'I didn't want to create a 'safe' image so I devalued it a bit' - Matt Cannon

Birmingham-based photographer, Matt Cannon, has rocked the world of professional portraiture by winning the coveted Kodak Portrait Photographer of the Year 2001 title with his first ever entry in the Kodak Gold Awards programme.

Matt (30) beat off stiff competition in the final judging at the plush Fawsley Hall hotel near Northampton, to take the title and a Kodak DCS 760 digital camera worth £7,000.

And he did it with a picture he decided to 'sabotage' before he sent in the entry print.

He said: It's a photograph I took of a stunning, blue-eyed blonde called Megan while I was on a commission to cover an event at a Birmingham hairdressing salon. Megan's face is enough to guarantee that everyone will stare at the picture but I didn't want it to be a 'safe' image. Far too many photographers shoot safe photographs - so I decided to devalue it a bit. I used three soft boxes and a lot of light from underneath. Then I stained it with bleach and rubbed chalk in to smudge the image."

He added: "I knew I was up against work from two top photographers who had both won the overall title in the past.
I really didn't expect to win - I was just happy to have picked up a Gold Award and an invitation to dinner."

Now Matt, who runs his business from The Image House, Old Walsall Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, is desperate for more success.

"This is a great honour for me" he said, "Now I intend to get to grips with this amazing top of the range camera DCS 760 that accompanies the title. They say this camera outperforms film and I can't wait to learn how to use it. Digital is going to open up a whole new world for me. I am going to stay in Birmingham and prove that there is really good creative work going on outside London."

Matt, who has never entered the Kodak Gold Awards before, follows in the footsteps of two other young photographers who have snatched Gold Awards limelight in the few years.
Charlie Crane, a completely unknown London-based photographer, won the title in 1999 and Mark Russell-Hill, (26) a finalist again this year, picked up the honours at the 2000 gala dinner.

In a break with tradition, Kodak Professional invited the fourteen photographers who won 'Commendations' during the year, to attend the presentation evening alongside this year's Gold Award winners..
One of the 'Commended' photographers, Jaine Briscoe-Price, said: "I have won other awards in other competitions but gaining even a 'commendation;' in this prestigious Kodak programme means more to me than all the rest. Now I want to step up one more gear and win a Gold Award."

The judging panel, comprising two Gold Award winning photographers, an assistant curator at the National Portrait Gallery, a leading fine art printer and a trade press editor, had debated their decision for almost two hours before deciding on the Cannon portrait.

Said panellist Mark Cleghorn: "There is no doubt that this is the toughest awards programme for portrait photographers in the whole of Europe. During the year we examined hundreds of images but in the end it came down to just three. The judging criteria for Gold Awards demand creative and technical excellence. Winning images must ooze quality. They must have visual energy and demonstrate outstanding workmanship.
Matt's exceptional portrait demands 100% attention from all who see it.
It is a worthy winner."

For further information, please contact:
Trevor Lansdown
Tel: 01206 241575
or
Kodak Professional
Tel: 01442 845146

Kodak Professional online: www.kodak.co.uk/go/professional