Saundersfoot photographer Joann Randles has said she is ‘thrilled’ to pick up the top award in her category at the British Press Photographers' Association competition.
Joann, whose work takes her all over the UK and beyond, won the ‘portrait’ of the year accolade at the BPPA awards for 2022 last week.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the Portrait category of the BPPA Photographer of the Year 2022 competition - it really was such a surprise to have won, as I have only been working as a professional press photographer for two years,” she said.
“This competition was particularly meaningful because it is judged by fellow press photographers from across the UK and I’m really thankful for those who voted for my work.
“I absolutely love capturing people and being able to share their stories through the medium of photography. I’m very grateful for all the support from my fiancé, family and team at Cover Images.
“The recognition of this prestigious award really means a lot to me,” she added.
Some of Joann’s winning pics included - portraits of traditional Welsh folk dancers, in their iconic traditional dress, captured for St Davids Day on the hills around Ammanford; a fisherman of the Carmarthen Coracle and Netsmen’s Association completing their fishing session of the morning on the River Towy.
She also captured images of a mother and family celebrating Ukraine Independence Day; and multi award-winning Elvis tribute artist, Darren ‘Graceland’ Jones, from Pontypool, taken at his home ahead of The Porthcawl Elvis Festival, where he, along with thousands of tribute acts from across the globe participated in the three day event.
More than 2,000 photographs taken throughout the year were entered into the 10 categories by photographers working in the UK and abroad.
Members of the association were then invited to vote for they favourite entries in each category with members of the board then choosing the overall winning portfolio from the category winners.
Paul Ellis, Chair, of the BPPA commented: “It’s been another great year for The BPPA’s competition with an increase in the number of entries on last year and also the number of members of our association having their say as to who should be named as winners of each category. The quality of the images is absolutely first class.
“It felt that 2022 provided more breaking news and sporting events to focus on than ever before. With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the summer and then the time following her passing later in the year, I feel that the galleries of photographs in the ‘Royal’ and ‘Photo Essay - Death of a monarch’ categories show how incredibly high the standard of press photography is in this country.
“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the skill and bravery of photographers and many of their images are displayed in our ‘News’ and ‘Essay’ categories. On the sporting front, The Commonwealth Games, World Gymnastics as well as The World Cup and Premier League provided just a few of the subjects on show in the sporting categories.
“The Arts, Business and Portraits really do show how creative photographers can be. Also, I’m delighted that once again we have a winner from the regional press as well as freelance winners based in Scotland and Wales representing press photography across the country.
“I’d like to thank everyone for entering, judging and to the team at The BPPA for their hard work to run this competition on behalf of press photographers,” he added.
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