Thursday 11 Apr 2013

Could a Hertfordshire railway image win Landscape Photographer of the Year?

Region & Route:
| Eastern: Anglia
| Eastern

The search is on to find the best photography of the British landscape and that of the rail network. Entries are now open for the Take a view - Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards 2013, which celebrates imagery of the best sights the country has to offer.

For the fourth year, Network Rail is supporting the competition, where amateurs and professional photographers from Hertfordshire, can highlight the very best imagery of Britain’s beautiful rural and urban scenery and compete for the top prize of £10,000.

An additional prize will be given for the best photography of Britain’s rail network – the Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ Special Award. Last year’s winner was a stunning image by Graham Hobbs from Dorset of the 08:30 rail service from Hamworthy speeding through the beautiful Holes Bay at Poole, as a small, wrecked rowing boat rests in the foreground. Mr Hobbs beat more than 500 entries from across Britain to take the top spot.

Tom Kelly, Network Rail’s director of corporate communications, said: "This competition celebrates something very special - the way this country looks in all its different ways, some changing, some not. I am delighted that the railway, which forms such an important backdrop for both the urban and rural landscape in so many places, should be a part of it and look forward with anticipation to seeing the entries.”

Charlie Waite, renowned landscape photographer and competition founder is keen to encourage more people to enter the railway award. He said: “Judging this award is a great pleasure for me as Britain’s railways have always been close to my heart. Network Rail looks after an amazing 20,000 miles of track and owns over 2500 stations and so the photographic opportunities are endless. I will be looking for an image that captures the spirit of today’s railways, be they in the busiest cities or most remote countryside. Details, urban views and sweeping tracks are all eligible and I am hoping to see many photographs that inspire.”

For the first time, Network Rail will also exhibit a selection of previously commended images at five of its biggest stations this summer, including King’s Cross statopn. Each exhibit will showcase photographs of locations which can be reached by the host station and include details of how to reach them by rail as well as how to enter the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Mr Kelly added: “By showcasing the competition’s beautiful and striking images we hope to inspire the millions that come through our stations to visit these fantastic places they can reach by rail and record their own amazing views with their cameras.”

This year’s winner of the Lines in the Landscape award has the option of joining a flight in Network Rail’s inspection helicopter which has onboard infrared technology to monitor thousands of miles of track, or a ride on the New Measurement Train, a converted high speed train that is used to capture geotechnical track data safely, punctually and reliably, collecting real time data and clocking up 80,000 miles per year. Either prize offers a unique photography opportunity not open to the public and £300 will be added, so that the winner can make a weekend break of it.

Notes to editors

For competition entry details visit www.take-a-view.co.uk

The Stations Photography Exhibition will be at:

  • Sunday 09 – Saturday 15 June – Manchester Piccadilly station
  • Sunday 16 - Saturday 22 June – Leeds station
  • Sunday 23 – Saturday 29 June – Glasgow Central station
  • Sunday 30 – Saturday 07 – King’s Cross station
  • Sunday 11 – Saturday 17 Aug – London Waterloo station

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

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Journalists
Network Rail press office - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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