With over-manipulation of digital images a recent concern in photo competitions, veteran panoramic photographer Ken Duncan has launched a very different type of event.
Australian panoramic landscape photographer Ken Duncan has launched a new photo competition, called ‘The REAL Australia Landscape Awards’, which is open to all comers and which will operate under some very different guidelines.
In the wake of the recent World Press Photo Awards, where 22% of entries were rejected by the jury due to excessive digital manipulation, Duncan says he has been increasingly concerned by the tendency of some photographers to do whatever they like – or whatever they’re capable of – when it comes to presenting their images.
He says that with the rapid growth of digital photography and the wide variety of post-processing programs now available, “I believe we need to recognise the emergence of two very different forms of photography”. He says, “We need to make a clear distinction between ‘Photo Realism’ and ‘Photo Illustration’. Many images I have seen awarded in recent photo competitions are so digitally altered that they are no longer a means of documentation, which is what photography was originally all about.”
Duncan is opening his new photo competition for entries on April 1 and the inaugural event will run for three months. He separates the two different photographic styles he sees by referring to them as Photo Realism and Photo Illustration. He says both forms of photography are legitimate and both require creativity and skill. “I personally like some of the digital creations,” he says, “but they do cause some serious confusion in the marketplace, and I think we need to clearly delineate between the two. Each has a different place in the market – and in the hearts and minds of consumers.”
But Duncan stresses The REAL Australia Landscape Awards are for people who want to express their creativity through Photo Realism – presenting images that are “believable” and which give a true representation of a scene. Monthly finalists’ images will be showcased on the Ken Duncan Photo Awards website, as well as in leading photographic and travel magazines. Duncan says that a very generous prize pool (including five days of personal one-on-one tuition, on location) is likely to encourage a large number of entries from keen photographers who subscribe to the theory that natural is best.
Says Duncan, “It won’t matter whether you’re a Grand Master or a rank amateur – you will have an equal chance of winning if you submit a great photo. It will all come down to the quality of the image.”
Entries can be submitted online from April 1 at www.kenduncanphotoawards.com and will be judged by internationally renowned, commercially proven landscape photographers. Judges will not have access to the details of any entrant.
Mimosa Rocks, NSW, by Ken Duncan.
Silvery Stream, by Ken Duncan.
Daydream in Queensland, by Ken Duncan.
Chalahan Falls in Lamington National Park, Qld, by Ken Duncan.
Ken Duncan has shot in a variety of formats through his career, but his new competition will celebrate what he calls "Photo Realism".
