Marcus Crouch: Online Portfolio

Sunday, 8 November 2009

The Dartington photographer of the year - The Winners Announced!

The results are in for the Dartington Photographer of the year competition and we have two brilliant new winners, Marcus Crouch (22) and Tilly May (24) who have both won a £2,500 bursary and a yearlong commission to create an image library of original and innovative photographs documenting the life of Dartington and the beauty of the region.

Both Tilly and Marcus beat out four other finalists, to become the new photographer of the year for Visit South Devon and Dartington respectively. They will be commissioned to work for 2 days a month for 12 months, starting this September.

Their winning images were taken during a morning spent at Dartington in July, where they were tasked with capturing Dartington’s three areas of charitable work in the Arts, Social Justice and Sustainability. Then in the afternoon the five finalists were set a new brief by Visit South Devon, asking for inspirational images of Devon that evoked treasured memories and highlighted the beautiful coastlines and countryside.

Marcus and Tilly were selected for the bursary places by a team of experienced judges, including Alice Carfrae (last year’s brilliant winner) and professional photographer Carol Ballenger (who has exhibited at the Royal Academy).

Carol Ballenger said about the winners, “Marcus demonstrates thought and care in his choice of subjects and in the composition of his photos. I feel his work reflects the ethos of Dartington. Tilly’s photographs show passion and spontaneity of approach which brings a freshness to her work.”

Tilly who is from Totnes, recently completed a BA (fine art media) from Bath Spa. She will be spending the next year collating an image library depicting the beauty of the region, with her photographs appearing online, in print and throughout the media. Marcus who is also from Totnes will be working 2 days a month for Dartington, where he will be documenting the charity’s innovative range of activities– along with a visual record of life on the estate.

Marcus Crouch said about his win, “I am shocked and amazed at the result of the competition. The quality of talent was of a very high standard and I am overjoyed that the judges liked my work. Being chosen to photograph such a beautiful location was an honour and I look forward to building a strong relationship with the Dartington in the future.”

Chief Executive Vaughan Lindsay said, “We are delighted that the second year of the competition has been so successful, enabling us to support the creative career of two new emerging photographers. I can’t wait to see the image libraries they produce.”