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All smiles as navy man scoops award
The smiling faces of Chinese football fans and drama of a deck fire exercise were enough to give an airman from a Portsmouth-based warship the edge to scoop a top navy photography prize.
Leading Airman (Photographer) Owen King won the Royal Navy Photographer of the Year title at this year's Peregrine Trophy awards.
He won it for his shots chronicling life on board the Type 23 frigate HMS Kent in the Far East and other aspects of navy life.
Among his portfolio were shots of Able Seaman 'Tug' Wilson preparing to tackle a fire exercise on the ship's Lynx helicopter.
Inside the ship the photographer was on hand to shoot Petty Officer Harvey working at the radar screens in his emergency flash suit.
And LA King caught an Army trainer in midair at the Inter Services Ski and Snowboard Championships in Meribel, France.
But most eye-catching was the crowd shot of fans from China's People's Liberation Army cheering on their boys against HMS Kent's football team.
LA King said: 'I'm immensely pleased to have won.
'I wanted photographs which were punchy – looked a little bit different – and I was lucky enough to deploy to the Far East last year which was the best opportunity I've had in the navy.'
A range of prizes were given out at the awards ceremony at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on Monday.
Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, presented them.
He said: 'I must applaud the judges who not only picked photographs which are technically correct but by chance picked images which are very relevant to operations this year – whether that be images of Fly Navy 100, or the fantastic actions of the Royal Marines in Afghanistan.
'The photographic branch has brought some really powerful images into the public eye.'
The winner of the Peregrine Trophy itself was Leading Airman (Photographer) Gaz Faulkner from 42 Commando of the Royal Marines.
He took the shots in Helmand and Kandahar provinces during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
His shots showed the struggle facing Royal Navy troops as they battle to rebuild relations with local people while fighting the Taliban insurgency.
TROPHY
The Peregrine Trophy competition dates back to 1963 and is named after the former HMS Peregrine – a Royal Naval Air Station in Sussex which hosted the first competition.
It was set up to encourage the production of eye-catching images from navy life for the public.
It is open to all navy photographers and this year nearly 560 entries came in, ranging from the operational theatres of Afghanistan and Iraq to warships patrolling the oceans.
The judging took place in Portsmouth on May 6.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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