Ringwood School hosts inter-school photography competition

Ringwood School in Hampshire hosted its 11^th annual inter-school photography competition on Thursday 18 April. The event was sponsored by Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), and the Rotary Club of Ringwood.

There were three different age categories from year one up to year 13 and an additional adult category for parents and teachers. With over 1,000 entries from 25 schools across Hampshire, Dorset, and Wiltshire, the competition has grown every year.

Stuart Fielder, organiser and Head of Art at Ringwood School said: “The competition started 11 years ago when the Ringwood Rotary Club sought to work with us to produce a calendar for charity with photographs from the New Forest, this turned into a competition for the students with the winning shots being used for the calendar.

“Over the next couple of years, other schools found out what we were doing and asked to be a part of it, and it’s just grown and grown from there. The Rotary are still very supportive but we don’t make a calendar any longer and the photos aren’t restricted in terms of subject.”

The one-day event was hosted at The Barn, a brand-new multipurpose venue inside the grounds of Ringwood School. Judges included Mrs Emily Weston, photography course leader at Ringwood School, Dr Geoff Ridgway and Trevor Pogson from Ringwood Rotary, Dr Barry Senior from the Royal Photographic Society and Violet McClean, TheGallery curator and manager from AUB.

The theme this year was ‘Atmosphere’ and the winners from each category were announced on the day.

AUB judge Violet McClean said: “All the entries were of an incredible standard and it was very difficult to choose a winner in our category. The winning shot for me was by Aiden Doyle from Upper Shirley High School, the texture represented within the image and composition of the photograph made it feel like a painting. It was beautifully and skilfully captured with such incredible detail, a fantastic photograph.”

The winners of the three student categories received vouchers for photographic equipment and the Royal Photographic Society also awarded a certificate to their own choice of best image in each category. The “Young Photographer of the Year” received the MLW Shield and a Camera Kit prize. 

Michael Lingham Willgoss was on the original organising committee and a great inspiration to the project. He said: “The exhibition looked fantastic; we hired display equipment, the photographs were printed on high-grade A1 and A2 foam boards and the students were thrilled to see their work presented professionally. And I’d like to commend everyone that entered, there were some brilliant pieces there and I know it made for very difficult judging.”

The short-listed images will be exhibited and open to the public at The New Forest Heritage Centre in Lyndhurst for the whole of May.