I’ve just been made aware of a major international food photography contest that attracts tens of thousands of entries every year and results in some really spectacular winners in multiple categories. Today, I’m pleased to present some of the 2022 winners. They’ll make your mouth water!
The overall winner for 2022: A street vendor grills his wares in Srinagar, Kashmir.
What are the Pink Lady Awards?
Good question. And it took some research to get the full story.
First of all, Pink Lady, the primary sponsor and instigator of the competition, is the UK licensee of the patent on the Pink Lady apple, a highly-prized proprietary variety. That’s another way of saying, they’ve got a monopoly on it in their market. The photo contest is just one of several food-related activities they superintend. And the dozen select high-profile commercial sponsors the contest has attracted (including Taittinger Champagne, the World Food Program and the Royal Photographic Society) attest to the respect the event is accorded by those who know.
For the photographers involved, it’s a pretty good deal: Though they have to pay a £50 / (US)$62 entry fee, they stand to win a cash prize of £5,000 / (US)$6,285, plus a whole passel of subsidiary prizes. But the fame, which often leads to fortune for the talented few who are recognised for their efforts, is priceless.
Tasty praise for this year’s winner
“In today’s world, more than ever, we feel the need for comfort, for love,” Awards founder and director Caroline Kenyon told the BBC. “There is so much to reassure us here – the beautifully captured billowing embrace of the smoke, the golden light, the subject’s expression as he prepares the food for sharing.
“Sparks fly from the skewers, whose roasting we can almost smell. We imagine the warm, delicious aroma. This image, gentle but powerful, nourishes our soul.”
Kenyon herself deserves a prize for emotive writing!
My faves
I want to give special recognition a couple of my personal favourites among the category winners. While working as a professional journalist for over 40 years, I have also been a working photographer. And my love of the art form has spilled over into a hobby which gives me great pleasure. And I think my experience has helped me to cultivate a pretty good eye for exceptional images…
Fresh Water in Bangladesh
“A little girl collects water with her older sister in the Chad Uddan slum in Dhaka,
Bangladesh in September 2021. In the urban slum areas, people have access
to fresh water only twice a day – in the morning and evening.”
Family Dumpling Tradition
“Taken in a small farmhouse in Qianlian Village, Xiangyou County, Putian City, Fujian
Province. A family gathers around to make rice or mung bean-filled dumplings.
They use a wooden seal to stamp the words ‘fortune’ or ‘happiness’ into
the red dough, and steam the dumplings in a large steamer. This
tradition means that the New Year will be welcomed with
reunion and the coming year will be prosperous.”
Much more to enjoy
I urge you to visit the Gallery page on the Pink Lady Photographer of the Year website for a look at all the shortlisted finalists in the 2022 contest!
~ Maggie J.