Enter Your iPhone Photos In The Terry O'Neill Awards

I recently had a chance to chat with Richard Gray who’s involved with the Terry O’Neill Photography Awards 2014. This is a prestigious award with fantastic prizes, and last year a mobile photography category was introduced. Richard won the award for the mobile category in 2013, and this year he’s going to be part of the judging panel. In this interview you’ll learn more about Richard’s work for the Terry O’Neill Awards and how you can enter your iPhone photos in this year’s competition.

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Tell us a little bit about yourself and how your iPhone photography journey began.

I’ve been an amateur photographer for a long time and I discovered photography with the iPhone in 2010. Like a lot of people, this came via Instagram, which also opened up the whole community to me.

It was a real eye-opener and I became quite obsessive, trying out all the apps and techniques. In early 2012, I launched the world’s first real-life mobile photography course with Kensington and Chelsea College.

I went on to give the same course at other places and I started writing about mobile photography on my own blog, iphoggy-bloggy, and also for various magazines. I’m now a professional photographer, mainly working in events photography.

The photos that you see in this article belong to the series of images that I entered for the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

1. Excitement. From The Person Opposite series by Richard Gray.
Winner of mobile category in the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

Can you tell us a bit about the Terry O’Neill Award?

The Terry O’Neill Award is one of the world’s leading photography awards and has been running now for 10 years. Its judges are all leading figures in the world of professional photography and media.

Terry’s original idea with the Award was to give exposure to new photographers and encourage their development. Terry is passionate about helping new talent come through so the competition tends to reward work that pushes the boundaries.

Last year the award launched a mobile category with its own prize. You can follow the Terry O’Neill Award Instagram feed for more information and inspiration.

2. Anguish. From The Person Opposite series by Richard Gray.
Winner of mobile category in the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

You were winner of the mobile category in the 2013 Terry O’Neill Awards. Can you tell us a bit about the series of images that you submitted?

My winning series was called “The Person Opposite” and it featured 5 images of people taken candidly on the tube (underground metro).

One of the mobile phone’s strong points is being able to get closer to people. Mobile has created a whole new sub-genre of street photography that just wouldn’t have been possible before, and this series is an example of that.

3. Anticipation. From The Person Opposite series by Richard Gray.
Winner of mobile category in the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

How does it feel to be on the judging panel this year, and what qualities will you be looking for in the winning series of images?

I’m really thrilled to be sitting alongside the likes of David Puttnam and Terry O’Neill on the judges panel. In the mobile category, I’ll be looking for work that does something new, has a coherent theme and style through the series and moves me in some way.

What are the different photographic categories of the contest?

There are seven different categories: portrait, landscape, reportage, fashion, fine art, documentary and wildlife.

But it doesn’t matter which one you enter under as all entries will compete for either the main prize or the mobile prize, depending on your chosen format.

4. Anxiety. From The Person Opposite series by Richard Gray.
Winner of mobile category in the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

What are the rules, and how can we submit our photos?

The main thing with the Terry O’Neill Award is that you have to submit a series of photos. Most people submit 5 photos, but you can submit up to 10 for a slightly higher entry fee.

You can submit your photos by going to the Terry O’Neill Award website where you’ll also find all the rules.

When is the deadline for entries?

The deadline is November 30, 2014.

5. Suspicion. From The Person Opposite series by Richard Gray.
Winner of mobile category in the Terry O’Neill Award 2013.

What happens to the winning photos? Are there any prizes?

There are some great prizes. Cash to the value of £6,500 is divided amongst the winners of the two main categories and runners-ups.

In addition to the cash prizes, all their photos are displayed in a London gallery for two weeks, and a selection are printed in The Guardian newspaper. The overall winner also gets paid a commission from The Guardian.

There are now several high-profile awards for mobile photographers. Is this a sign that mobile photography is starting to be taken more seriously in the world of photography?

Yes, I think the Terry O’Neill Award’s decision last year to launch a mobile category was recognition that mobile photography is being taken seriously in the “serious” photography world.

Of course the convergence of technologies and improvements in mobile cameras also helps this process. But I think mobile is also a genre with its own characteristics, tradition and style.