IRK Magazine is proud to promote and inspire young photographers and we are always looking out for new talent. So when we were asked, by professor Adam Green, to judge 13 first-year photography students at London's Barnet Southgate College we agreed instantly.
The group of students shot their first studio photography assignment where they produced a series of portrait, fashion, or product photographs based on a theme. Although this was their first studio assignment, they had built up skills over several weeks. Each student submitted one of their final pictures for judging. In the end we selected 2 winners, one for the most successful photograph in the portrait or fashion category, and one for the most successful photograph in the product category.
Here were the themes for each category:
Portrait or Fashion:
‘Masquerade’, ‘Veiled’, ‘Beauty’, ‘Energy’, ‘Chaos’, ‘Immaculate’, ‘Obscured’, ‘Reactions’, ‘Natural’
Product:
‘Fresh & Healthy’, ‘Luxury’, ‘Adrenalin’, ‘Refreshed’, ‘Classical’, ‘Rustic’, ‘Ingredients’, ‘Exotic’, ‘Beauty’
It was a hard choice to select the best photographers in either category but after carefully considering each photography students creativity and technical skills we were able to select the winners.
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
Best Portait
Keanu Kattan shot an excellent portrait that encompassed a strong creative sensitivity, an eye for detail and excellent mastery of technique. What truly won me over was the gold earring on the dark side of his face. It reminded me of a solar eclipse. It was such a strong visual and mixed with such great technique it was impossible for me not to choose him.
Best Product Tolga Karabulut took a good product shot. He respected the brands image and logo while showing his technical skills in lighting the bottle. I liked the addition of the smoke in the background which gave the image depth and atmosphere. My only critique was that the bottle is crooked. That could be quickly fixed in photoshop however.