At the beginning, my objective was to document the spotter community and after some time, I realized that I had many similar images of people watching planes. I was not feeling good about the development of the project when I received some very encouraging advice from a visiting photographer, Trish Morissey. She said sometimes it is necessary to go through cliché images before advancing to the next level. Her advice pushed me to go out of my way and look at the environment differently.

Plane spotting at Heathrow. Image © Özant Kamacı

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I have spent a considerable amount of time around airports with plane spotters for this project. I want to provide background material to explain the activity and the participants:

Plane spotting at Aviation Academy car park, Heathrow. Image © Özant Kamacı

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I’m originally from Turkey, and after thirteen years living in different countries, I decided to leave the corporate world behind and move to London, UK and study photography. It was liberating for me to find myself among amazing people in the MA Communication Design course at Central Saint Martins.

This client at the needle exchange program has named his daughter ‘Hope’. Image © Özant Kamacı

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Myth or reality? Can a photojournalist obtain international success living in Canada? The answer is yes, with a caveat. It is likely that the work will be shot in other countries.

It is seldom that you see a Canadian story win an international award or grant. But this year the statement rings false as two Canadian photo stories won major international awards. The irony being neither photographer is Canadian. The WPPh 1st Prize Portrait Winner by Roderik Henderson from the Netherlands and Australian Claire Martin who received this year’s Inge Morath Award for her work that included the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.

From the series “The Downtown East Side” © Claire Martin, 2010.

So the next question is, do Canadian photographers apply for award and grant opportunities? I know many submit to World Press Photo, but I’m not sure that the same numbers apply to grants and other awards. There are often application fees, but if you feel you are working on, or have a finished project that has something to say, then go for it. Today, it is often the only way to fund a project. PDN and Lightstalkers frequently post upcoming awards and grants.
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I began to write this post about situations experienced organizing World Press Photo in Toronto. There are dozens of exhibition stories, but I know my posts are already long, and today late, so here is just a taste.

I gallery sit the exhibition for most of its time in Toronto and have watched thousands of people look at pictures. It is never boring and has become my favourite aspect of the exhibition. Observing people engage with the pictures validates the importance of the World Press Photo exhibition.

I will never argue that World Press Photo is the best photo exhibition each in year, but I do not know of another photo exhibition that will have more eyeballs view. Yes, it is a competition and selections are annually questioned, but the public does not know or care about this, they visit to be touched and to learn about our world.

World Press Photo is about esthetically strong photography, but my interest and why I feel it is such an important exhibition is because of the power it has to educate. The October dates for Toronto was not selected by chance, but because it is one of the best months for school field trips to occur. High schools teachers are actively encouraged to incorporate World Press Photo into their fall curriculum and to visit with their students. Last year, more than 10,000 students visited, and the exhibition has been a catalyst for raising social justice and environmental issues at many schools.

Photo by Lesley Sparks
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