The exhibition for the 2018 Sigma D-Photo Amateur Photographer of the Year competition opened on Thursday 26 July at Metro Gallery in Auckland and saw many from the photographic community come together in appreciation of our new winners.
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This is only the second year that we’ve run the exhibition as a part of the competition, and as a culmination of the work put in by sponsors, judges, the team at D-Photo, and the photographers themselves, it is a very welcome event for all those involved. The mood was certainly celebratory as amateur photographers from around New Zealand mingled with industry professionals and representatives from some of the largest photography brands in the country. We were very happy to see large numbers of the public in attendance, many of whom had been following the competition closely from the beginning.
Grand prizewinner Kate Parsonson made the trip up from Wellington for the event, receiving not only the overall prize from Sigma, but also both first and second place in the Monochrome category.
Aside from the wonderful prizes received, many of the winning photographers spoke of simply appreciating the recognition received for their photography and the satisfaction of seeing their image in print on the wall of a gallery.
The exhibition is well worth a look — it is open to the public and runs until 13 August at Metro Gallery, 222 Hobson Street, Auckland.
Amateur Photographer of the Year for 2018, Kate Parsonson, with her two winning images, receiving prizes from Mark Ward of Sigma/CRK
Michael Miller, HOD for Film at SAE, with D-Photo sales manager, David Burns
Ira Swales from Fujifilm congratulates Michelle Denniston, who achieved first place in Architecture
David Burns and first place in Student category, Ilena Shadbolt
Winner of the Aerial category, Mike Vincent, with Ken Newall of DJI/Lacklands
Daughter of second-placing Smartphone photographer, Bin Bai, accepts the Huawei P20 on his behalf
Ray Ludlow, who placed third in Smartphone, with Fujifilm representatives
Gerard Emery from CRK hands over the Vanguard prize pack to third-placing Monochrome photographer, Karen Moffat-Mcleod
Ira Swales and Benny Tan, awarded second place in Architecture
Jonathan Kane Houldsworth, who placed third in the Video category, with David Burns
Kate Parsonson with Mark Tyler of Lacklands
Ira Swales with third-placing Architecture photographer, Lyn Alves
Jared Buckley, who took out third place in the Travel category, with David Burns
Stephen Milner, third-place Landscape photographer, with Mark Ward of Sigma/CRK