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AND WINNER
PEOPLE
CAMOUFLAGE
OVERALL WINNER
JULIE THOMAS
@juliethomasphotoart
It’s fitting that our overall winner of Photographer of the Year, and our People category winning se- ries for 2020, happened to be a lockdown proj- ect, as personal projects are something many photographers have taken on in the last year. Bendigo based photographer Julie Thomas says the inspiration behind Camouflage was her two daughters, with her eldest, 12-year-old Madi, the star of this colourful and creative portfolio.
“When we went into lockdown in Victoria, we had a lot of spare time on our hands,” Thomas says. “We were keeping ourselves busy together with painting, mask making, stop-motion videos and face painting. It didn’t take long before the dining table was covered with paints, canvas, fabric and ideas that evolved into this “Camouflage” series.”
My eldest daughter loved the idea and loves having her face painted, so she was happy to be my model. The first fabric we chose was one I’ve had in my stash for many years, but just never found a use for. I thought it looked easy enough to paint (although it ended up taking a lot longer than I expected and we almost ran out of natural light to photograph it!). I was thrilled with the results and eager to turn it into a series. We have five in the series so far and have many more fabrics lined up ready to go.”
The success of this portfolio is down to a simple idea executed perfectly – and the results wowed our judges with their creativity, atten- tion to detail and clever use of bright colour.
WHAT THE JUDGES’ SAID
TIM LEVY: As photographers, the level of production that goes into our work often revolves around camera gear, casting, clothes, location and maybe the odd prop. Then there is Julie’s work – where the painting by itself could be consid- ered a work of art on it’s own. In a world where we use filters to make things in- teresting, this series clearly stands out from the rest. They are not only in- triguing images to look at and explore, but also bring a level of aesthetic detail that’s truly excellent.
HELEN WHITTLE: This wonderfully strik- ing set of images is not only original, it is bold, colourful, and unusually serene. The painted face embedded within the fabric backdrop draws the viewer in to the subject. A fascinating and cohesive portfolio that has been expertly executed.
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