Alfred Watkins was a Hereford businessman, author, amateur archaeologist, antiquarian, local politician and authority on beekeeping, as well as founder member and President of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club.
He was a respected photographer, taking over 300 photographs of rural life and surroundings. He made some cameras himself and manufactured an exposure meter called the Watkins Bee Meter due to its small size and efficiency.
Watkins was famous for his work on ley lines. On June 30 1921 Alfred Watkins had an extraordinary revelation. As he stood on a Herefordshire hillside, it came to him that straight lines of sight criss-crossed the landscape, connecting ancient and spiritual sites. Christening them ley lines, he believed they enabled our ancestors to navigate.
Hereford College of Arts (HCA) invites you to celebrate the life and work of the visionary Alfred Watkins by taking a photographic image responding to the theme of lines. We kindly invite professional and non-professional photographers, of all ages, to join this photography contest.
When you enter this photography contest you have the chance to become HCA’s Alfred Watkins Photographer of the Year 2021 and win amazing prizes. But that’s not all, the finalists and winning images will be in a photo exhibition at HCA for the public to view.
So join today, help us celebrate life and work of Alfred Watkins.
Learn about Alfred Watkins by reading The Tate’s paper.
Visit Hereford Museum & Art Gallery to view the Alfred Watkins Exhibition.
Competition rules
The competition is open to both professional and non-professional photographers, young and old. There is a category for adults (aged 16+) and a category for young photographers (aged up to 15 years old).
It opens on Wednesday 30 June 2021 and closes on Wednesday 28 July 2021. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 25 August 2021. The photo exhibition will take place in September 2021 (date to be announced).
Staff of Hereford College of Arts are not allowed to participate.
All images must show respect for the subject and the environment. Images that were made while disturbing or damaging the environment are not permitted. On suspicion of disturbance or damaging the environment the image will be excluded from participation.
Colour or black & white images are permitted.
Prizes
Adult category (aged 16+)
Main prize:
• Nikon Z5 AND Alfred Watkins’ Herefordshire: In His Own Words and Photographs
Runner up prizes:
• Nikon D3500
• Alfred Watkins’ Herefordshire: In His Own Words and Photographs
Young photographer category (aged up to 15 years old)
Main prize:
• Coolpix B500 AND Alfred Watkins’ Herefordshire: In His Own Words and Photographs
Runner prizes:
• Fujifilm Instax Mini 9
• KiiPix Portable Photo Printer | Instant Compact Printer for iPhone & Android
How to submit your photo entries
Entries should be sent to marketing@hca.ac.uk via Wetransfer using the following steps:
Step 1 – Go to https://www.wetransfer.com/
Step 2 – Drag your files to the ‘Add your files’ section
Step 3 – Enter marketing@hca.ac.uk to the ‘Email to’ section
Step 4 – Press the Transfer button
You may submit up to 5 images maximum. JPEG files only with a weight a minimum of 125kb and maximum of 2000kb (2MB) and 300dpi.
When submitting your entry please include a word document with your name (first name and last name), how your photo was inspired by Alfred Watkins, your age, telephone number (with area code) or email address.
Permitted editing techniques
The following editing techniques are allowed:
General adjustments, such as contrast, saturation, sharpness, white balance, shadows/highlights, digital graduated grey filter and local adjustments (such as dodge and burn) and removal of vignetting, only if done with moderation and retaining the original character of the image. It’s up to the jury to decide on this.
Removal of chromatic aberrations and lens distortion.
Removal of sensor spots.
Cropping, as long as you keep a high resolution image with at least 3000 pixels on the longest side.
Multiple exposures provided the image is constructed inside the camera itself.
Panoramas straight out of the camera or stitched with software outside the camera are both allowed on the condition that individual photos are shown to the judging panel when demanded.
HDR manipulation and focus stacking via software outside the camera, provided these techniques are used with moderation and do not compromise the natural character of the image.
The following techniques are not allowed:
Addition of elements in the image.
Removal of elements in the image other than sensor spots or disturbing elements bigger than 3 % of the image.
Frames, watermarks or names in the photos. The jury will exclusively judge photos that are anonymous and show no name or personal watermark in the image.
Overall, manipulated images that are clearly exaggerated will be disqualified.