Off to Work Event Photography Awards

This week we had the great pleasure of attending the Off to Work Event Photography Awards, which Claire Fennelow, our Exec-Director, was part of the judging panel for. The evening took place at No. 4 Hamilton Place, and we arrived to see the shortlisted photography exhibited throughout the space. We were given three stickers and asked to select our favourites for the People’s Choice Award, which would be announced later in the evening.

Following the drinks reception, the audience gathered downstairs for the ceremony itself, presented by Graham Hill (Competition & Event Director).

The not-for-profit competition was open to images captured during both 2020 and 2021 following a hiatus from the competition last year due to the impact of Covid-19 on the events industry. This year, the competition featured two new categories: Portraits, which was won by a shot of the (now) King Charles III, and the special one-off Covid Chronicles, which attracted many moving entries that brought back mournful memories of masks and social distancing.

The prestigious Overall Winner trophy and a cheque for £1,000 was picked up by Luke Dyson, whose panoramic shot of Reading Festival was a clear winner having gladdened the hearts of the judges. Entitled ‘Cherry Picking Season’, the image was captured while Luke was lofted 65ft above ground by a cherry-picker lorry, hence the title.

Runner-up was the atmospheric winner of the Music category ‘Pianoman’, taken by Carlos-Alvar Gonzalez, who flew in from Mexico to collect his trophies, one of which was presented by our very own Claire, as the Association Partner of the awards.

The two top Highly-Commended accolades went to regular Catering category winner, Deb Porter, for her cleverly captured ‘Reflected Chef’, and Jack Boskett for ‘Horsepower’, which encapsulated an Experiential Event that was three years in the planning. For the first time ever there was also a dead hear – in the Weddings category, which was shared by Steve Rooney and Andy Griffiths.

Competition founder, Philip Atkins, MD of staffing agency Off to Work commented: “Photography does so much to amplify, justify and sustain the events industry, so we felt it was important not to wait until 2023 to relaunch the competition, especially as we could include some amazing images taken during the Covid crisis. The competition was as tough as ever and the images entered captured both the resilience and brilliance of the events sector.”

Competition director, Graham Hill, commented: “We owe huge debts of gratitude to our sponsors and event partners for making the competition and awards event such a success. To our array of industry leading judges as well, who had over 300 photos to review. The competition has been a great success and will run again in 2023, with entries opening in November as the awards event will return to its traditional schedule and culminate in May.”

Full list of Winners & Categories

Photographer	Overall	Category	Title
Luke Dyson	Overall Winner	Cultural Events	Cherry Picking Season
Carlos Alvar Gonzalez	Overall Runner-Up	Music Events	Pianoman
Jack Boskett	Overall Highly-Commended	Experiential Events	Horsepower
Deb Porter	Overall Highly-Commended	Catering	The Reflected Chef
Steven Rooney	Category Winner	Covid Chronicles	Covid Wedding
Jack Boskett	Category Winner	Portraits	HRH Prince of Wales (King Charles III)
Deb Porter	Category Winner	Behind the Scenes	Kitchen Framed
Luke Dyson	Category Winner	Corporate Events	Light It Up
Benjamin Arthur	Category Winner	Private Events	Funeral Procession
Dave Dodge	Category Winner	Sporting Events	Heaven Or Hell
Aidan Synnott	Category Winner	Trade Shows	Stitch
Noah Goodrich	Category Winner	Venues	Dinner in the White Tower
Steven Rooney	Joint Category Winner	Weddings	Brotherly Love
Andy Griffiths	Joint Category Winner	Weddings	Eye Can’t She’s Coming…
Warren Millar	Winner	Best Amateur	Example shot = Suggs
Paul Nicholls	Winner	Portfolio Award	Example shot = All Smiles