Tuesday 11 May 2010
GREAT WESTERN’S FINEST RAIL VIEWS WANTED FOR NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
- Region & Route:
- Wales & Western: Western
- | Wales & Western
Network Rail is calling for photography enthusiasts with a love for the railway in Great Western to take part in a national photography competition – a potential opportunity to showcase the route in its 175th year.
Network Rail has joined with renowned landscape photographer, Charlie Waite, and Natural England to support the fourth annual Take a view Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards.
The competition, which is now open to amateurs and professionals alike, includes an additional prize for the best photography of Britain’s railway network, which images are captured by millions every year.
Celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, Great Western offers a large collection of Brunel’s engineering legacies and modern new structures.
They range from the Grade 1 listed Bristol Temple Meads, decorated Box Tunnel in Bath, the Royal Albert Bridge that spans across two counties and the new unique plastic footbridge in St. Austell.
Iain Coucher, chief executive explained why Network Rail is supporting the competition: “For over 150 years, the railway has helped connect people across the length and breadth of Britain, with some spectacular structures such as the Royal Albert bridge, Bristol Temple Meads and Paddington station in Great Western. Network Rail has the special duty of protecting and promoting this legacy as well as building a modern rail network for the 21st century, and we are proud to be part of the visual history of Britain.
“We are very happy to support this competition, and even more so to have a special award for the best photography of our rail network. Travelling by rail is becoming ever more popular, and we hope that, through this competition, even more people will see and appreciate its beauty and importance in Britain today.”
The top prize given to the Landscape Photographer of the Year is £10,000.
Best entry for the Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ Special Award will be offered a special walking tour of the famous Forth Rail Bridge with a return rail travel and an overnight’s stay in Edinburgh.
Winning entries and select best images will be showcased at an exhibition at the National Theatre on the South Bank.
Notes to editors
The competition has four main categories:
- Classic view
- Living the view
- Your view
- Urban View
Photos entered into one of the main categories can also be entered into the Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ Award. More details are available at www.take-a-view.co.uk
The top prize given to the Landscape Photographer of the Year is £10,000.
Winner of the Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ Special Award will be offered a special walking tour of the Forth Rail Bridge with an overnight’s stay in Edinburgh and rail tickets to the city.
Following the announcement of the winners later this year, the National Theatre will host an eight-week exhibition from 20th November and a full colour book of Best Entries will be available.
All entries to the award must be uploaded via the competition website,
www.take-a-view.co.uk and the closing date is 15th July 2010. Entry fees apply. Full terms and conditions can be found on the site.
Rail industry employees (other than those closely linked to the organisation of the competition) are eligible to enter. However, all photos must be taken from a public right of way to ensure fairness. Full terms and conditions can be found at www.take-a-view.co.uk
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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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