A UCOL Institute of Commercial Photography (Auckland) student has won a top award in the 2016 Canon Eyecon Awards.
Allysa Carberry, set to Graduate with a Diploma in Photographic Imaging in March next year, has been named Tertiary Photography Runner Up In the Canon Eyecon Photography and Film competition open to New Zealand students or assistants to give them the opportunity to develop their style, gain experience and showcase their talent.
Allysa’s entry into the competition consisted of three photographic images created this year, plus an explanation of the portfolio brief and a description of who inspires her as an emerging photographer.
Her works, titled ‘Shadows & Reflections’, are abstract images, all taken at sunset and all making use of symmetry and the complimentary colours of blue and yellow. “At the time that I was thinking of a concept, I was going through some personal family turmoil. I needed something to take my mind of what was happening around me, some sort of therapy. The images are recognisable, but not necessarily whole and there is a sense of an abstract flow between them, just like how my mind was at that point in time.”
“I used an oval shape for each image as, to me, an oval frame gives the sense that one photo is reaching out towards the next one - like a hand stretching out to a person.”
“The hardest part of bringing the three images together was the process of trial and error to see which way up and in what order the images would be placed. A texture was used on the first image, as this helped to bring out the shadows and colours more.”
Competition entries were judged by a team of New Zealand’s top professional photographers: Editorial Photographer Fiona Quinn, Commercial Photographer Troy Goodall, Wedding Photographer Jim Pollard, and Cinematographer Duncan Cole.
For her win Allysa took home $2,000 Canon dollars as well as an NZIPP and AIPA membership for one year.
“Winning this award is acknowledgement of all the hard work. As an older student learning new terminology and processes, there have been challenges but I just wanted to be the best I can be. I enjoyed getting back into study and have learnt a lot.”
Allysa’s next move is to develop a home studio. “This was always my intention. I have always been interested in photography, particularly family-focussed photography. I was always the annoying family member taking photos of the five generations in our family.”
With some wedding photography work already in motion, Allysa plans to continue photographing people. “I’d like to do fashion and family photography. I love people.”