Margaret Irving, from New Plymouth, took out the Whanganui Salon Vonnie Cave Gold Medal. Photo / Sharlene Dempsey
Margaret Irving, from New Plymouth, took out the Whanganui Salon Vonnie Cave Gold Medal. Photo / Sharlene Dempsey
Whanganui Camera Club runs a salon (photographic competition) open nationwide and is considered a boutique event by top photographers.
The Whanganui Salon 2023 theme was Humanity and Earth. It’s the third in the series since the salon was resurrected in 2019.
“We’ve restarted the salon after a long hiatus of27 years. It started in the 1950s till the early 1990s,” said the president of Whanganui Camera Club, John Smart. “It’s easier to do digital salons rather than having to send prints around the country for a print salon.
“This meant we could rethink the Whanganui Salon. We thought we could do it with a more thematic approach. There are other national salons, and they look at high-quality images per se.
“We thought the Whanganui Salon could focus on a theme, one which is related to today’s world, which is the relationship between humanity and the planet we live on.
“That’s given us quite a point of difference to other national salons, we’re a bit of a boutique salon. Photographers across the country are getting into that space of how they produce images that have a message. The salon is progressing very well,” he said.
Whanganui Salon awardees. Photo / Sharlene Dempsey
There has been steady growth in the salon again with 469 entries from 76 photographers spread across New Zealand. Whanganui Camera Club introduced a new category this year - Aotearoa New Zealand Heritage - which brought a new dimension to the salon, alongside the carry-over categories - Living in a Changing World and Humanity and the Natural World.
“Judges this year - Simon Woolf, Gail Stent, and David Oliver - have done a great job in selecting photographically strong images that resonate with these themes, often conveying a powerful message,” said John. “This continues to set the Whanganui Salon apart from other salons in New Zealand. Only 25 per cent of images entered gained an award of acceptance or better.”
Vonnie Cave was a lifetime member of the Whanganui Camera Club from the 1950s. She passed away about two years ago. “The club decided that as she had been patron and president of the New Zealand Photographic Society and was a very significant figure in photography, both nationally and locally, it was appropriate for us to offer a medal in the salon in her name - the Vonnie Cave Medal,” said John.
“Vonnie never got to see the first medal being presented, but she was on board with the concepts.
“We’re delighted to be able to recognise Vonnie’s contribution to photography, in Whanganui and nationally. The photographers who win it are aware of that history as well. So that makes it a very sought-after prize.
“The winner, Margaret Irving, from New Plymouth, was able to travel down for the presentation. It’s the first time we’ve been able to present the medal live.”
■ Category winners
The three category winners were Helen McLeod, John Helsdon, and Margaret Irving. Margaret took out the Whanganui Salon Vonnie Cave Gold Medal. As well as the medal, Margaret received a $1000 gift voucher from main sponsor Progear Photographic and all three category winners received a matted print of their image from Print Art and a $100 Lab Services Voucher from Wellington Photographic Supplies.
All awardees also received certificates donated by Whanganui Photo and Print.
