The winners of this year’s Historic Photographer of the Year Awards 2020 have been announced. Owing to the effects of the virus and the limited opportunities for travel, this year’s awards asked photographers to submit images from their archive. Despite the challenges of 2020, the Awards attracted record numbers of submissions, according to the organisers.
The Overall Winner was awarded to Michael Marsh for his transfixing capture of the Grade II-listed, Brighton Palace Pier (above). The Historic England category was won by Adam Burton’s aerial view of St Michael’s Church on Somerset’s Burrow Mump (below).
The newly-launched Where History Happened category run in partnership with television channel Sky History went to Martin Chamberlain for his sombre shot of the ancient city of Palmyra, captured before the destruction wrought by Syria’s civil war (below).
Entries were judged on composition, originality and technical proficiency alongside the story behind the submission and its historical impact. The judging panel of experts included broadcaster and historian Dan Snow of History Hit TV, Director of Regions for Historic England Claudia Kenyatta, VP Programming at Sky History Dan Korn, author and leading historic digital colourist Marina Amaral, Chair of The Association for Historical and Fine Art Photography Kira Zumkley, award-winning heritage photographer Matt Emmett and Elli Lewis, co-founder of Trip Historic.
“Historic Photographer of the Year shines a light on the fascinating beauty of the world’s historical sites,” said Dan Snow. “These cultural monuments stand as testament to the incredible stories that took place all around us. The call for photographers to comb through their archives saw everything from abandoned urban landscapes and utterly transporting shots of the world’s greatest cultural locations to Arthurian captures of historical wonders cloaked in other-worldly mists.”
You can see the full list of winners here.
