The winner of this year’s APEM Group’s Picture of the Year 2022 has been announced! This annual competition covers all areas of the APEM Group encouraging staff to submit pictures that they have taken of amazing natural landscapes and wildlife.
Over 140 entries were submitted, ranging from shots of the UK’s beautiful shores to those of New Zealand’s most elusive species.
To choose the ultimate winner of the internal competition, staff across the APEM Group voted for their favourite photos for each month of 2022, leaving 12 monthly winners. But the final decision of the overall 2022 picture of the year was made by Barry Wilkinson, Video Producer at Go Live Group.
This is what he had to say:
“After shooting a few films for APEM, learning about the business, and getting to go out on location with some of the team over the last few years, I’m thrilled to have been asked to judge the photography competition. Being a filmmaker, the shoots I do with APEM are always visually engaging and adventurous; from going up in a plane over an offshore wind farm to wading through the Mersey (and going out on the litter boat!). Looking at the monthly winning photos it’s amazing to see the deep connection that the APEM team has with nature, as well as an obvious passion for photography. Any of the images could have won for me and I’d love to see more work from the photographers next year!”
The 2022 Picture of the Year Winner is…
Seal by Edward Rickard, Senior Marine Fisheries Consultant - congratulations Edward!
Barry’s thoughts on the photo:
“It was a challenge to choose just one image from such a strong series of photos. There was such an incredible, diverse set of subjects; from candid animal portraits to dramatic landscapes and everything in between, but at the end of the day this one image stood out to me the most. As a filmmaker, I’m always looking for the stories told within photographs as well as the technical aspects of an image. With this photo you really do feel a connection with the seal; it’s an expertly captured moment of interaction between the photographer and nature. As a photograph, it’s very atmospheric, well composed and the exposure is on point - all of this is topped off with the ‘cheeky’ curiosity of the seal connecting with the viewer. Well done!”