

“All of the images entered were deserving winners with much diversity and energy, but ‘Steppin Out’ is a fantastic photo of a little bird really is terrific.”

Winner of ReflectYouth Jack Bucknall 13 years old from Whitley Bay said “It felt great to win, photography is my main hobby and so many good photos were entered in to ReflectYouth, and hopefully this will encourage more young photographers”.