Ivor Prickett: Ian Parry Scholarship winner 2007
Ivor Prickett has been chosen as the Ian Parry Scholarship winner for 2007 from what the judges said is an increasingly high standard of submissions.
The award, for photographers who are either attending a full-time recognised photography course or who are under the age of 24, is named after photojournalist Ian Parry who died while on assignment for The Sunday Times during the Romanian revolution in 1989.
Of the other 88 entrants, Liz Rubincam was ‘highly commended’ by the judges, while Gareth Phillips and Liz Hingley were ‘commended’. Dominic Nahr received an ‘honorable mention’.
Prickett’s work, ‘The Quiet after the Storm: Croatia’s Serbian Returnees’, evolved from a trip to Kosovo in 2005, when he heard stories about Serbians going back to Croatia, often after many years away.
“I’d never really heard about this displacement of Serbs,” said Prickett, who was attracted by a less stereotypical portrayal of Serbs.
He lives in London, working as freelance photographer, and told CPN that he was “honoured and shocked” to win the award. “I survive as a freelancer, which is amazing, but winning it is going to help no end.”
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Judges debate the portfolios at the Frontline Club
The eminent panel of judges, which included photographers Tom Stoddart and Philip Blenkinsop, poured over the 87 portfolios long into the night of 25 June at London’s Frontline Club. They were joined by John Parry (Ian’s brother), Steve Blogg from Getty Images, Monica Allende of the Sunday Times and past winners Simon Roberts and Harriet Logan. Also there were Don McCullin, Patron of the award, and founder Aidan Sullivan.
“There’s a quality to the entries now that is extraordinary,” said Sullivan. “It was hard for the judges to get the shortlist down to 14. In years gone by they would perhaps have been down to the top four within an hour.”
Don McCullin told CPN that he was encouraged by the wealth of young talent in photography.
“Almost all the work in the portfolios was very political, taking on subjects such as AIDS or oppressive regimes around the world,” he said. “When I was a young photographer I was told to shut my mouth about the political side. Now, people are more aware because they are communicating more and these photographers are sending us work of real concern.”
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© Ivor Prickett
Tom Stoddart said that Ivor Prickett’s submission was “distinctive“ and that his “beautiful images stood out in a year when the quality of entries was higher than ever before”.
Philip Blenkinsop said: “The judging offered a day of contrasting and experimental approaches, which exhibited a refreshingly mature degree of empathy with the chosen subjects. I feel that this is a quality too often overlooked or sacrificed by the mainstream media in its effort to simplify and facilitate the rapid digestion of information. We are in an age where this same speed denies us the luxury and necessity of thought and reflection.
“I believe this attitude and depth of thought was rewarded in the selection of works. The quality of the submissions should give us all reason for optimism.”
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Ian Parry
Entrants had to submit a portfolio of their work and a brief synopsis of a project they would undertake if they won the award. The first prize of £2,500 goes towards Prickett’s assignment and Metro Imaging also offered £500 worth of vouchers to the winner, along with £250 to those judged to be ‘highly commended’ and ‘commended’.
In addition, Prickett will be automatically added to the final list of nominees for World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam. His work will also be published in The Sunday Times Magazine.
John Parry said he was confident that all the finalists would be capable of carrying out their proposed assignments “with skill, insight and empathy with the subject”.
The winning entries and a selection of the other images will be shown at the Getty Images Gallery in London for two weeks from 3 August. The award is sponsored by The Sunday Times, Getty Images and Canon Europe.
(The Ian Parry Scholarship is a registered charity. To contribute or to buy its book of winners’ images, ‘Eyes Wide Open’, go to its website.)
