Judges
Alf Kumalo
Alfred Dukuza Mangaliso Kumalo was born on September 5th 1930 and has dedicated his life to the art of photography and photo journalism. Growing up in the fierce oppression of the Apartheid regime, Kumalo utilised his talent to inform and educate the down-trodden black majority and their liberal white supporters, often disregarding his own personal safety to work with both the South African and global press.
Kumalo’s lens witnessed countless pivotal political events from the women’s march in 1956 led by Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph, through to the first inauguration of Nelson Mandela in 1994,and the ten years of democracy celebration.
In addition to covering political events, Kumalo’s reputation led to commissions with some of the greatest artists and sportsmen of the last century, including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Count Bassie, Sammy Davies jnr, Miles Davis, Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuku, Thandi Klaasen, Sibongile Khumalo, PJ Powers, Johnny Clegg, Murray Campbell, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, and Frank Sinatra.
In sports, Kumalo has covered international and local legends including Pele, Eusebio, Stan and Jomo Sono, Kaizer Motaung, Mohammed Ali, Enoch Nhlapo, and ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala amongst others.
His work has garnered numerous global awards, has been exhibited in major cities throughout the world, and published in 4 books, the latest of which being, ‘8115: A Prisoner’s Home'.
Not wishing to rest on his already impressive story, in 2002, Kumalo opened a photographic museum in Diepkloof, Soweto that depicts some of his dynamic work. Attached to the museum is a photographic institute that offers post matric youth the exciting opportunity of viewing events and experiences through the lens of a camera.
Antonio Gamito
Portuguese photographer Antonio started out as a photographer in the days of film and darkroom development, Antonio trained and assisted some photographic masters in Amsterdam, learning and developing the technical elements that would help him to fully utilise a natural eye for pictures. During his professional career spanning the last 20 years, Anthonio has worked across Europe and beyond in all areas of photography, from fashion to food, with a special place in his heart for travel.
Dan Kennedy
Dan Kennedy is a leading fashion and celebrity photographer, shooting in London, the US and across Europe. After starting his career as a regional newspaper photographer in his native Norfolk, Dan took the plunge, moved to London and quickly became a fixture on the photo desks of Fleet Street.
Moving from newspapers to features and on to magazines and advertising, Dan has shot some of the world’s best-known faces, including Madonna, David Beckham, Angelina Jolie and Keira Knightly.
Dan works for a wide range of clients, both editorial and advertising shooting celebrities and fashion for each. He brings his trademark sleek, glossy style to publications from Glamour, The Times, and Observer Magazine and to advertising clients including Ultimo, Nikon and EMI Records amongst others. Recent favourite commissions include shooting funny man David Walliams covered in gold paint, Actress Lindsay Lohan in 10 minutes in a London hotel room and Michael Macintyre’s Autobiography cover.
Dan also manages to fit personal projects into his busy diary. Recent work has included a trip to Vermont to photograph the fall leaves, and a trip to Ethiopia with charity The Brooke Foundation to document the humble donkey’s pivotal role in averting poverty – the resulting images from which have been made into a beautiful book.
John Angerson
John Angerson (b.1969 Bristol, England) started his career in the early 1990′s, covering the fall of the Berlin Wall and the changing geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe. Since then, his practice has continued to explore the different languages of documentary photography, focusing on how specific communities form, shift and develop. His personal projects have garnered critical acclaim and have been exhibited at major art institutions in the UK and overseas. His latest monograph – Love, Power, Sacrifice (published by Dewi Lewis, Manchester) documented the Jesus Army over a twenty-year period and peers into a microcosm of fanatical religion.
Justin Lane
Justin Lane is currently the New York Bureau Chief for the European Pressphoto Agency. He has worked for many major magazines and newspapers in the United States as well as many around the world. In 2002, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and the Overseas Press Club Award of Excellence for his contributions to The New York Times’ coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.
Laurence Watts
Laurence Watts is the head of the Picture Desk at the international NGO ActionAid. He commissions photography globally for the organisation and manages their extensive multi media archive. With close to 20 years experience of working with photography, Laurence has played an active role in mentoring and promoting photographers from the global south, including initiating and curating a number of book and exhibition projects that seek to challenge perceptions of poverty and injustice. Laurence writes and lectures on photojournalism and has judged a number of key photographic awards.
Sophie Batterbury
Sophie Batterbury is currently Picture Editor of The Independent on Sunday, where she is responsible for all sections apart from The New Review magazine. Her career in photojournalism began in The Independent darkroom in 1989, where a keen interest in photography became the passion that it is today. Since then she has had various roles across both Independent titles either side of a short stint at a celebrity agency. She is a contributing editor of ei8ht magazine and on the UK board for The Young Photographers Association.