Wanaka photographer makes finals of Red Bull Award

Wanaka photographer makes finals of prestigious Red Bull Illume awards

Photo Credit: Red Bull Illume

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (3 September, 2010) –

Wanaka photographer, Camilla Stoddart, has earned a place in the final of the prestigious Red Bull Illume photography awards. Not only is she the only New Zealander, she is also the only female in the 50 finalists, chosen from over 22,000 submissions to the globally renowned action sports photography awards.

Her image of BASE jumper, Josie Symons, leaping off a cliff at the Rob Roy Glacier near Lake Wanaka was one of five chosen for the ‘Wings’ category of the competition, one of 10 categories encompassing adventure sports set against the backdrop of some the world’s most spectacular locations.

The awards were announced this week in Dublin, Ireland when all 50 finalist images were shown on giant two metre high lightboxes in the historic Trinity College quadrant. Camilla said she was thrilled to be in Dublin to see her image amongst the world’s best.

“I am so overwhelmed that I have got this far in the world’s biggest action sports photography competition. Since first running of this competition in 2007, I have held it high in my sights and a goal to do succeed in. It was such an incredible experience; I was so overwhelmed by the amount of attention and support. There’re not a lot of female photographers in action and adventure sports because it’s so physical. Being the only female finalist, people were quite interested to hear what I had to say! It was the most humbling experience being up there with the world’s best action sports photographers, meeting them and hearing their story.”

Of the shot, Camilla said, “When humans and mountains meet, wonderful things can happen. I think this shot speaks out to show how humans use the wonderful land that we have been given, taking in the serenity, and the sheer magnitude of this waterfall, a girl has chosen to embrace the cliff by jumping off it, and for a few moments becoming part of the landscape, weightless in the air.”

The Red Bull Illume Image Quest is one of the most prestigious competitions in action sports photography. It gives photographers who showcase sports from skiing, to surfing, BASE jumping to climbing a chance to shine, show off their work and let the world hear about how they came to shoot athletes in some of the most incredible sports in the world. It is not always easy illustrating these kind of sports, and often photographers have to put themselves deep in the elements of what they are shooting to get the shot. Red Bull have the biggest photo library of these such images, and have started a phenomenon with the competition, showcasing the photographers’ work to the world.

The 50 winning images will illuminate the court of Trinity College, Dublin and be viewed thousands of visitors to the Red Bull Illume exhibition before it goes on a world tour.

Camilla Stoddart travelled to Dublin with support from United Travel Wanaka and Emirates Airlines.

For further information please visit www.camillastoddartphotography.com or www.redbullillume.com

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