The best of British

Winning photographs which capture images of modern Britain are revealed. Kat Hopps reports

SWIMMERS grimace in the freezing sea, their heads illuminated golden yellow by the dawn light. A trader stands to attention by his tiny café, a converted telephone box, ready to serve passing shoppers. And a female cyclist in a face-covering passes an inner city mural of a young woman wearing a mask.

These are the winners of our sister paper, the Daily Express’s Brilliantly British Photograph Competition.

We called for photographs that captured unity and positivity through an amateur’s eye to highlight our inclusive, modern nation today.

The high-profile judging panel, led by modelling legend Twiggy, V&A Director Tristram Hunt, The Young Vic’s Kwame Kwei-Armah, actor Shobna Gulati and acclaimed Fleet Street photographer Mike Moore were stunned by the talent on show.

“They were all high calibre with pictures that were both touching and amusing – and very British,” says Dame Twiggy.

First place was awarded to Joann Randles, 32, from Swansea, for her shot of senior open-water bathers taking a sunrise dip in the icy coastal waters off the town’s bay.

V&A director Tristram says:

“I love the light reflected on the water which gives such a generous glow to the lady swimmers.”

Her winning photo will be displayed at the V&A Museum this year. She also won an iPhone12.

Second place went to Bradford Lunch Booth, taken by semi-retired antique dealer Cath Muldowney,

60, a photo that touched former Coronation Street star Shobna’s heart.

“The photograph encapsulates and celebrates our unique British identity through the reinvention of one of our most cultural icons – the red telephone box,” Shobna says. “Like the famous Tardis of Doctor Who, this chameleon-like kiosk has been re-imagined as a food café, becoming a meeting place of cultures and conversations in the process. What’s not to love?”

Third place went to Graham Long, 52, a council officer, who took the masked cyclist shot in Shoreditch’s famous Brick Lane in London.

“There is melancholy and beauty in this photograph, and a sense of timelessness: the cyclist travels through the deserted streets of London, as the ever-present pandemic keeps watch. There is also heroism in the cyclist who is trying to keep going amid the extraordinary pressures we have suffered over the last year,” says Tristram.