It’s Award Time (IGPOTY 2018)

This weekend has gone by in a bit of a blur.
Apart from a retinal scan on Saturday, which meant that the afternoon was quite literally blurry due to the eye drops, I had found out the day before that I had been awarded no less than six different placings in the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition for 2018. Ecstatic, shell-shocked, excited, numb – all of these applied and still do to some extent.

I have been celebrating over the weekend, both in the real world and on social media, what is an actual undeniable achievement in the world of garden photography. But it still hasn’t quite sunk in. This is a really big deal for me. I need to keep telling myself it’s real, that there hasn’t been some huge mistake – such is the gap between my self-confidence and reality. But here I am, with the little bits of paper, and a weighty, glossy book, to prove it.

With that evidence and with the passage of time over the last couple of days, I have realised the real truth of ‘all things must pass’. The good and the bad, the suffering and the euphoria, we endure and we enjoy, and then life moves on. So perhaps I can move through this moment, appreciating it but without attaching too much importance to it. Enjoying it without too much expectation, or pressure on myself to perform in a certain way in the future. Living now and looking forward to the future – whatever it may bring. ‘Life is short: smile while you still have teeth.’ (anon)

The IGPOTY exhibition is open to the public until 11th March, 2018. 

For garden photography  commissions, contact me at annie@anniegaphotography.co.uk

1st place, Greening the City: City Campus. Looking down the Sun Yat-sen Steps within the university campus of the University of Hong Kong, and across into the high-rise buildings of Western District.

Finalist, Beautiful Gardens: Sunrise at Dale Farm, the garden of Graham Watts, in Dereham, Norfolk, UK

Finalist, Greening the City: Dolores Park, looking across the city to the Financial District as the sun goes down, San Francisco, California.

2nd place, Outdoor Living: Sunrise at the wildlife pond, Chapel Cottage, Norfolk. Designed for wildlife and sustainable living by owner Sarah Butler

Highly Commended, Beautiful Gardens: The Moon Gate, Schloss Dennenlohe, Bavaria, Germany

Commended, Greening the City: The Pavilion of Absolute Perfection, Nan Lian Garden, part of the Chi Lin Nunnery in Kowloon. The garden – commissioned to echo the style of the Tang dynasty (CE 618–907) – sits like a green oasis, surrounded by busy highways and high-rise apartment blocks.

See my website www.anniegaphotography.co.uk for more images or contact me for licensing. All words and images ©Annie Green-Armytage. You are welcome to re-blog and link-share on social media with full accreditation; no other reproduction of any kind permitted without written permission.