The Zebra Monochrome Magazine Issue #1 The Zebra Monochrome Magazine Issue #1 | Page 66

You have entered quite a few
awards. Why do you think it is
important to enter competitions?
By entering a competition you are
effectively putting your work into a
larger group. Showing peers what
you are getting up to sitting in the
corner of your room or wherever.
Competitions act as a gauge on
how your work will be received by
other members of the community.
Nominations or positions of
placement encouraged me to keep
pushing and trying harder. I left
my day job and started working
on photos full time due to some
positive feedbacks I had received
from a competition about five years
ago. I didn’t win the competition,
but it gave me the courage to
recognise that I might just have
what it takes to turn photography
into a living.
As you can understand by now, it
is not easy to win a competition.
From your experience, how should
one deal with competition results
in a positive manner?
Those competitions where I went
unnoticed knocked my confidence,
but looking through the winners that were
chosen I realised that my images would not
have appealed to the judges anyway. Don’t
take it to heart, you are taking pictures because
you enjoy taking pictures. Always keep that
knowledge at the forefront of your mind. It took
me about four or five years to win that particular
competition. I could have taken it personally on
the first attempts and walked away, but I had
pictures I wanted to enter each year, so I did.
You cannot please everybody. Some people will
hate my work for the use of post-production
techniques and I’ve gotten used to that. Many

years ago, after studying Graphic Design at
college, I trudged across London asking for
photographic work and advice. Nobody would
employ me and I was told I am too quiet to
become a photographer, but I stuck to my
guns. I put a lot of love and effort into every
photograph I make and I believe that eventually
people pick up on that and it spreads outwards.
If at all possible I will go and make new images
specifically for the competition I intend to enter.

© Clayton Bastiani http://www.claytonbastiani.com/