• 23rd May 2013
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• Working with photographers in 23 countries.
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still-life gold series winner

The series Still Life 3. winner was Nicolas Michaelides with a series of images from his Grandmother’s house. Last year, whilst studying photography at London's Cavendish College, he was encouraged to take part in competitions. Shortly after this, Nicolas found out about the LPA and has since been keeping an eye on its competitions since. He says. “I knew that I had some good images to submit to the Still Life competition. This summer, I was visiting my grandmother in Belgium and decided to shoot the interior of her house. It was something that I'd wanted to do for a while, to record the items and trinkets that have been on display for as long as I can remember. I worked systematically through the house, taking in the details and I’m delighted that this special project won the competition.”

Nicolas is a comparatively new to photography but has enjoyed a great start to his career. “Although I was interested in photography in my early teens, I was put off by the seeming complexity of SLR cameras. I stuck with disposal cameras, enjoying the freedom and carefree shooting style and not worrying too much at the time about the quality.

“In 2003, I went to Greece and borrowed a compact digital camera which gave me more control and better quality. I took some good shots and, wondering what I could achieve with an SLR, enrolled on a six-week evening course to learn the basics. I then joined a full-time one year diploma course at Cavendish College, in Central London and loved every second of it. I graduated this summer with distinction.”

Nicolas is now hoping to make photography his career, hoping to begin as an assistant, furthering his practical knowledge, before making the step up to photographer.

He has been a member of the LPA since receiving a Highly Recommended award for the Best Shot competition. He finds it really useful to get membership discounts on insurance, framing, studio time, equipment hire and more – something which he would struggle to find if he chose to go it alone without the support of the Association.

Look out for more of Nicolas’s work in forthcoming LPA competitions. Keen to do more studio portrait work and fashion photography, both the Portraiture and Passion competitions have caught his eye.