Rangefinder magazine is considered the top international publication for wedding and portrait photographers. Each year they announce their 30 rising stars of wedding photography in the world – photographers who’ve been working at the job for less than 5 years full time who are pushing boundaries, demonstrating excellence in the craft and raising standards. Earlier this year I got an email from Rangefinder letting me know that I had been shortlisted and inviting me to submit a portfolio for the judges’ consideration. I was taken aback – shocked but very excited. This would pretty much be the ultimate accolade were I to make the list, surpassing any other award or type of recognition I can think of. To cut to the chase: I didn’t make the final list. In truth I never really succeeded in convincing myself I was worthy of a place on what will certainly turn out to be a list of formidable talent but nevertheless when the email with the bad news hit my inbox last week I was pretty crushed to read it.
At first the idea of blogging about this never occurred to me. Like, why would I want to shout about a failure? But I spoke to two or three friends about it and it really helped to give me some perspective (thanks guys!) and realise that I was looking at this all wrong. I think it’s an inherently British thing to be humble and play down your achievements. What I have come to realise over the past few days is that rather than wallowing in disappointment I should actually be celebrating this as an immense achievement and a career landmark. There are 30 who will be announced on the final list and these will have been chosen from fewer than 250 who actually made the shortlist. 250 photographers, considered as amongst the most impressive emerging talents of 2016 in the world – in.the.world – and I’m one of them. Wow. On reflection I’ll take that and allow myself a sliver of pride.
Here are the portfolio images I submitted to the judges:
Rangefinder 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography 2016 – my portfolio submission
20 Comments
Congratulations on making it so far! A gigantic achievement and one you should be very proud of. A sensational selection of images John, the bar must have been crazy high this year!
on October 18, 2016Beautiful work 🙂
Excellent work, congrats on making the top 250 well deserved
on October 18, 2016wow John, these are fantastic. Congratulations on making the shortlist, definitely worth celebrating.
on October 18, 2016Congratulations! Beautiful images- I love the sparkler ring photo!
on October 18, 2016Fantastic achievement John and awesome images!! Congratulations
on October 18, 2016A totally brilliant set of images and a massive achievement. Congratulations, John!
on October 18, 2016Great set! The dog on the dance floor is awesome, and the B&W portrait of the bride looking directly into the lens is so strong. Love it.
on October 18, 2016A fab set, love all of them! Congrats.
on October 18, 2016Well done John you should be really proud! All the images are winners but I love that last silhouette image.
on October 19, 2016Congratulations, great set of images. 🙂
on October 19, 2016Congratulations John. Dad and I are very proud of you. You are very talented and a true perfectionist.
on October 20, 2016Wonderful photos 🙂
on October 20, 2016Perfect! Many of them should posted to Moment Junkie 🙂 Well done!
on October 21, 2016Nice selection! Perfectly done images
on October 21, 2016Amazing work. Congratulations!
on October 22, 2016Congratulation! Amazing set!
on October 22, 2016Lovely shots and a great achievement.
on October 23, 2016Congratulations, indeed, you should be proud!
on October 24, 2016Congrats man! some incredible frames 🙂
on October 26, 2016Wow John there’s are awesome, love how you use the light and your editing style too. Definitely something to be proud of and not disappointed!
on November 8, 2016