What a story to tell.  One of our clients, Andrew, had some very exciting news back in November 2020 when he was the Grand Prize Winner of the World Wide Photowalk Awards 2020 with this photograph he took (see above). 

The Worldwide Photowalk is an annual event organised by Scott Kelby, a US-based photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 100 books.  

It’s taken place each year since 2008 on the first Saturday in October and is attended by thousands of photographers – amateurs and professionals alike – who meet up in pre-arranged groups across the globe.  As well as being fun, it aims to raise funds for the Springs of Hope Orphanage in Kenya 

Participants have the opportunity after the walk to submit one photo taken during the event. Local judging reduces the submissions to a final shortlist (still hundreds each year) which are then reviewed by Scott himself to arrive at 10 finalists from which one overall entry is selected to be the Grand Prize winner. 

Andrew had this to say about his experience: 

“I’ve taken part in the event each year since 2015, and normally join one of the groups meeting in London where I tend to do a lot of my “street” photography anyway. This year was a bit different – due to the need for social distancing, the event was “virtual” i.e. no longer part of a group – so each participant more or less got to choose when and where to go to grab a shot. 

I was looking for an opportunity to shoot something that pretty much summed up 2020 and the effect a global pandemic had on society so headed for a busy London Tube station. I knew Baker Street was quite unique architecturally speaking so went there and just waited for the right composition to appear! I was trying to show that even in a crowd, it’s possible to be alone and that for me is what social distancing and lockdown has represented for millions of people not just in the UK but around the world. 

It’s always nice to win anything(!) and I was particularly pleased in this event as taking part for the last 5 years is something I’ve really enjoyed. As an added bonus, part of the prize is having my own website professionally designed and hosted for a year – something I’ve been talking to Huw about doing for myself over the last few years as part of my preparation for retirement. I’m rapidly running out of excuses for not getting round to it!”  

You can watch the award ceremony here.  If you wanted to just watch the announcement of the winner then this begins at around 17 minutes in.  You can also see Andrew’s work being showcased at this point too.    

It’s great to share the achievements of others, and to find out more about what people have been doing during the last year.  If you have any achievements that you would like us to share in future newsletters, please do let us know as we would be very happy to do so.