And the Winner is...

A few weeks ago our co founder Orla was asked to judge The 5th Annual International Lawyers Photography Competition.

The standard was so high she couldn't just pick three winners and ended up giving special mention to a few entries who nearly made it to the top three. Here's Orla's guest blog that was submitted to announce the winners:

I’ve really enjoyed seeing the four corners of the world through all your eyes. It’s always interesting to see how others view the world around them. It’s been tough to narrow it down. There were so many different reasons to pick more than three images that I enlisted the help of my colleague, but that only meant we had a shortlist twice as long as when I started. Neither of us were able to agree on our favorites or a top three.

We did eventually pick three, but there were also a few we wanted to give a special mention to. There were several epic landscapes. The colour, detail and post process really drew you in to the images.

In Liz Pawson - Poon’s image of a cow standing on a mountain, the cow was beckoning you into the image to see what was just over the hill.

While both Laura Murphy and Caoilfhionn Ni Chuanachain’s images of people travelling by boat and train were full of movement, colour and a wish to know where they ended up.

Strong composition and interesting lines drew my eye into images such as the two images of snow by John Tertan, London and William Costa, Jersey.

While the moody, silhouetted shot of boatmen on a river by Grace Lumsden, Dublin was really eye catching as was the shot by Alex Towers from Dublin of the bathers in the sea with evening light catching the people in the image.

But to the winners:

1st place: Amanda Lee, London.

It was the subtlety of the light in the centre of this image that caught my eye. It reminded me of a Rembrandt landscape. Photographing silhouette and getting that fine highlight detail around the reed heads against a black background creates a really atmospheric shot. The impact of the image would have been lost if the reed heads had merged into all of those shades of black in the centre of the image. Your eye is drawn into the image by them. The fine line of the trees in the background is mirrored in the foreground among the reeds and creates a lovely symmetry to the photograph.

2^nd place – Edward Saunders, London

When I was a kid I got a World Press Photographer competition book every year from my Dad to remind me of what I wanted to be when I grew up. This shot reminded me of these books. Every year there were compelling images or portraits like this one. A woman who had a story to tell. It’s the eyes, they keep pulling you in to the image. Combined with a vibrant, strong blue and green combination of the background and the clothes, and the horizontal and vertical lines running through the image. A powerful image, it makes you stop and engage with the picture.

3^rd - Nitish Upadhyaya, London

As humans we love symmetry and pattern and this images has all that. There’s almost perfect symmetry in this image and the repeat pattern literally draws you down the tunnel where you encounter silhouetted figure. It make you lean into the image to try and find out more. The colour is also striking and bold and catches my eye. While with the contrasting shadows add interest to the image.

Feb 5, 2021