High profile photographer – and prominent Christian – Ken Duncan is calling for entrants to the 2016 REAL Australia Landscape Awards with $50,000 in prizes on offer.
Mr Duncan, who is known around the world for his panoramic images of Australian landscapes, held the awards for the first time last year with the aim of providing a platform for photographers that engage in what he calls “photo realism” – a term to describe photographs which are a true representation of a scene.
Mr Duncan said he was “thrilled” with the quality and quantity of images received in last year’s inaugural competition. He said that while he loves some of the digital creations he sees, he believes it’s crucial to draw a clear distinction between “photo realism” and “photo illustration”.
“In photo realism, the use of digital manipulation should be minimal to preserve the integrity of our photographic records whereas in photo illustration, a photo is used in the creation of an artwork with no limitation on post-processing techniques.”
The competition was won last year by Mark McLeod whose prize included one-on-one tuition with Mr Duncan. He described the opportunity to work with the photographer as a “real honour”, noting that the highlight of a trip he undertook with Mr Duncan was spending a couple of days at a remote Aboriginal community. “This was not your typical photo tour,” he said. “Ken was very generous in sharing his wealth of knowledge and in a way has acted as a mentor.”
Both amateurs and professionals are encouraged to enter the competition which will be judged by Mr Duncan along with landscape photographers Andris Apse of New Zealand and Kevin Raber of the US. Entries close 30th June.
