Morpeth pair win regional photography prize

Jim Scott scooped the landscape award, The Spirit of the North East Prize, for his image Early Birds of Lindisfarne – a glorious, multi-coloured sunrise at Holy Island with fishing boats grounded on the causeway sands and sea birds taking flight.

The portrait award, The Heart of the North East Prize, went to Matthew Locke for his entry titled Back on Track – a photo of his wife gazing out the window of a Newcastle metro train, expertly capturing the light and a moment of excitement and hope for a brighter future.

Jim said: “I started to teach myself photography in November last year as a way of capturing and combining my favourite places and my favourite time of day, sunrise.

"This was one of a number of images I took very early one morning on Holy Island. I was lucky enough to notice a flock of sea birds resting on the sand. After waiting for a few minutes, they suddenly took flight, allowing me to capture this image.”

“Given the standard of the other photographs in this year’s shortlist, I genuinely didn’t expect to win the award. I’m absolutely thrilled.”

Matthew added: “My wife had a job she disliked for years. She applied for a new job in Newcastle city centre, which she was offered. We then took a day off to test-drive her new commute on the metro.

"On the train back, I captured her staring out of the window, looking subtly excited about what lay ahead. The fact we were moving towards the light she was looking at struck me as symbolic of how we hoped the future would transpire.”

“I'm over the moon to have won this year's Heart of the North East award.”

The two winners will each collect a £1,000 cash prize courtesy of bestselling author LJ Ross, who founded and sponsored the prize through her publishing imprint, Dark Skies Publishing.

LJ Ross stated: “I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners, Jim and Matthew, for their stunning entries which deservedly take home the prizes."