Due to excessive manipulation, 1 in 5 photographic entries at the 2015 World Press Photo Awards were rejected by judges. To celebrate the practive of Photo Realism, Ken Duncan has created a new photographic competition putting the focus on the beauty of the Australian landscape.
Well known for his vibrant panoramic landscape images, Ken Duncan believes the time has come to draw a clear distinction between two very different approaches to photography that have emerged- Photo Realism and Photo Illustration.
With the rapid growth of digital photography and the diversity of post-processing programs now available, artists are able to do whatever they like in presenting their photography. And that’s fine by Duncan, as long as consumers are fully informed about what they’re looking at.
This is why Ken has just launched a new photo competition. The REAL Australia Landscape Awards will provide a platform for people who want to express their creativity through Photo Realism – presenting images that are ‘believable’ and that give a true interpretation of the scene, with minimal post-processing.
Ken anticipates that these new Awards will become a prestigious annual event and in future years the entry period will probably be shortened. In 2015, however (the inaugural year), the competition will run for 3 months, with selected mages being showcased on the Real Photo Awards website www.realphotoawards.com, as well as in leading photographic and travel magazines.
The generous $40,000 prize pool (including 5 days one-on-one tuition on location with Ken Duncan) is expected to encourage a large number of entries from keen photographers who subscribe to the theory that natural is best.
Entries must be submitted online at www.realphotoawards.com and will be judged by internationally renowned, commercially proven landscape photographers – Ken Duncan, OAM (Australia), Andris Apse (New Zealand) and Kevin Raber (The Luminous Landscape, USA).
Judges will not have access to the details of any entrant, so it won’t matter whether you’re a Grand Master or an 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 and how well you capture a magical moment in time.