The spellbinding winning images from the world’s biggest space photography competition have been revealed by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Now in its 15th year, the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition aims to highlight amateur space photographers from around the globe.

This year’s winning image was taken by Germany’s Marcel Drechsler, France’s Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty.

Their image of a never-before-seen oxygen arc next to the Andromeda galaxy came up top among 4,000 submitted entries from 64 countries.

The photograph was taken in 2022 and — according to its authors — was an “absolute accident”.

“No one expected to see it and that’s why it’s called Andromeda, Unexpected, because we wanted to take a beautiful image of the Andromeda Galaxy,” Mr Drechsler said.

“And we looked at the first data and we spotted this hazy smudge on the edge of the image.

The image has captured the attention of scientists worldwide who are now investigating the giant object in a transnational collaboration.

Here’s the winning image alongside other category winners.

Galaxies and Overall Photographer of the Year

‘Andromeda, Unexpected’

Skyscapes Photographer of the Year

‘Grand Cosmic Fireworks’

Sun Photographer of the Year

‘A Sun Question’

Moon Photographer of the Year

‘Mars-Set’

Aurorae Photographer of the Year

‘Brushstroke’

Planets, Comets, and Asteroids Photographer of the Year

‘Suspended in a Sunbeam’

People and Space Photographer of the Year

‘Zeila’

Stars and Nebulae Photographer of the Year

‘New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya’

Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer

‘Sh2-132: Blinded by the Light’

Young Photographer of the Year

‘The Running Chicken Nebula’

The young photographer category is open to budding astrophotographers aged 16 and under. 

Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation

‘Black Echo’

The city of Ostend is organizing a Photo Biennal : (IN)FLUX until November 12, with more than 30 (inter)national photographers in 23 locations, chosen by curator Stephane Verheye. Thanks to Bart Ramakers who made this presentation.

(IN)FLUX – a true anthology of contemporary photography

The International Photobiennale in Ostend is hosting for the second time a series of renowned photographers from around the world in the Queen of the Beaches. In one way or another, they are all influenced by other forms of artistic expression – which is why this second edition of the biennial is titled (IN)FLUX – but their work couldn’t be more diverse. A true anthology!

Too much talent

Among them are two artists from the United States: Joel Peter Witkin and Peter Lippmann (although the latter lives and works in Paris). The other artists mainly come from Europe because, according to curator Stephane Verheye, there is simply too much talent here to be ignored. “This is already evident in the Belgian selection. It is truly world-class. There are veterans like Karel Fonteyne, Tony Le Duc and Diane Hendrikx, but also young talents like Athos Burez, Marie Wynants and Mous Lamrabat. If you look at the journey they have undertaken in recent years, it is truly impressive.”

(IN)FLUX

The theme of the second edition, (IN)FLUX, is as simple as it is astonishing. Verheye sought out photographers who have a strong connection to other forms of art: “Julia Fullerton-Batten clearly draws inspiration from cinema, Marie Wynants evidently comes from the world of dance, Tony Le Duc is heavily influenced by painting, and you wouldn’t believe how many photographers tell their stories using chiaroscuro or other painting techniques: Olivier Valsecchi, Bart Ramakers, Jenny Boot, Geert De Taeye…”
How is this possible? It surely has something to do with the fact that photography is still a young art form. But it is clear that a large number of these photographers were selected because the curator focused on staged photography. The invited photographers are already involved in art: they visit exhibitions and art fairs, their works are shown in museums, they know what’s going on and position themselves within a great tradition – or they question it.

Ingenious Set Designs

This ultimately led to a very strong selection of 32 photographers in 22 very diverse locations: a church, a fort, museums, but also in public places such as parks, the beach, the dike… no one can visit Ostend without catching a glimpse. It immediately becomes clear that the curator and his organization have paid a lot of attention to the set design of the exhibition: Julia Fullerton-Batten’s monumental paintings form a perfect symbiosis with the Anglican Church, Athos Burez’s still lifes and other works reference James Ensor’s works in the Ensor House. In MuZee, Aglaia Konrad presents her Kammerspiel, a work in dialogue with the exhibition space and its architecture, while Peruvian artist Giannina Urmeneta Ottiker takes the viewer into an obscure world between fiction and reality next to the works of Belgian photographer Karel Mus in the old church tower ‘De Peperbusse’.

Galleries

Among the 22 locations are 6 galleries, each with a completely different approach. AHWNN showcases young Belgian photographers Hannah Moens, Jyoti Dresselaers, Luana Masala, Nick Verhaeghe and Neoza Goffin. Noir de Noir has a solo exhibition featuring the works of Norwegian artist Kjetil Karlsen, reflecting melancholy, solitude, and abandonment. CAS has given complete freedom to Lieven Lefere to install his work next to Guda Koster’s. Rami Hara – a young Somali with a remarkable body of work – is exhibiting at Oever, and Swedish-Rwandan photographer Luc Gatwa is featured at Theobalds Boothuisje. Finally, at Galerie Papillon, you will find the recent work of Bart Ramakers alongside his great inspiration Joel Peter Witkin (who also has a parallel exhibition in Fort Napoleon).

Open air

Even those who never enter a museum or gallery will still be surprised by photography: the poetic works of Stephano Bonazzi breathe the sea air on the ‘Small Beach’, the reflections of Bara Prasilova on the relationship between nature, culture and man speak vividly to us at the “Drie Gapers”… Jenny Ymker shows us works in the Royal Park, a place where some of them have been created, Luca Izzo questions the artistic structures and boundaries of the 20th century on Avenue de la Reine. Giorgia Bellotti (alias Giorgibel) shows her refreshing dialogue with the work of René Magritte on the dike near the Venetian Galleries.
In Central Park @ Sea, the highly architectural photographs of Soo Burnell (UK) offer a beautiful contrast with the new constructions around, as well as the delicate and Baudelairian still lifes of Peter Lipmann, which amaze on Place Princesse Stéphanie with their baroque complexity and ingenious luminosity.

Pleasant

You want to have an overview in a few minutes? Just walk through the New Galleries, where 29 panels show you all photographers and all locations.
With this second International Biennale of Photography, Ostend confirms its aspirations as a cultural city on the Belgian coast this autumn. There is nothing more pleasant than strolling, walking, visiting, admiring the exhibitions, the photographs, the sea, the restaurants, the terraces for a weekend or a midweek!

Practical information

The second edition of the International Biennale of Photography in Ostend takes place from September 16th to November 12th in over twenty indoor and outdoor locations in Ostend.
This edition emphasizes the connection with other forms of art. Each photographic work reflects the theme (IN)FLUX in a unique, contemporary, and insolent manner.

Locations: Fort Napoleon, Mu.ZEE, the James Ensor House, the Amandine, the Anglican Church, the Peperbusse, Leopold Park, the New Galleries, the Small Beach, Place Princesse Stéphanie, Royal Park, the Place de la Gare, Central Park @Sea, the Zeeheldenplein, the ‘Drie Gapers’, Avenue de la Reine, CAS (Contemporary Art Space), Theobalds Boothuisje, AHWNN (A Horse With No Name), Noir de Noir, Papillon gallery, Oever gallery, and the dike.
Except for the Amandine and the Peperbusse, all exhibitions are accessible to people with reduced mobility.

Tickets: €15 (all indoor locations, except for Mu.ZEE), €15 (Mu.ZEE), €26 (all indoor locations + Mu.ZEE)
Tickets are available at Fort Napoleon, the Ostend tourism office, or on the fotobiennale.be website. Children under fourteen years old have free admission (except for Mu.ZEE). Young people under twenty-six can benefit from a reduced rate.
Tickets for Mu.ZEE are only available at Mu.ZEE or on the fotobiennale.be website.
All outdoor locations and galleries are free for everyone.

Photographers:
Joel-Peter Witkin, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Mous Lamrabat, Marie Wynants, Stefano Bonazzi, Jenny Ymker, Athos Burez, Bara Prasilova, Aglaia Konrad, Karel Fonteyne, Jenny Boot, Tony Le Duc & Diane Hendrikx, Olivier Valsecchi, Luca Izzo, Giannina Urmeneta Ottiker, Karel Mus, Giorgibel, Geert De Taeye, Soo Burnell, Peter Lippmann, Bart Ramakers, Kjetil Karlsen, Lieven Lefere, Guda Koster, Hannah Moens, Jyoti Dresselaers, Luana Masala, Nick Verhaeghe, Neoza Goffin, Rami Hara and Luc Gatwa.

www.fotobiennale.be/fr

Julia Fullerton-Batten in the Anglican Church : Perfect Symbiosis

From the early days of photography, some photographers deliberately staged scenes, setting themselves apart from the spontaneous nature of snapshots. Did they have more artistic ambitions than their peers? Couldn’t they express themselves through candid shots? Nevertheless, they were often dismissed as failed painters: Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Henry Peach Robinson, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, later William Mortensen and many others. It is precisely in this terrain that Julia Fullerton-Batten walks in the footsteps of more contemporary colleagues like Gregory Crewdson, Jeff Wall, Erwin Olaf and David LaChapelle, creating her own body of work in an undeniably unique way.

Cosmopolitan

Fullerton-Batten was born in Bremen, Germany. She spent her youth in Germany and the United States, but after her parents’ divorce, she and her siblings moved to the United Kingdom. There, she completed her high school studies and then studied photography. Subsequently, she assisted professional photographers for five years before a first commercial assignment launched her career in 1995, and she gained her first recognition as an art photographer in 2005. For the past 15 years, she has completed 12 projects, including Old Father Thames, a series of photos about the history of the River Thames that is still ongoing. She exhibites worldwide, won numerous awards, and her photographs are held, among others, by the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Symbiosis

Julia Fullerton-Batten: “Being half British and residing in the United Kingdom for many years, the framework that the curator of the Biennale proposed to me was simply perfect. The English church in Ostend has been part of the Church of England for just over 150 years: it is a multicultural community that worships in English. Stéphane Verheye selected works from my projects Old Father Thames, Photographie Mon Amour, The Male Body, Looking out from Within, Feral Children, and A Testament to Love.”
The works are presented in large formats in this exceptional church setting, while others are shown in peepholes. Visitors will notice that not only the religiously inspired works, but also the more profane ones perfectly symbiotize with the neo-Gothic architecture of the church.

Mysticism

Indeed, Julia’s photographs, often inspired by cinema, are imbued with an alluring mysticism that urges the viewer to look at them again. And again. And again. Each time, something new emerges from them. The photographer often works with models she discovers on the street, and it shows: she achieves a certain stiffness, even discomfort, which is difficult to achieve with professional models or actors in these photos – which are, by the way, technically perfect. This duality between amateuristic models and technical perfection also plays an important role in the complexity of the “scenes” in her works, which always involve a small army of stylists and set designers, as if they were Hollywood productions. But be careful, behind her sophisticated staging are relevant social observations. And no matter how many layers of makeup she applies to them, they could not erase the emotions and desires of her protagonists, captured in a silent expression like in the works of the old ‘primitive’ Flemish masters.

A must-see exhibition!

International Biennial of Photography, Ostend
September 16 – November 12, 2023

Julia Fullerton-Batten at the Anglican Church
Langestraat 101 Ostend
Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5:30pm
Sunday 1pm – 5:30pm

www.fotobiennale.be/en

Jenny Ymker at Fort Napoleon and Royal Park

Jenny Ymker travels the world, often with a suitcase in hand. Her work is not fundamentally feminine, but it breathes a feminine perspective. The ‘character’ depicted may seem lost, adrift in an indifferent environment, but the artist relies on her imagination to stay on course and transform her solitude into strength.

Gobelin Tapestry

The basis of her work is photography. She translates her photos into gobelin tapestries and thus takes her place in an ancient storytelling tradition, such as the Bayeux Tapestry or gobelins based on paintings by Rubens or other great artists. For the production of these tapestries, the artist collaborates with Roland Dekeukelaere from Flanders Tapestries in Wielsbeke, Belgium. Ymker says: “Textiles give depth to a representation. It is not so much the perspective depth of the representation, but rather a depth of the material itself. The fibrous structure of the thread adds its own depth to the colors and softens the sharp boundary between the space in which the viewer finds themselves and the surface of the wall tapestry.” In addition to these large-format gobelins, Jenny Ymker showcases photos in LED lightboxes, often the size of a shoebox – true viewing boxes – or transforms them into video.

Absurd Tales

“I want to evoke stories within the spectator. I worked in the healthcare field for some time, and there I realized that when someone is no longer able to tell a story, even a small one, the feeling of having meaning, the feeling of importance, slowly disappears. Stories shape our identity and define who we are. Telling stories is an essential part of our human condition, which is why it is so important to me.”
The individual in search in the vast world is a recurring theme in her work. This corresponds to the romantic movement where the feeling of the immensity of the world is a major theme – as in Caspar David Friedrich, for example. However, Ymker feels even more affinity with absurdism. She is not seeking unity with the grandeur of the world, but rather the constant dialogue between the lonely individual full of aspirations towards the rest of the world and this very world that surrounds him but ignores it. This tension pushes the efforts of the individual towards absurdity.

An Eternal Paradise

In all her works, she portrays herself. For her, this is logical, since the presence of someone else in this “world” she stages would be disturbing to her creativity. She is Adam and God at the same time: creator and first inhabitant of her own world. But rest assured – this world is not so lonely: for the staging and shooting, she collaborates with her husband Kees van de Ven.
“The photos are snapshots of a story, what happens before or after remains open.”
One thing is certain: Jenny Ymker’s images do not leave you indifferent. Turning her back to the viewer, she freezes. Overwhelmed by the environment, a memory or an unfulfilled desire. As a spectator, you get carried away by her emotion and get lost in her landscapes. The heightened romantic image of a man or a woman gazing at the horizon has not lost any of its power. Thoughts and dreams emerge. You feel and breathe with the main characters who are at the mercy of a grand natural environment. It’s as if everything is finally as it should have always been – in Jenny Ymker’s mind, everything falls into place.

International Photography Biennial, Ostend
September 16 – November 12, 2023

Jenny Ymker at Fort Napoleon
Vuurtorenweg 13, Ostend
Tuesday – Sunday 10 am – 6 pm

Jenny Ymker at Royal Park
Koningin Astridlaan, Ostend
Permanently accessible to the public

www.fotobiennale.be/en

It’s safe to say that everyone can use a little inspiration on a daily basis, especially us photographers who thrive off creativity to keep creating our work.

To be inspired is such a positive emotional experience, and it should be nurtured and remembered in order for us to be the best artist we can be.

But how do you find inspiration in the first place? Is there some specific process to tap into inspiration or is it a matter of chance? How can you stay motivated and focused on your passion?

The advice in this article can be used as inspiration for the student, an exercise manual for the working professional, a reference for the teacher, a document of the contemporary photographic scene for the future historian, or just some food for thought.

It’s an article to keep on hand to revisit, because if something doesn’t resonate now, they may still serve as useful resources at a later stage. I’ve also spoken to a few professional photographers to gather their thoughts and experiences on the topic. Let’s conquer the blues together! 

1 Slow Down

Photography as a medium definitely has a point-and-shoot quality to it regardless of the type of camera you use, especially if we compare the medium to other art forms such as drawing, painting or sculpture.

It’s not until you slow down the process that the mind is able to dissect what you are seeing, which then allows you to analyse the contents by inspecting and figuring out what exactly your interest is in the subject.

In short, it’s about thinking more and shooting less, which is a wonderful way to understand your photography more and keep things moving forward. Sometimes the best thing to do is put the camera down and simply observe and take note.

2 Change it up

Sometimes life can become a daily grind, where nothing seems to excite you as you fall into the rhythm of routine. You can overcome this by doing different things and by doing things differently.

Perhaps you’re tired of visiting the same location, so change it up, go somewhere new and unfamiliar. Maybe you always shoot solo, switch it up and work with other photographers for assistance, even if it’s for nothing more than moral support, you’ll be sure to find inspiration in the process.

A good example of how change can shape our work is by Sydney street photographer Douwe Dijkstra, who is known for his square black and white images.

He says that simply changing the image ratio has transformed his vision, sharing, “The format forces me to compose my images differently. I’m still relying on the fact that composition comes naturally to me, but it forces me to work with a more horizontal composition.”

3 Be Passionate

One thing is certain when it comes to photography: in order to stay motivated, you must be passionate about what you photograph.

Finding subjects and themes that resonate with you is a great and simple way to be inspired and pursue shooting. For me, it’s my love of nature, the ocean, mountains, forests and all of these things that are interconnected.

These subjects all have a sincere interest within me, which intrigue me to learn more about these environments, the ecological challenges and issues they face, as well as the sheer beauty of these places.

Be inquisitive, learn as much as you can. Make the commitment, practice patience and compassion. Ask lots of questions. Keep looking, keep thinking and remember there are no correct answers, only fragments of moments that hopefully, form some kind of narrative, feeling or personal experience unique to your vision.

4 Make it happen

Working everyday involves both discipline and an open attitude toward the work you create, which can be easier said than done.

As photographer/waterman Russell Ord believes “hard work always beats talent that does not work”, a quote he heard as a kid from his rugby coach.

“Like most kids, I didn’t have a clue what he was raving on about at the time, but it well and truly resonates with how I have lived my life to date,” he says.

“Inspiration and motivation comes firstly from a necessity to provide for my family and pay for my moderate lifestyle, which is wholly based on the feeling of freedom.

I do this in several ways which is a mixture of the photographic grind, personal projects and knowing exactly when to have a good hard look at myself to make the correct mental changes or the right mindset to keep progressing. 

“Having goals within the personal projects helps tremendously with firstly finishing the project but will open up possibilities of future business opportunities, this is what I like to call a win-win, work that is 100% rewarding on a financial/personal level.” 

5 Study the light  

Mundane subjects surround us in our everyday lives, which is what makes them the most accessible subject matter for photography.

The catch is that mundane is just ordinary if the light doesn’t compliment the subject, so the key is to photograph your scenes with the right light to transform the ordinary subject into an extraordinary subject.

Find a place where the sunlight shines either early morning or late afternoon, and sit down and watch the space change as the light moves and slowly fades into darkness.

Notice how everything changes with the light in the few hours; the work takes on various qualities as the light dances. It really is revelatory.

How does this experiment help? It gives you an appreciation and better understanding of the importance of light to create more meaningful images, hopefully inspiring you to shoot more regularly no matter where you may be.

Look out for part two next week.