Photokina Award Ceremony - Large Format Photography
Following on from my “Large Format Photography Success” announcement I was invited to Cologne to attend the award ceremony during Photokina.
Photokina, which has been running bi-annually since 1950, is a huge international event for the entire photo, video and imaging sector. Its 7 huge halls were filled with exhibitor products / demonstrations and events. It must be at least 4 times the size of the Photography Show held annually in the UK.
Each of the 6 winning finalists had their image on display throughout the 4 days of the show. On the Thursday afternoon the main stage in hall 2.2 was set up to display the images both in print and screen as well as to showcase the incredible prizes on offer.
I was presented with a new Arcs Swiss 4x5 (an updated version to the one I already own) while other winners received either a Chamonix 8 x 10 or Jobo CPP 3 Processor.
Four of the six winners attended the presentation ceremony - 2 from Germany, 1 from Finland and me from the UK (the 2 that couldn’t attend were from Canada & South Korea). We had the opportunity to chat about each others work and photography in general - not a single mention of social media likes, tweets or views! The skill that these photographers have is remarkable - Wet Plate Tintype macro photography and pinhole exposure blending for example. Images that have been so cleverly crafted using the most traditional of tools and techniques. Excellent company to keep.
A huge thanks should go the sponsors, Jobo, Arca Swiss and Chamonix along-with Gitzo, Adox, Rodenstok and Ilford as well as the hosts, Photokina. The value of the prizes totalled well in excess of 20,000 euro. We were also each presented with books from the guys at kapro from Slovakia & gifts from Rodenstock.
Attending the award ceremony and being recognised in such a huge event was very gratifying.
