Apollo 11 crew watching a lunar launch among AIPP Photography Awards finalists

Apollo 11 crew watching a lunar launch among AIPP Photography Awards finalists
#9 Goods & Services category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Andrew Campbell)

The winners and finalists of the AIPP 2020 Silver Lining Photography Awards have been announced, and as you would expect there is some breathtaking imagery among the winners and runners-up. 

Among the absolute highlights is a shot of the Apollo 11 memorial statue at Kennedy Space Center, sat beneath a spacecraft launch, as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins gaze up to see the vehicle soaring towards the moon. 

Other highlights include a black female subject winning first place in the Portrait category, a great double exposure scooping the top spot in Abstract, and a brilliant fractured portrait using water drops that won the Isolation category – along with some all-round brilliant black and white photography.

The Silver Lining Awards was an initiative by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) to keep its membership meaningfully engaged during the COVID-19 crisis, when restrictions meant that its regular print-based competitions could no longer be conducted. 

“The idea was, quite literally, to create a ‘silver lining’ out of the current situation,” explained Tony Hewitt, Chair of the AIPP Awards Committee. “We wanted not only to give members a creative outlet at a time when many wouldn’t have much work, but also make the whole experience much more beneficial professionally for everybody who entered. 

"At the same time, we wanted everybody to have a bit of fun. And it worked brilliantly; the response has been massive with 3,000 entries, from which we selected 300 semi-finalists and then 120 finalists, 10 in each of the 6 categories."

A $45,000 prize pool was raised, but the decision was made not to award a grand prize winner – rather, in the spirit of the competition, the winnings were evenly distributed among the first five winners in each category.

More information, and the full gallery of winners and finalists, can be found at the AIPP website. The first-place images in each category are as follows…

Winner, Abstract category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Jackie Ranken)

Winner, Celebration category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Leon O'Neil)

Winner, Isolated category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Karen Waller)

Winner, Journeys category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Brian Hodges)

Winner, Life category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Karen Waller)

Winner, Places category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Ruth Woodrow)

Winner, Photo Illustration category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Forough Yavari)

Winner, Places category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Kris Anderson)

Winner, Portrait category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Forough Yavari)

Winner, Student category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Anna Luscombe)

Winner, Wildlife category, AIPP Silver Lining Awards - aippawards.com.au (Image credit: Scott Portelli)

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.