With more than 1000 entries our July 'Flower' photo comp has broken the previous record to become our most popular challenge yet. While it's great that the competition is continuing to grow it does make the task of choosing a shortlist, and then a single winner, all the more challenging! Congratulations to everyone who entered – the overall standard was very high.
This month, the mountainous task of picking a winner went to professional photographer Charles McKean. After careful deliberation McKean settled on Rachel Kneubuhler's almost-surreal entry, 'Passionfruit Flower' as the winner.
"Like a scene from a sc-fi movie, the 'alien heads' mysteriously rise from the inner section of this passionfruit flower," said McKean. "The brighter tones in the middle of the image draws us into this inner sanctum. I asked leading Australian floral decorator Susan Avery for her opinion and she replied, 'I've handled thousands of them and never seen this view. I've learnt something here that makes me even more curious.' Well done on capturing the inner glow and the surprising tension of the unfolding stamen. This is a very decorative flower image that would look great in many places. The image is slightly over exposed in the centre which, perhaps, could have been toned down in capture or corrected in post production. Either way, it is an intriguing and insightful picture."
Rachel Kneubuhler has won a $250 voucher for a Deluxe Photobook from leading Australian photo book maker Momento.
ABOUT THE JUDGE: Charles McKean is a Sydney-based, commercial photographer. He is an AIPP Master of Photography and an Associate of the Australian Photographic Society. He has exhibited widely and his work has featured in the National Photographic Portrait Prize, The Moran Photographic Prize, The Blake prize, the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award and Lonely Planet. Charles McKean also organises and curates AddOn — a core event of the Head On Photo Festival.
