Art & Design
Kris Dickson, a past pupil who now works for Life Photography in Coleraine, has been awarded the coveted title of UK Master Photographer of the Year 2009 and is being described as “one of the top photographers of this millennium.”
The announcement was made at the Master Photography Awards in Newcastle. The Awards are run by the Master Photographers Association (MPA). A packed audience of professional photographers and trade representatives attended the prestigious event held at the Gatsehead Hilton on the banks of the River Tyne.
Kris already has a host of awards to his name and has quickly gathered a reputation as being one of the brightest young stars of modern photography. His victory this year follows a similar triumph at the 2006 Awards.
It was a great night for Kris – in addition to the main prize of the evening, he was awarded firsts in the following categories: UK Fashion and Beauty, the Mario Acerboni Northern Ireland Award and the overall Mario Acerboni Award. He was also crowned UK Fashion & Press Photographer of the Year.
Kris joined Life Photography six years ago and works alongside Robert McKeag, the founder of the business. Their studio specialises in weddings and portraits, and also has a dedicated commercial arm specialising in food photography. Before joining Robert, Kris worked for a studio in Belfast following the completion of his Combined Studies degree in Art & Design at Ulster University.
Kris told us more about his winning image: “I work closely with a number of local hairdressers, taking their competition images. This job was for Joanne O’Neill from Dunloy and the model is Lucy Evangelista, who was Miss Northern Ireland and Miss UK. The photograph was taken for the Alternative Hair Show. It only took 10 minutes in the studio but I then spent many hours working in Photoshop to get the look I was looking for.”
Kris continued: “I’ve been lucky enough to win several awards but this is the ‘big one’ and I was really delighted to hear my name being read out at the awards ceremony. The Master Photographers Association has done so much to help my career and I’m very grateful to them for giving me the chance to showcase my work.”
Qualified MPA members from around the world submitted images for the annual competition and only the very best were short-listed. MPA Chief executive, Colin Buck was delighted with this year’s entries and paid tribute to Kris’s success: “There was a great diversity of imagery, and all were judged on the same criteria – artistic merit, good use of lighting, composition and print quality – all the winners were of a very high overall standard. Winning the Master Photographer of the Year title is a huge honour and I’m sure Kris will be delighted with his new accolade! He’s a worthy winner and I consider him to be one of the top photographers of this millennium.”
He continued: “The Master Photography Awards are a showcase of everything that is great about today’s professional photography – creativity, technical brilliance and a willingness to push the boundaries and show that our industry has a very bright and exciting future.”
Examples of Kris’s work can be viewed at www.lifephotography.co.uk.
Extract of a Press Release written and distributed by Darron Hartas from WPS Media. For more information please visit the MPA News Archive Home Page.
The Award Winning Photograph
