The National Assembly’s Presiding Officer launches photography initiative to capture democracy in action

15 May 2012

The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, today (14 May) launches a unique drive to get more people in Wales involved in the political process.

The National Assembly for Wales’s inaugural photography competition will be officially launched at the University of Wales, Newport’s City Campus Wall Gallery School of Documentary Photography, at 18.30, and aims to illustrate that democracy is not something that happens just in Cardiff Bay.

The competition aims to get people to see that politics is all about issues that matter to individuals, their families and their communities, and to illustrate that by working with their elected representatives, people can address those issues and get the cogs of democracy to work in their favour.

“One person taking a stance can make a big difference; change can happen when people from a town or village join forces to make improvements to their community; demonstrations and protests give democracy a voice,” said Rosemary Butler AM.

“The National Assembly for Wales is therefore inviting YOU to send in YOUR pictures of democracy in action in Wales.

“You don’t need to be a photographer or even have a camera – we’re as keen to see amateur action pictures taken with your phone as we are to look at images from a digital camera.

“As long as they illustrate the power we have as Welsh citizens to change our country, send them in to us. As well as giving you the opportunity to win some great prizes, your photographs will add to an historical, visual record of Wales during this unique period in the history of Welsh devolution.”

The competition is being organised in conjunction with Ffotogallery, Wales’s champions of lens-based media and University of Wales Newport’s School of Film, Photography and Digital Media.

Participants are invited to submit their images of “Democracy in Action in Wales” at www.democracyinactioninwales.org / www.democratiaetharwaith.org .

The successful entry will win a digital SLR camera (donated by the University of Wales Newport’s School of Film, Photography and Digital Media and a photography course run by Ffotogallery. Twenty shortlisted entries will be displayed in The Senedd during September, and the overall winner will be announced in a prize-giving ceremony on 3 October.

The competition’s judges are:

Rosemary Butler AM – National Assembly Presiding Officer and Chair of the judging panel

David Hurn – Photojournalist, member of Magnum Photos and founder of the Documentary Photography BA at the University of Wales, Newport.

Professor Dai Smith – Chair of the Arts Council of Wales, distinguished historian and writer on Welsh arts and culture.

Gideon Koppell – Artist and film-maker, and Professor of Film at Aberystwyth University and an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford

Marc Evans – Film-maker and director of Snow Cake and Hunky Dory; Marc Evans is a visiting professor at the University of Glamorgan's creative arts school ATRiuM

Betina Skovbro – Organiser of Photomarathon UK and freelance photographer, based in Cardiff.

The public can also vote for their favourite entry, with the winner being awarded an identical prize to the judge’s vote.

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