FCC Photographer of the Year Awards 2002

LIST OF WINNERS AND SELECTED PHOTOS

It didn't get any easier for the POYA judges this year. The second FCC Photographer of the Year Awards saw an increase in entries and a much more considered standard of entry by photographers. Many of last year's award winners were back and their work recognised once again by the judging panel along with a significant number of first time entrants. POYA Chairman Terry Duckham reports.

This year we expanded the Awards to include a total of thirteen categories in both the Professional and Non-Professional divisions. Winning entries in of each of those categories were then presented to the judging panel for the final selection of the Photographer of the Year and the new Photograph of the Year Awards. These awards are not just made for the impact of the images or the technical skill of the photographer. An important and difficult criterion is the photographer’s mastery of and innovation within the disciplines of the category.

Last year we saw a very high standard of entry at the top end, which made final judging quite difficult. Many of last year’s entrants were back this year. Entries were better thought out overall and a similar high standard of work made judging a formidable task once again, particularly in selecting the major awards.

Time photographer and Pulitzer prize nominee, John Stanmyer, was last year’s 1st Runner Up. This year his poignant series, “Nuclear Neighbours”, was the winner of the Asia Magazine Features category and earned John the Photographer of the Year title.

In an interesting twist last year’s winner, Chris Keenan, was awarded 1st Runner up for his winning entry “Shanghai Money Boys” in the Asia News category. He again confirmed his mastery of the black and white medium with this voyeuristic glimpse into Shanghai’s shadows. Virgile Simon Betrand’s “Manifesto”, a series of strong portraits of prominent Hong Kong personalities, won the Hong Kong Magazine Features category and the 2nd Runner Up Award. His photograph. “Bishop Zen”, taken from Virgile’s “Manifesto” series, also won the newly introduced Photograph of the Year award.

Paul Hu won the Hong Kong Corporate category with a dynamic series from his 2002 MTRC Annual Report portfolio. Wai Hing Chan’s entry ‘“The Last” won the SCMP.com HK News category. David Wong Chi-Kin and Ricky Chung, both SCMP staff photographers won the HKTB sponsored Beyond the Highrise and World City categories respectively in the Professional Hong Kong Perspective section. Paul Buckland’s series “From Dusk to Dawn” won the Beyond the Highrise category in the Non-Professional division of the Hong Kong Perspective and there was no winning award made in the World City category.

FCC member and winner of the last year’s Non-Professional travel category, Brice Minnigh, was back with another winning series, “Elements – Sculpting Asia”, in the Non-Professional Landscape in Time category. Julian Yuen Tao won the Portrait of a Traveller category in the same division with her entry ‘Thai Monk”. In the new category, Digital Photography and Computer Imaging, Wing Shya’s CD cover “Crossover” won the Professional Division while Desmond Crofton’s “Ancestors” won the Non-Professional.

Hong Kong’s school students made their presence felt this year and last year’s awardee Darren Siu shared the honours with Benjamin Marshall for the SCMP Young Post Hong Kong Perspective division.

The response to the second FCC Photographer of the Year Awards once again demonstrates the very important role these awards can play in promoting and developing photographic standards in Hong Kong. We expect these awards to continue to grow each year and with that growth comes a greater responsibility to give photographers and their work the recognition they have earned. This will not be possible without strong sponsor support.

The Hong Tourism Board and Cathay Pacific Airways were joined by the Sony Corporation and the SCMP as principal sponsors this year. Hutchison Telecom joined Fuji Film, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, HeliHong Kong and Polaroid to provide a great line-up of prizes. Media sponsors RTHK, The Standard and Apple Daily made sure that the awards received the exposure they deserved and a special thanks goes to Crown Pacific Moving and Corporate Communications for their work behind the scenes.

An important part of the FCC Photographer of the Year Awards is the POYA Travelling Exhibition. Last Year the POYA 2001 winning entries were exhibited at the Hong Kong Airport, Times Square, Harbour City, Peak Galleria, the British Council, Kornhill Galleria and Exchange Square. This year we hope to add Hong Kong Station, the Cultural Centre and the Shatin Town Hall to our exhibition venues. Sponsors are currently being invited to support this year’s Travelling Exhibition. While the POYA committee is hard at work chasing corporate sponsorships times are tough and money is tight. The travelling exhibition is currently relying on cash donations from members to get it under way. The front office is accepting these donations and your small contribution can make a real difference to the success of the POYA 2002-3 Travelling Exhibition. Please make an effort to support these important awards.