The rising stars of the imaging community

The Canon Eyecon competition is an annual opportunity for young, emerging photographers and film-makers to showcase their talents to a professional and established judging panel. The judging panel for 2016 is comprised of editorial photographer Fiona Quinn, commercial photographer Troy Goodall, wedding photographer Jim Pollard, and cinematographer Duncan Cole.

The competition gives participants the chance to develop their own personal style with the added bonus of being in to win some awesome prizes, such as a range of Canon products, experience and mentoring from Canon’s creative agency and photographers, one-year NZIPP and AIPA memberships, and a large-format print of an image of their choice.

This year, the competition was made up of three categories: Photography — High School, Photography — Tertiary, and Film — Tertiary.

We are pleased to bring you a selection of the winning images from the competition now that it has drawn to a close. The Photography — Tertiary winner for 2016 is Roseanne Jones, a Bachelor of Design (Photography) student at Ara Institute of Canterbury. Jones’ series Living Room Pathway drew inspiration from photographer Geoff Johnson, whose biographical subjects included his mother’s compulsive hoarding in his childhood home. Living Room Pathway depicts Jones’ own experience with hoarding in her family home, using direct flash to cultivate a “harsh gritty feel, reminiscent of Weegee’s documentary photography of the 1940s”.

The winner of the Photography — High School category is Welin Zhang, a student from China who came to New Zealand three years ago and found her perspecive on home changing. Gaining this different perspective influenced the theme of Zhang’s Home series. Zhang noticed the way the “mottled light shifts and plays across the wall”, and used this unique lighting to record her home. Zhang describes her use of shadow in her images, explaining, “I … believe [that] shadow is another self, therefore I use shadow to represent my life … ”

Finally, the winner of the Film — Tertiary category is Daisy Thor-Poet from Southern Institute of Technology. Eighteen-year-old Thor-Poet was in her first year studying a Bachelor of Screen Arts (film) when she won the award for her short film Strike Out. The three-minute film was based around the ideas that surround depression, utilizing shadows that produced a dark feeling, as well as using minimal light throughout the film. Thor-Poet drew inspiration from the works of Kumi Yamashita, a Japanese artist who works in New York, who focuses on sculpting light and shadows. She also was inspired by the works of Jane Campion in terms of using strong visuals to communicate a story.