Friday 21 Mar 2014 @ 16:15
Economic and Social Research Council
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Winners announced of ESRC national photography competition

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has announced the winners of a national photography competition in which we challenged young people aged 14-18 for their unique take on society and the social sciences by asking them to take a picture on the theme of 'Where Do I Belong?'

There were 14 winners, with one overall winner. The six categories were Family and Friends, Community, Interests and Hobbies, Country, Future and Opinions and Beliefs. Sixteen year old Leone Crick from Lealands High School, Luton in Bedfordshire was the overall winner with his picture called 'Be Ready' ( and subtitled 'Be ready, be strong and persevere'.

Almost a hundred young people, their families and teachers attended a prize giving ceremony and private viewing at the Strand Gallery in London yesterday evening (20 March from 17.00). High resolution pictures are available from the ESRC Press Office.

A video for general distribution is available, and there was a lively presence on @SocialSciSchool and @ESRCpress.

Other winners included 15 year old Curtis Irvine, Regional Winner, Northern Ireland who is from Bangor School in County Down. His picture 'Bring Down The Walls' was inspired he said; "By the need for Northern Ireland to bring down the walls between communities in our society."

Sixteen year old Grace Ridge from Shelfield Academy, Broadway in Walsall in the West Midlands entitled her picture 'Society Hurts' and it won the Opinions and Beliefs section. She said: "In today's society people are criticised and labelled, bullied and stereotyped so much that they feel they are not good enough."

On a lighter note 16 year old Ben Huntley, from Cox Green School in Maidenhead took an action-shot during a local school production and that won the Interests and Hobbies section.

The winners were picked from over 2,000 images seen by judges BBC TV presenter Ellie Crisell; Sophie Batterbury, Head of Pictures at the Independent; and Ollie Smallwood, a freelance photographer. In total 332 schools took part in the competition. For one teacher, Dave Allen from North Halifax Grammar School, the main attraction was that it gave his pupils the chance to closely focus on society: "I routinely ignore calls for competition entries, but this seemed a good platform. The connections between photography, society and history are very important to us."

An exhibition of the winning images will continue until 23 March 2014 at the Strand Gallery.

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Notes for editors

  1. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2013/14 is £212 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
  2. The 'Where Do I Belong' exhibition at the Strand Gallery in London until 23 March is part of National Science and Engineering week.
  3. The winners are:

Overall winner

  • Leone Crick (aged 16) - Lealands High School, Luton, Bedfordshire

Category winners

  • Family and friends - Jodie Krause (15) - Surbiton High School, London
  • Community - Ben Huntley (16) - Cox Green School, Maidenhead, Berkshire
  • Interests and hobbies - Jackson Barton (16) - Highcliffe Sixth Form, Christchurch, Dorset
  • Country - Nadia Rouhipour (16) - St Peter's Church of England Aided School, Exeter
  • Future - Leone Crick (16) - Lealands High School, Luton, Bedfordshire
  • Opinions and beliefs - Grace Ridge (16) - Shelfield Community Academy, Walsall, West Midlands

Regional winners

  • Scotland - Matthew Charles (17) - Galashiels Academy, Galashiels, Scottish Borders
  • Northern Ireland - Curtis Irvine (16) - Bangor Grammar, Bangor, Co Down
  • Wales - Will Hawkes (17) - Ysgol Dinas Bran, Llangollen, Denbighshire
  • England - Toby Pickard (15) - Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Amersham, Buckinghamshire

Judges' favourites

  • 'Good friends share' - Amy Chapman (16) - Park House School, Newbury, Berkshire
  • 'Does anyone care?' - Abigail Carter (16) - Hinchley Wood Sixth Form, Esher, Surrey
  • 'Split opinions' - Sam Rees (18) - The Netherhall School, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
  • 'Story of faith' - Lucy Colbert (16) - Surbiton High School, London
  • 'Family and friends' - Jodie Krause (15) - Surbiton High School, London

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