Perth-based geologist and professional photographer Susan Vearncombe’s fascinating and beautifully climatic landscape series Home Hills has actually secured the greatest honours in Photographer of the Year 2022, presented by Video camera Home.
General winner and Landscape classification winner Susan Vearncombe, House Hills.
Established to display the work of Australia and New Zealand’s most gifted amateur professional photographers, Professional photographer of the Year drew in over 3,000 entries across nine classifications, including Landscape, Animal & & Nature, Individuals, Aerial, Travel, and & Black &
White. Winners and runners up share in a prize pool worth more than $22,000.
Vearncombe’s entry won the Landscape classification and was likewise named General Winner for 2022. The images were caught in the deep south of New Zealand, an area Vearncombe states she enjoys photographing for its fantastic light and colour. For the judges, her evocative series was described as resembling the “trailer to a film we all wished to drop in”.
6 of the major categories in the competition challenge photographers to shoot four images that work together as a cohesive series.
Other classification winners included a series of striking aerials caught in Tangalooma, Queensland, by Canberra firemen Tim Burgess, Scuba diver Raphael Giraud’s pictures of skyrocketing underwater creatures in Byron Bay, NSW, a vibrant and brilliant Arctic landscape by Sydney’s Julie Mullock, and striking pictures checking out Australia’s Elvis Fanclub subculture by George Yu Pang Chan.
Chan likewise took the top Travel prize with his black-and-white series of pictures of anglers in Hong Kong.
For judge Matt Palmer, the competition continues to surprise with the exceptional quality and vision of the entrants.
“Many of the entries are at a professional requirement– a terrific accomplishment for a competitors gone into by amateur photographers,” he said.
“The entries are likewise crucial in developing a visual history, recording the faces, places, and obstacles of these times.”
Professional photographer of the Year was sponsored by Video camera House, SanDisk, WD, BenQ, MSI, Nokia, Lacie, Seagate, and Epson.
Judges for Professional Photographer of the Year 2022 were Alex Cearns OAM, Richard I’Anson, Helen Whittle, Matt Palmer, Douwe Dijkstra, Justin Gilligan, Mandarine Montgomery, Ann and Steve Toon, Anthony McKee, Lisa Michele Burns, Shannon Wild, Doug Gimesy, Sally Brownbill, and Petra Leary.
The 2023 edition of Photographer of the Year will open for entries in May.
Total portfolios of Winners, Runners-up and top finalists for all classifications can be found in the February-March issue of Australian Photography publication, which will be available quickly.
Winners and runners-up listed below:
General winner: Photographer of the Year and Landscape category winner
General winner and Landscape category winner Susan Vearncombe, Home Hills.
Landscape
Landscape classification runner up: Stephane Thomas, Serene sunset at Merewether.
Animal and Nature
Animal & & Nature category winner: Raphael Giraud, Flying over the desert.
Animal & & Nature category runner-up: Steeve Body, Nebulae in the southern skies.
People
People category winner: George Yu Pang Chan, Starring as Elvis.
People classification runner-up: Udo Bucher, Mum.
Black and White
Black and White category winner: Steve Day, Looking up in London.
Black and white category runner-up: Alan Coligado, Boxed irregularities.
Travel
Travel classification winner: George Yu Pang Chan, The last fishermen in Hong Kong.
Travel category runner-up, Luke Mackenzie, Annapurna adventure.
Aerial
Aerial category winner, Tim Citizen, Textures of Tangalooma.
Aerial category runner-up: Matt Fieldes, Tidal tones and textures.
Single shot (single-image category)
Single shot category winner, Julie Mullock, Siglufjörður.
Single shot category runner-up, Neil Hummerston, Nelson.
Imaginative
Imaginative classification winner, Stephane Thomas, Suspended.
Creative category runner-up, Adrian Donoghue, Lonely men walk lonely cities.
Junior (Under 18)
Junior category winner, Cian O’Hagan, Tony II.
Junior category runner-up, Jordana Ciccarello, #autism.