A St Leonards Schoolboy has hit the jackpot with his very first entry in a photography competition.
Pre-IB1 (S4) pupil Julian Kirschner, has won the St Andrews Photographic Society’s Kodak Cup after only taking up photography as a hobby in November.
Snapping up the prestigious contest, which is open to society members and local school children, required more than just beginners luck with entrants having to submit not one but three images on a unifying theme.
Julian’s series of pictures taken at twilight in Hong Kong, entitled ‘The Skycutters Symphony of Light,’ was declared the winner by the judge (and professional photographer) Malcolm J Thomson, who described the winning photographs as “dynamic, like nothing else we’ve seen”.
Julian said, “It’s the first competition I’ve entered.
“I wasn’t really expecting to win, I just wanted to participate and see what the judge would say about my pictures.”
Modest Julian added, “I’m quite bad at painting and drawing. I think I’m quite creative though and it’s much easier with photography.
“I enjoy it. I have my camera with me pretty much all the time.”
Julian’s victory keeps up an amazing run of success in the competition for St Leonards, with the School now having provided the winner eight times in the last 11 years.
This year was a clean sweep for the School with St Leonards pupils Rebecca Storkamp and Zhijun Hong coming second and third respectively.