fp Turks and Caicos

Students from the British West Indies Collegiate brought the history and culture of the Turks and Caicos Islands into focus, allowing them to snap up some impressive prizes in their first photo competition.

The “Best in Show” winner for the lower school was Buzzy Lawson for his photo “Wading for the race to start.”

The photo was selected as the winner, thanks to Buzzy’s ability to capture the cultural component of the Middle Caicos model boat races, the blowing of the conch horn to begin the race, as well as showing the most experienced boat captain racing against a relative new-comer to the scene.

Davidson Louis was presented with the “Best in Show” award for the upper school.

Louis’ photograph, “Fisherman,” impressed the judges, including Cultural Director David Bowen, in both creativity and technical application.

At the awards presentation, Louis told the audience that he saw the fisherman coming home with his catch, and stole an opportunity capture the moment. The resulting photograph topped each judge’s list for every category, because it frames the graphic story of the TCI conch history, as well as its impressive technical composition.

The photo contest was designed to provide an opportunity for students interested in photography to showcase their talents, while at the same encouraging them to capture life and culture in the Turks and Caicos Islands in their images. The theme of the contest was “TCI Life and Culture — old and new.”

The students were asked to think about the theme, and then compose a photograph which tells a story about life and culture in TCI, historically or in the present.

The type of camera used was not important, rather the thought that went behind the composition of the photo was key. Each student could submit up to three images. The lower school students were asked to provide a title or short caption for their image. The upper school students submitted a 30-word critique of each picture submitted.

The contest ran for three weeks, at the end of which the images were presented to the judging team for consideration.

The images were judged based on how creatively the student captured the theme, as well as how well they technically handled the subject of their image. A winner was chosen from each year level, and then “Best of Show” was selected for the lower school, and for the upper school.

All winners were presented with a $30 top-up from LIME, a professionally processed 8x10 print of their photo and an invitation to a special “tips and techniques” photography course presented by one of the judges.

The two “Best in Show” winners each received a certificate from the TCI Department of Culture, and a Compaq Presario laptop computer, thanks to LIME.