Arresting street photography wins Simon Devitt Prize

Arresting street photography wins Simon Devitt Prize

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, which is exactly what Elena Lochore-Ward did, following an accident while on holiday.

The second-year Masters of Architecture (Professional) student from the University of Auckland won the 2015 Simon Devitt Prize for Photography last night, with her entry entitled San Francisco, created while travelling in the United States.

The competition, now in its eighth year, recognises the best photograph by a student of architecture.

Elena’s two-picture series was picked as the winner from twenty finalists at the opening of an exhibition of contestants’ work, on as part of the Festival of Photography.

Simon Devitt, an Auckland-based photographer specialising in the photography of architecture, established the annual award at the School of Architecture and Planning, where he teaches the subject.

“As renowned Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt says, ‘photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.’ This year’s theme is ‘final frontier’ and I selected San Francisco as the winning entry because the two photos Elena submitted were very arresting images that while individually are strong, also belong together,” says Simon Devitt.

“Street photography, capturing split second moments like this, relies on a lot more than chance. These are two very sophisticated photographs that display a strong connection to the environment and moments Elena found herself in," he says.

Twenty one year-old Elena ended up stuck in San Francisco for a few weeks recovering from a climbing accident. Unable to fly and with time on her hands she decided to embark on some street photography. The North Shore resident, who is a keen photographer, ditched her digital camera in favour of a disposable film camera instead.

“I wanted to be limited to only 36 shots in order to force myself to take great care with every image. I was drawn to the duality of the two pictures in my entry San Francisco, they have a dislocated feeling that I like, as if the subjects don’t really know where they are going,” says Elena.

“By circumstance I found myself on the streets of San Francisco taking photos instead of climbing in Bishop, California. I spent those weeks exploring the city with little purpose beyond observing,” she says.

The North Shore resident, who receives a trophy and a cash prize of $1,000, is thrilled with her win and plans to continue taking photographs.

The 2015 Simon Devitt Prize for Photography exhibition
27 May-6 June
Elam Projectspace Gallery
Ground Floor, Main Fine Arts Building
The University of Auckland
20 Whitaker Place
Hours: 11am-4pm Wednesday-Saturday
Free.

ENDS

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