Step Up Step Up - December 2013 | Page 12

PAGE 12 STEP UP Calat's aspiring photographers cap another successful year ‘…almost half of all the winning photos were submitted by adult learners studying with Croydon Adult Learning and Training…’ Croydon photography students have once again swept the board at the annual City and Guilds International Photographic Competition. For the second year running, almost half of all the winning photos were submitted by adult learners studying with Croydon Adult Learning and Training (Calat). The first three places in the Level 1 category went to Balvinder Nagi, Hideko Okuda-Overhoff and Rudolph Archer. Anita Cottle's 'red flower' achieved third place in the advanced Level 3 group. Five other students collected runners-up awards. The winning pictures can be viewed here. Balvinder's first-place entry captured a young woman on a spring afternoon in Leicester Square in difficult lighting conditions, with the sun directly behind her. Hideko's picture was a striking and intriguing image of a carved watermelon, while Rudolf submitted a lively shot of a funfair ride at dusk. Photography is one of the most popular subjects offered by Calat, and a new studio in the recently refurbished Clocktower, in Katharine Street, means that facilities are now vastly improved. There are seven different photographybased courses and sessions, ranging from beginners to advanced, as well as including a group that encourages former students to keep practicing their skills with new assignments and projects.