A stunning shot of a miniature Muay Thai boxer is among the winners of Between The Lines – a student photography competition organized by Canon, as part of its support of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The competition categories embodied the three core values of the Commonwealth Games: humanity (conveying benevolence, togetherness or human nature), destiny (conveying fate, aspiration or ambition) and equality (conveying collective spirit, fairness, non-discrimination, or inclusion).
Winners had the opportunity to join Canon ambassador Paul Cunningham, using the best Canon cameras, to experience professional sports photography and editing at one of the world's best-known sporting events.
Indeed, not only did Julia Sotiriou's shot of the tiny Thai boxer and his coach embody all the qualities of the Equality category it won – it showed just how equal this contest was, as the image was captured on a Nikon camera!
The winner of the Humanity category, showing two women helping each other down the steps at Southend on Sea (above), was shot by Annabel Lee-Ellis on an iPhone – again demonstrating the spirit of the Commonwealth Games, and of photography, to unite us all.
Meanwhile the winning shot for the Destiny category, of a swimmer in Dorset looking for spider crabs (below) taken by Charlie Rodwell, was captured on a Canon EOS M3. Shots taken by runners up were taken on bodies including the Canon EOS R6, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and Canon EOS 80D.
"The level of skill, both in artistic ability and technical proficiency was very high," remarked Neale Conroy, Canon UK & Ireland marketing director, who was one of the judges of the contest.
"We were very excited to see how the photographers would interpret the briefs and were not disappointed – with these amateur photographers really pushing their technical ability.
"There was a real variety to the submissions, demonstrating how each photographer saw the values, with a mixture of sports related images and students applying the themes to their everyday lives."
The Commonwealth Games 2022 is taking place in the United Kingdom until 08 August, featuring over 70 countries and 5,000 athletes competing for sporting glory. For more information, visit the official website.
Here are some of the highlights of the runners up in each category.
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