Flickr photographer Madelaine Stevens wins 2010 Getty Images GRAB/Australian Life competition
Selected from more than 2,400 photographs capturing the essence of Australian life, Getty Images last night announced Flickr photographer Madeleine Stevens as the winner of the 2010 GRAB/Australian life captured competition (her image at left).
Attracting photographers from all over Australia, the GRAB competition provided everyday photography enthusiasts the chance to shape the way we perceive life in modern Australia, by submitting images portraying the quintessence of life in Australia. Madeleine’s winning image portrays a realistic and intimate view of a family outing at a local beach. To commemorate the memory of their grandmother, Madeleine went for a family swim with her mother and sister at Freshie Beach to remember and celebrate their grandmother’s life on Mother’s Day.
“It was important for me to capture that piece of time, that particularmoment. But I wasn’t sure if I had or not since it was shot on film,”said Madeleine Stevens. “When I received the film back a few days laterand saw this particular image, I remember saying, ‘there it is.’ I amthrilled to have won the Flickr GRAB competition. Photography is mylife – I live it, I dream about it, I love it.”
As well as winning over $5,000 of Nikon pro camera equipment, Madeleinenow joins the Getty Images team as an official Flickr Contributor. Allof the images entered will be reviewed by Getty Images and have thepotential to be part of the Flickr Collection, which offers customersfresh and purely original imagery.
The panel of industry judges, made up of Matt Batten (CreativeDirector, Wunderman), Matt King (Photographer, Getty Images), StuartHannagan (Director of Photography and Vice President Australasia, GettyImages) and Eugene Tan (Photographer and Founder, Aquabumps), enjoyedthe wide variety of images and talented photographers’ interpretationsof life in Australia.
“The imagination and originality of the images demonstrates thediversity of our unique nation,” said Stuart Hannagan, director ofphotography and vice president, Australasia, Getty Images. “While ournew anthology of images shows that Australians have an affinity withthe beach, it also illustrates the exceptional quality of images thatwill now be available to Getty Images customers as part of the Flickrcollection.”
“While I have a bias towards beach imagery, I was delighted by thevariety of perspectives and unique angles of the entries, capturing somany different sides and points of views of Aussie culture,” addedAquabumps’ Eugene Tan. “I particularly loved the images captured from avoyeuristic eye which prompted us to reflect on, and be inspired by,what’s exceptional and exciting about Aussie life.”
Madeleine’s image joins the top 20 images in an exhibition hosted atthe Challis Studio’s in Potts Point, Sydney for the month of December.