Gettin’ Twiggy with it...
Brilliantly British competition offers chance for your photo to be displayed at the V&A
ANATIONWIDE competition is being launched today to find an image that portrays Britain in 2020. The winning photograph will be displayed in the V&A and printed in the Bristol Post.
Actress and fashion icon Dame Twiggy Lawson, V&A Director Tristram Hunt, The Young Vic’s Kwame Kwei-Armah, former Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati and acclaimed Fleet Street photographer Mike Moore are among the judges.
The competition is part of our sister paper, the Daily Express’s Brilliantly British campaign, which asks the nation to support UK businesses.
The Brilliantly British Photograph is open to amateur photographers up and down the country to capture an image which shows a modern, diverse and inclusive Britain in 2020. Entries can be shot on anything from a camera phone to the latest Canon. The winning photographer will also win the latest iPhone 12 Pro.
Lead judge Twiggy said: “I have been involved with the arts all my adult life, both on camera and behind it, and have worked with some of the greatest photographers in the world.
“After a year like 2020, we need art more than ever, it offers hope, and gives a voice to those who need one most.”
V&A Director and former Labour MP, Tristram said: “The V&A cares for one of the most important photography collections in the world, and we have been conserving and interpreting photography since 1852. “We are delighted to be showcasing the winning Brilliantly British Photograph, and to be celebrating the creativity and hope that photography and the arts can offer our diverse British culture in 2020.”
Artistic Director of the Young Vic, and former Casualty star, Kwame said he hoped the entries would capture the unity of 2020.
“Although 2020 will go down as a very hard year for many of us, what it did show is that diverse Britain stood up and stood together. We united in a powerful way,” he said. “This was particularly evident during the summer of social injustice, when people came together to say things must change. `wThat was the highlight of 2020. And I hope the photographs submitted will capture this sense of togetherness and unity in a way that words cannot.
“I look forward to helping find that positivity through the lens of a brilliant photographic artist.”
Actress Shobna said she is delighted to be on the judging panel.
“Art makes it possible to reflect upon and escape the sometimes harsh realities of life,” she said. “It can create an opportunity to find beauty and solace.
“I will be looking for an image that represents this and our brilliant diverse nation. After a year like 2020, I think we all need to escape, even momentarily.”
And Mike said after working in Fleet Street for 30 years he knows the power of a good photograph. “I’ll be looking for a picture that leaps out, and reflects our lives in a multicultural modern Britain,” he said. “Perhaps it will make us smile, but it’ll most certainly make us think.”
After a year like 2020, we need art more than ever, it offers hope, and gives a voice to those who need one most
Lead judge Dame Twiggy Lawson
■ The competition launches today and entries close on January 2, 2021. The winner will be announced on January 15, with the photograph displayed in the V&A the following week, alongside some of the biggest names in photography. For all details on how to enter visit express.co.uk/brilliantlybritishphoto