BBC Staff Photography Competition 2005

The results of the BBC Staff Photography Competition 2005 are in. And with more than 400 images, from more than 100 participants, one thing is clear; it just goes to prove how creative we all are!

Anne Fairbrother’s unusual, intriguing character study, "Eyes down", is our overall winner, with a photo the judges said was full of determined, intense hope. Manish Pradhan’s colourful "Festival Crowds" caught the judge’s eye and is our overall runner-up. And Robin Hamman’s poignant mobile pic, "a pint in time", has achieved a commendation in the overall competition; no mean feat for a cameraphone shot.

Here’s our virtual gallery of all the winners, runners-up and commendations. Congratulations to all of you!

And well done to everyone who took part or contributed to the competition, whether you’ve been sending in your photos, judging or just making it all happen.

It’s been great fun – and, after all, that’s what it was about!

>> CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE THE AWARD-WINNING IMAGES

Overall Winner

OVERALL WINNER: Eyes down

by Anne Fairbrother, creative R & D manager, New Media (London). ALSO WINNER: MY DAY

A quirky, appealing and original image that’s eerily odd. It beckons the viewer to look again to see what is actually going on. Look once, and it’s a bright collection of abstract shapes and colours. A second glance, and there’s the suggestion of the narrative of one individual’s day: steely determined concentration, overlooked by a glowing winning number floating in space. This image also sums up the two presumably happy hours of the day the photographer spent at bingo.

OVERALL RUNNER-UP: Festival Crowds

by Manish Pradhan, assistant content producer, Asian interactive (Birmingham). ALSO RUNNER-UP: OUR WORLD

This image gives one a feeling of really reaching out and pulling us into the fun of the crowd of ‘our world’. A really good composition from such a spontaneous image.

COMMENDATION (OVERALL): a pint in time

by Robin Hamman, broadcast journalist, English Regions HQ, N&R (London). ALSO WINNER: MY MOBILE

Solitary calm captured in a well organised composition. Poignant. Beautifully lit. A quality image from a mobile phone.

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Our World

WINNER: Shadow of the Campanile

by Dan Dixon, senior development producer, New Media (London)

Loved the framing and the composition of this black and white image. An image of our world. It combines all the elements of the world around us: geography, geology, history, culture, architecture, above all, light. It reinforces our sense of scale. You are sucked down through it and as your eyes are drawn into it, you appreciate how small we really are. It's beautiful.

RUNNER-UP: Festival Crowds

by Manish Pradhan, assistant content producer, Asian interactive (Birmingham)

Colour, energy, life and character. It's fun; that's the aim of the competition. The framing is good. Drawn in by them all looking at you. It's difficult getting everyone in a shot to look directly into a camera lens; here there is eye contact. It's a different take on our world. It's easy to think of wide open spaces; this is human, different generations, different perspectives within a culture. These are all part of our world, part of people's lives. It's very human.

COMMENDATION: The obligatory San Francisco sea-bird sitting on a wall photo

by Robin Schroder, studio manager, World Service (London)

Our world in its many guises, at so many levels. A global context, nature and the natural world, the elements, a landscape and our human impact represented in an iconic international landmark. A classic view, well executed and interpreted, with a touch of life, and an amusing title that encapsulates and acknowledges it all.

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My Day

WINNER: Eyes down

by Anne Fairbrother, creative R & D manager, New Media (London)

An unusual, intriguing character study; it took a while to work it out. Breaking the rules of composition, but with impact. An interesting face, full of determined, intense hope. That halo of hair, like the sun, the centre of a solar system. Perhaps this is the highlight of her day; it's a couple of hours of the photographer's day. It draws you in. There is a story there.

RUNNER-UP: red bull

by Jigna Chandaria, senior R&D engineer, BBC Research & Development (Kingswood Warren)

This gave the winner a run for its money. Everyday life in London. Colour and composition in one image. The composition is amazing. Good colour combination; the background colour sets of the foreground image. We have all seen those supermarket windows everywhere. Spontaneous, humerous, very interesting. Odd and good to see such humanity and personality.

COMMENDATION: Bike shed

by Ben Yacobi, assistant media planner, BBC ONE, BBC Broadcast (London)

A novel still life, a cornucopia of colour. A bicycle in a very abstract form. It is part of someone's journey, the beginning and end of their BBC day. A striking image; a biking image!

COMMENDATION: Bus queue

by Andy Aldridge, research.gateway content producer (London)

Fidelity to the theme; their daily journey, the daily grind. A sense of wintery isolation and grim determination. That woman looking off - what is it that's catching her attention? We don't know what it is but it catches ours. Nice perspective, interesting composition.

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August

WINNER: San Simeon

by Richard Sambrook, director, Global News (London).

Lazy Sunday summer afternoon. It feels like you're about to run down there or someone's about to do something. The colours say summer. A picture that grows on you. Nice use of wide angle and everything coming together to a point. But it's the subject matter that says August above all.

RUNNER-UP: Fairy dancing in Pembrokshire

by Mark Moran, service assurance manager, RDT (Cardiff)

Remembering childhood summers. There is a strong sense of movement in the picture. A sweet picture. Different. An unusual thing to photograph.

COMMENDATION: They are proud of their flag

by Simon Kisner, content producer, Education (London)

August, from a slightly different perspective. Season of festivals, in an urban landscape. Great sense of movement, lively, it catches your eye.

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My Mobile

Judging note: The judges felt that the criteria for the category should reflect "mobile-ness" (being mobile), seeing it and grabbing it, as well as composition and subject matter whilst making the most of an opportunity. Quality within a mobile context. They also felt there was something about acknowledging that this category coincided with a key moment in a mobile era, 7 July 2005, and the BBC connecting with a mobile audience in a two-way exchange.

WINNER: a pint in time

by Robin Hamman, broadcast journalist, English Regions HQ, N&R (London)

The more you look, the more you see. Nothing much is happening, but there's so much happening. Composition, continuity of shape, the intersection of lines within the image, lovely perspective. Breaks the rule of thirds: the focus is in the centre, but it works. A central character, interesting, even though you know so little about him. Spontaneous - the whole point of a cameraphone. Sharp. Love the light, fantastic shadows and reflections. But it's the lines. A beautiful job.

RUNNER-UP: Mosaic detail

by Zoe Breen, content producer, EastEnders website, iD&E (London)

Nice, bold colour, using the subject, a simple, geometric shape, to avoid the limitations of mobile technology - almost cartoon-like. The soft and sharper focus works. A little detail that you might pass by without noticing, something you might ignore. Having the vision; see it and take it. Art is so often about showing people the world in a fresh, new light. A lovely reflection caught in the mosaic detail.

COMMENDATION: Jonny's having a laugh.

by Ben Yacobi, assistant media planner, BBC ONE, BBC Broadcast (London)

A typical cameraphone picture. People enjoying photography on the move. Makes the most of a lack of awareness of the mobile as camera that can deliver really candid shots. It may be that there are millions of this sort of image around, or not. But this captures a real moment. It just makes you smile. It's the spirit of mobile and reflects the spirit of the whole competition.

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We are Creative!

Judging coordinator's note: On occasion you could not have three more different opinions in one room; perhaps it's the nature of a potentially subjective category. Intense debate, some very direct comments. "It didn't float my boat." "It could have been good."

WINNER: A Swiss town

by Lily Feng, producer, BBC Chinese, World Service (London)

A Swiss landscape, snow on snow, a snowflake and snowflakes. Creative in that it works on so many levels. Roads appear as shatters in ice. Yet there's a simplicity about snapping from a plane window. It's not considered, but a decision has been made. It's about seeing it and saying "yes". Frozen in time.

RUNNER-UP: Street

by Anne Fairbrother, creative R & D manager, New Media (London)

Very vibrant. Encapsulates this creative category. Good use of photoshop and photograph combined. Great to see a montage. Photoshop filters are everywhere these days, but this looks like handwork. Pleasing to the eye, it draws you into it.

COMMENDATION: Liquid gold

by Sarah Ball, intranet consultant, innovation & learning, BBC People (London)

Interesting viewpoint. Texture, shape, simplicity. Seeking creativity at the bottom of a glass and it shows that creativity is everywhere.

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Also commended

JUDGES' SPECIAL COMMENDATION: 'Morning Star' newspaper seller 2005

by Ben Honeybone, studio manager, World Service (London)

A special commendation outside category for 'Morning Star' newspaper seller 2005: A very stong image. The judges loved the framing and the character in her face. You are drawn to two things: her face and the words in the paper. And everything else is just there. Who is she? What's she doing? It's very focused in terms of image and framing. It tells a story.

JUDGING COORDINATOR'S SPECIAL COMMENDATION: 08072005(010).jpg

by Robin Hamman, broadcast journalist, English Regions HQ, N&R (London)

A special commendation for 08072005(010).jpg: A simple, straight image. Perhaps. It is really important to see the image in the context of its subject matter and its filename, to recognise the numbers as a date stamp and to wonder quietly whether (010) was one of the first photos taken on this mobile. The image was taken the day after 7 July 2005; the day before had been a difficult one. It was also a moment which marked a step change for us; an instant in time when the BBC connected with its mobile audience in a new two-way exchange.

The judges in the My Mobile category hotly debated the inclusion of this image and it was moments away from a commendation. During their consideration, they commended the composition and the framing. They said the fuzziness of the mobile image seems appropriate. It captures the nature of 7/7. The oversaturated colour reflects an oversaturated event. The image reproduces a moment in which people were taking photos of photos, as this image does, at a time which also brought about a new dialogue with our audience. But the judges also reflected that this is a sombre image for all of us; the subject matter is a photographer, taking a picture of a picture, but the focus of our attention is a poster featuring our former BBC colleague who sadly lost her life in the London bombings.

This competition is for and about the staff of the BBC; this picture recognises what makes us who we are.

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