London Evening Standard Wins NMA’s First Royal Rota Photography Competition
A humorous photograph of the Duchess of Cambridge at a City firm’s charity day taken by the London Evening Standard’s Jeremy Selwyn is the winner of the News Media Association’s first Royal Rota photography competition.
Judges said the eye-catching image was a worthy winner of the Best Overall Rota Photo award because it would have immediately caught the eye and drawn readers into the story about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attending ICAP’s 23rd annual fundraiser last year.
As well as scooping the overall award, the image also won Best National Newspaper Rota Photo after a panel of judges from across the news media industry selected the winners from a shortlist created by an online public vote.
Jeremy said: “I’m extremely proud to be the first winner of the NMA’s new and prestigious award. Thank you for voting for me and thanks to all the team at the Evening Standard for their continued support.”
Elliot Wagland, London Evening Standard head of pictures said: “We’re all incredibly proud of Jeremy, he’s been at the London Evening Standard for nearly 30 years and he continuously strives to produce the best news and sport images for the paper and online, this is no less than he deserves.”
In other competition categories, a striking photograph of The Queen in a royal carriage during the State Opening of Parliament by Press Association’s Dominic Lipinski was named Best Picture Agency Rota Photo, and The Prince of Wales visiting a cheese factory by The Yorkshire Post’s Gary Longbottom was crowned Best Regional/Local Newspaper Rota Photo.
All the winners will receive a prize of vouchers for photography equipment.
The new competition was launched by the NMA to promote the outstanding work of photographers in the local, regional and national news media and the NMA’s media facilities services for members which includes managing the Royal Rota – a system for covering Royal engagements and pooling material.
The judging panel for the competition is:
- Nigel Atherton, IPC Media photography portfolio group editor (including Amateur Photographer, What Digital Camera and Photo Technique)
- Paul Jarrett, Wire Photo Association secretary
- Jeff Moore, The British Press Photographers’ Association chairman
- Lynne Anderson, NMA deputy chief executive
Lynne Anderson said: “Many congratulations to the London Evening Standard, The Yorkshire Post and Press Association – richly deserved winners of the NMA’s new Royal Rota photography competition.
“It has highlighted the fantastic work carried out by UK local, regional and national news media in capturing these important and historic Royal events, and the unique ability of newspaper photographers to produce stunning and topical photography.”
Jeff Moore said: “It’s great to see such fine work by photographers across the UK from the regions to the nationals, proving yet again to my mind that photographic journalism is still the most effective way of storytelling in the media.
“The overall standard was very high and it was good to see so many entries from the regions, giving us an insight into the day to day lives of the members of our Royal Family.”
Paul Jarrett said: “It is nice to see a competition dedicated to the work of photographers assigned to Royal Rota positions. The skill of capturing the one gesture and that certain smile in a split second can make the difference between a picture recording the event or a great image capturing a unique moment in history. Well done to all those throughout the UK who have put their work forward for this new Royal Rota photography competition.”