A fleeting moment that managed to capture the signs of our time has won Newcastle street photographer Jim Griffiths top honours in this year’s Hunter Photography Prize.
Griffiths’ documentary image of three beachgoers, sprawled in the midday sun, titled ‘Between Lockdowns’, caught the judges’ eye from a field of 40 finalist entries, and impressed with its authenticity and timeless aesthetic that seemed to hint at a bygone era of photography from before the digital revolution.
Griffiths, who has been behind the camera for around 10 years, was overwhelmed with the awards’ nod and spoke highly of the calibre of entries in this year’s competition. His winning image, captured during a walk between COVID-19 lockdowns, caught his attention as a moment of reprieve between the stressors of more than two years under the imposition of the pandemic.
“I was thinking, it was probably their first day at the beach after an extended lockdown and it just seemed like a happy, relaxed scene,” he said.
Griffiths, a manual photographer with a film shooter’s background, who takes an observers interest to his craft to create images that speak to the way his subjects interact with their surroundings, was glad the winning image had resonated with its audience. His distinctive high-contrast style is a holdover from his time shooting on high contrast film – an aesthetic he became attached to when he began taking photos with his daughter, a photographer in her own right, and held on to in the digital transition.
“I started when one of my daughters became very keen on photography,” he said, “That was something we have shared. She does quite a lot of event photography around Newcastle and Sydney, so we have gone in different directions, but I’ve always seen it as a bit of a challenge.”
Meanwhile, in a surprising twist, 21-year-old photographer Nic Tonks has narrowly won bragging rights after he and fellow finalist and family friend Steven Dick took the People’s Choice category to a nail-biting finish, separated at one point by just one vote, to claim the title.
CLOSE CONTEST: People’s Choice winner Nic Tonks’ dramatic scene at Merewether Ocean Baths, titled ‘Sparks Fly’, was the popular champion from a hotly contested vote separated by less than 30 ballots from second-placed finalist and family friend Steven Dick. Picture: NIc Tonks / @nictonks
Tonks’, who began as a surf photographer, was initially sceptical when he learned that of the 1500-odd ballots cast, his photo titled ‘Sparks Fly’ had just nudged ahead of Dick’s ‘Dawn Swimmer’ by less than 30 votes to claim the victory.
“I thought maybe they were having a prank,” he laughed, “My dad works with Steve … I was like, ‘Am I getting pranked here?'” His winning photo, captured with a couple of mates looking to escape lockdown boredom, paints a dramatic scene at the Merewether Ocean Baths.
“I asked a mate if he would want to spin a flaming ball of steel wool over his head for a long exposure photo and he was pretty down,” Tonks joked, “We tried a few different spots, but that one turned out the coolest with the water and blocks in it.”
Both photographers have each won a prize package courtesy of Domayne @ Kotara. Visit the Newcastle Herald online for a full gallery of finalists.
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