Arts & Culture
Historic Photographer of the Year competition is launched

Photographers with an eye for history are invited to enter Historic England’s prestigious competition.

Historic Photographer of the Year aims to celebrate the best historic places and cultural sites across the globe, from the most famous national treasures to the most obscure hidden gems.

With varying restrictions in place across the globe, award organisers are instead seeking entries that have already been captured. 

Historic England say entries will be judged on originality, composition and technical proficiency alongside the submission and its historical impact. 

Overall 2017 winner, Matt Emmett said: “With photographers combing through their archives, last year saw a fantastic array of entries covering everything from ancient Roman cities to Victorian piers and picturesque medieval churches.

“We’re now laying down the gauntlet for this year’s Awards to challenge entrants to match and even better those astonishing images. Historic Photographer of the Year shines a light on the history that exists all around us, opening our eyes to the wonders that sit on our doorstep and we want people to tell the story of the these fascinating landmarks through their sensational photography.”

The categories for this year’s competition will focus on crucial periods and regions of history, including the Historic England Category and the Where History Happened category in association with Sky History.

A spokesperson said: “The Historic England category is inspired by the beauty, breadth, and brilliance of England’s history, the real rare and rousing sights which best describe who we are and where we’ve come from.”

For the Where History Happened Category, Historic England says the public have to capture sensational shots of locations that witnessed fascinating moments from history. It says that the moment need not have changed the world but could be something of importance that impacted on local or social change. 

Prizes for the competition include:

  •  A behind-the-scenes heritage experience from Historic England with an expert.
  • A private tour of some of the conservation work at a Heritage at Risk site, to see repair techniques and craftspeople in action.
  • A bespoke tour of a local great heritage site from a resident historian.
  • £100 worth of Historic England publications

The closing date for entries will be 23:59 on Sunday 19 October. 

The judging panel will include:

  • Broadcaster and historian, Dan Snow
  • CEO of Niantic Inc and co-founder of Google Earth, John Hanke
  • Director of Regions for Historic England, Claudia Kenyatta
  • VP of Programming at Sky History, Dan Korn
  • Author and leading historic digital colourist, Marina Amaral
  • Chair of The Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography, Kira Zumkley
  • Award winning heritage photographer, Matt Emmett
  • Co-founder of Trip Historic, Elli Lewis

More information about the Historic Photographer of the Year competition can be found at https://www.historicphotographeroftheyear.com/

(Photo credit: Long corridor of family military hospital at RAF Nocton Hall, Matt Emmett)