ILFORD Photo Press Release

Always a staunch supporter of photography students, ILFORD Photo announced earlier in the year details of its Student of the Year 2006 competition with some highly desirable prizes, including the unique opportunity to work alongside professional photographers. With the first stage now competed, the stakes are even higher for the finalists. This year’s ILFORD Photo Student of the Year competition has completed its first stage, with three finalists chosen from the hundreds of entries received for this fabulous competition.

Torquil Bennett of University College Falmouth, Stuart Matthews of Plymouth College of Art and Design, and Yoshitaka Kono of Westminster Adult Education College each submitted a portfolio of images which the judges decided best depicted the theme ‘The rebirth of black-and-white photography and of ILFORD Photo’, and will receive the First Stage prize of £350 cash plus £250 of ILFORD Photo materials, while their colleges or universities will each receive ILFORD Photo material worth £500.

The six runners-up - Martin Griffin of Stevenson College, Edinburgh; Chris Purnell of Telford College, Edinburgh; Julie Brooke, Hayley Robinson of Birmingham Inst of Art & Design; Carl Smith of North Warwickshire & Hinkley College; and Steve Schofield of the University of Derby - will each receive £250 of ILFORD Photo materials.

For the second stage of the competition, the three winners will spend two weeks working alongside professional photographers gaining invaluable practical experience which would not otherwise be available. During this period, the students will be provided with unlimited supplies of ILFORD Photo film, paper and photochemistry as required to complete an assignment set by their photographic mentors.

Torquil Bennett will work with Klaus Thymann, while Stuart Matthews and Yoshitaka Kono will work with Les McLean. The student completing what is judged to be the best assignment will receive the grand prize of a Mamiya 711 camera kit with a retail value of £1800.

Klaus Thymann has been at the top of his profession ever since he opened his first studio in 1995. He has covered a wide variety of assignments including advertising work for the likes of Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Nike, Adidas, Vodafone, BMW motorcycles, Carlsberg, and Sony PlayStation.

Thymann’s expertise also extends to editorial photography for publications including Dazed & Confused, The Face, Arena, GQ, and Car, and music photography featuring Depeche Mode, Coldplay, David Bowie, Liam Gallagher, Prodigy, Elvis Costello, Craig David and many more. He has also provided work for The Red Cross and Cancer Research UK.

Les McLean is almost as famous for running his workshops on Fine Printing for the past 15 years and writing numerous magazine columns and articles as he is for his photography which, for the last seven years, has concentrated in the documentary field. McLean’s latest body of work depicts the communities of North and West Belfast.

The work from all three finalists’ assignments will be featured on the ILFORD Photo website gallery and will be shown at the company’s stand at the Photokina exhibition - the world’s largest photography and digital imaging event - in Cologne at the end of September 2006. In addition, the images will form an exhibition touring colleges and universities throughout the UK later in the year.

For full information on ILFORD Photo products, visit the company’s website: www.ilfordphoto.com