Young photographers skills are celebrated
The winners of the Rotary Young Photographer Competition, run by the Bury Abbey Rotary Club are pictured, left to right, are Phoebe, Eryn, Christopher, Grace, Ben and Patrycja. Photo: Abbey Rotary.
The work of a talented and creative group of local Young Photographers has been celebrated at the Tudor Kitchen, at the Guildhall, in Bury St Edmunds, at the prizegiving for the Rotary Young Photographer Competition.
Run by Bury Abbey Rotary Club the competition was launched at a photography workshop at the Guildhall in October half term 2025, run by local photographer Carol Street, and was supported by the Interact Club of St Benedict’s School.
The theme of the competition was “Happiness in Nature” and this was interpreted in a variety of ways by the youngsters.
The winners of the competition came to celebrate their success on Saturday, January 24, at the prizegiving at the Guildhall.
The children’s families attended to enjoy coffee and cookies and support their loved ones as they received their prizes and certificates from the Rotary President Melanie Lesser
Phoebe (seven) won the Junior age group with her photo of her mischievous puppy enjoying the outdoors.
Winners of the Intermediate age group were Christopher (11) with his grasshopper photo and Patrycja (13) who had taken a photo of a stunning scene in the mountains.
Lena (14) won the Senior Category with her happy cow image.
All winners and runners up were awarded framed prints of their work as well as certificates and prizes from the Rotary Club.
The winning photographers will go through to the next round of the competition where they will compete against youngsters from across East Anglia and have a chance to be entered in a national competition.
The competition was judged by a team including Jo Sweetman, the chair of the Bury St Edmunds Photographic Society; local professional photographer Carol Street; and Jamie Dalrymple of the Photographic Society.
Jo said that working with the young people, both at the workshop and in the competition, had been inspiring and “a joy”.
The competition and preceding workshop were supported by Bury St Edmunds Town Council through Abbeygate ward councillors Annabelle Mackenzie and Nicola Iannelli-Popham.