UCOL named Tertiary Institute of the Year

UCOL was named Tertiary Institute of the Year for 2009 at the recent national Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards.

It is the fifth year running that UCOL in Palmerston North has won the top award.

More than half of the 90 photographs which received medals in the student/assistant category were entered by UCOL students and the category winner and finalists were all from UCOL.

Eight of the 18 gold medals awarded overall went to photographs entered by both past and present UCOL students and staff.

UCOL lecturer Paul Gummer won the landscape category and went on to win the 2009 Epson/NZIPP Photographer of the Year Award.

Ex UCOL student Bradley Boniface won Student of the Year 2008 and beat his more established peers to win the Creative Category in this year’s awards.

Mr Gummer attributes UCOL’s success at the awards to the practical focus the college offers its student.

“All the lecturers have worked out in the industry with clients as professional photographers, so we walk the talk when we share our knowledge and experience with our students,” he says.

The Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards are the only competition of its kind in NZ and were held at the NZ Institute of Professional Photographers (NZIPP) annual Infocus conference in Wellington.

This year the awards received a record number of entries, with the judges examining all 1208 prints entered across eight categories.

“We expect an acceptable level of technical competence of course, but more than anything we want to see photographs which are emotive, clever and thought provoking,” said head judge Mr Langford.

Among other goals, the NZIPP was established to maintain and improve standards across the industry and encourage professional development.

“The awards are about challenging the photographers to improve and develop their skills and creativity,” said incoming NZIPP president Craig Robertson.

“As a consequence, the overall standard of photography across the industry as a whole improves year on year.”