OSA Photographic Competition

The OSA Photographic Competition is held each year with the winner receiving a bottle of champagne at the lunch following the OSA AGM. The judges look for: composition, originality, interpretation of the theme, technical quality and most importantly – how did an entry stand out from the crowd. The call for entries is made in the July edition of The Old Stationer with the results being announced in the following January edition. There has been a different winner for each of the six competitions held so far.

The first competition was held in 2019 and had as its theme “Sport”. The winner was: Tim Westbrook for “After lunch wake up call for Botany Bay opening Batsman” (Photograph 1). This was an action shot taken on OSA President’s Day at Botany Bay in 2013. It features Jack Wilkins (Chris Wilkins’ son) opening the bowling for the President’s XI. The photograph provides a perfectly balanced composition of an action shot of the game. The photographer managed to capture the dynamics of the delivery, with the speed and determination of the bowler and the flight of the ball, both framed by the stumps, with the batsmen and umpire looking on in anticipation. The puff of chalk from the bowlers foot, adds to the excitement of the delivery. Tim also had another photograph which gained a Highly Commended Award (Photograph 2) - An OSA first team match at Old Elizabethan’s on Vets Reunion Day.

The second OSA Photographic Competition in 2020, had as its theme “HOLIDAYS – School’s Out”. The winner was John Wheeler for his entry, “Sixth Form Summer Holidays in 1952. Peter Doust poncing about on the bow while the others battled with the controls. Not sure how we got our hands on a big sailing boat” (Photograph 3). It clearly shows Stationers’ having a great time on their holidays on the Broads. The runner-up was from Les Humphreys, “1959 at the Dolphin Holiday Camp in Brixham. The Boys in the Band: Mike Smithwick, Alan Graver, John Williams, Cidge Cole and Richard Osborne” (Photograph 4).

“Animals” was the theme for the third OSA Photographic Competition which attracted 48 entries from 20 different Old Stationers’. Kelvin Kift was the winner for, “Rush Hour” showing the migration of a herd (confusion) of wildebeest in the Masai Mara prior to attempting a river crossing (Photograph 5). The “Cinemascope” format and the black and white image shows off the wildebeests very well as they jostled for position before crossing the river. There is plenty of action and plenty of dust being generated and gives the impression of you being there. The detail in the photograph is excellent and, apart from the wildebeests, some zebras can be seen in the top right hand corner and a vulture in the foreground. The more you look at the photograph the more you see.

The runners-up were: Andy Clarke for his “Low Flying Dog” taken on the beach at Ferring in West Sussex which shows a dog apparently flying a few feet above the sand (Photograph 6); and Tim Westbrook for “Four legs are better than two” showing a young lad running fast, but being beaten by two dogs whilst all three were running along a sandy beach (Photograph 7).

In 2022, the fourth OSA Photographic Competition had as its theme “Water” and we received a total of 50 entries from 24 different Old Stationers’, four more competitors than

the previous year. The competition has obviously taken off and also become an international event with entries from Canada, USA and Germany as well as the UK.

There were many really super entries that were worthy of being used as holiday postcards - beautiful sunsets, dogs in the water, swimmers, cyclist fording a stream and even a bottle of wine. One of the cheekiest entries was a photograph of a steam engine, “Water Power Anorak Heaven”. However, the winner was Malcolm Abbott with “Early Morning” (Photograph 8). We thought that it was truly atmospheric, with water as both liquid in the river and as a mist in the early morning. The trees are reflected in the water and also frame the upper part of the photograph. The rays of the sun are shining through the trees to give the photograph more depth and the boats give it even more character.

The three we chose as runners up all had water as the main theme of the photographs. They are, in no particular order: “The Moonshine's Watery Beams”, of a nearly full moon over the Atlantic, (Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, iv, 53) from that English scholar Stephen Collins (Photograph 9); “Time to Reflect in Scotland” from Graham Eldridge who said that it demonstrated how water can create a mirror and enhance the coastal scene at Mallaig (Photograph 10); and “Natures’ Abstract” from Hugh Grist who took it whilst hiking the Matukituke River on the South Island of New Zealand (Photograph 11) .

“Weather” was the topic for the 2023 competition. We were really pleased to receive a total of 32 entries for the competition from 16 different Old Stationers’. There were some very attractive photographs showing different aspects of weather: sunsets, cloud formations, rain, mist, melting snow etc, which made judging interesting. Many of them were good enough to hang on your wall or be used for picture postcards. Old Stationers’ certainly get around the world as many of the photographs were taken from outside the UK

That year’s winner was Chris Williams for his entry “Morning Cloud Clearing” which was taken at the beginning of October 2023 in Banff, Canada (Photograph 12). Chris wrote, “By late morning, the cloud was clearing and the sun was coming out. It turned out to be a rather warm day and contrasted with the distant snow-capped mountains visible through the evaporating cloud.” The photograph certainly captures a moment in time and has an attractive combination of the snow, trees, mist and sky. There is even a colourful Canadian flag in the corner to contrast with the green of the trees.

There were two other photographs that we chose as runners up. “Spring is on its way” from Malcolm Abbott, who was the winner of the previous year’s competition (Photograph 13). It was taken in March 2023 when Malcolm was on a cruise which stopped at the Faroe Islands. The thaw had just started and gave a great photographic opportunity. The other runner up was Geoff Dent’s “Hurrying Home” taken in Chatsworth Road, Hackney in 2007 (Photograph 14). The use of black and white gives the photograph added impact as the woman struggled to keep the rain off her in the rain and wind.

The sixth OSA Photographic Competition had as its theme “Transportation. There were a total of 22 entries for the competition from 15 different Old Stationers’. The most popular entries were of action shots, with steam engines and trams being the most popular subjects. However, the most charming ones were of animals and people.

Hugh Grist was the winner for "This island appears to be moving", taken on an evening at a waterhole in Kruger Park, South Africa (Photograph 15). Hugh was hoping for pictures of Cape Buffalo, but noticed one turtle aboard the hippo. By the time he zoomed in, a second turtle had come along for the ride. The photograph perfectly captured a moment in time, but also seemed to explore a moment between relationships. Despite the potential threat from such a large mammal, the turtles seemed to be enjoying the free ride.

One other photograph stood out from the others which we thought should be highly commended which was “Olympic Torch at White Water 2012” by Tony Ames (Photograph 16). He was taking photos for his Village Magazine at the Lee Valley Games Venue at Waltham Cross on Saturday 8th July 2012 when the Summer Olympics torch relay was run prior to the London 2012 Olympic Games. British junior team canoeist Zachary Franklin had the job of carrying the torch as the team descended down the rapids at Lee Valley White Water Centre near Waltham Cross. The Olympic Flame had been extinguished by splashing water on the first run and so there was a careful and successful re-run down the Olympic canoe slalom venue. We picked this photograph for its action shot and the acute angle of the raft framed by the white water. The photo also accentuates the determination on the faces of the crew.

Tony Moffat and Peter Thomas