Winning portraits 'capture tapestry of life'

Photographs from across the West Midlands feature among the 100 winning images in this year's Portrait of Britain.

They include pictures of Tasmina Haq, part of Muslim Girls Fence, a grassroots initiative in Birmingham, the portrait of a man grieving for his son and students who had recently moved to the area from Nigeria.

The winners in thenation's biggest photography exhibition were selected from a call asking for images that “celebrate the many faces of modern Britain”, and "capturing the tapestry of life", organisers said.

An image showing Wolverhampton boys Isaac and Nima had been captured after a football match, said photographer Ciara Hillyer.

"I had gone to support a friend of mine, who has dwarfism, play football, and he introduced me to his friends,' she said.

"There is nothing contrived about the photo, it was a real honest moment between Isaac and Nima," she added.

As soon as I took it, I felt a wave of excitement because I knew it was a great image.

"The composition, the facial expressions, juxtaposition; everything aligned perfectly in that second. And the boys absolutely love it!"

An assisted self-portrait of Mauvette Reynolds in Birmingham was shot with the help of Anthony Luvera, who often works collaboratively with homeless people on long-term projects.

Another subject from the city, Mark, was captured by Paul Wenham-Clarke.

He had lost his son in a motorbike accident and had found it hard to grieve, the photographer explained.

The 100 winning photographs will go on display on digital advertising screens located in high streets, shopping centres and transport hubs across the country.

The images capture "the quirky, the mundane, the here and now of the extraordinary everyday in which we live," said Mick Moore, chief executive of the British Journal of Photography, which runs the competition.

“It is in each other that we see ourselves and form our sense of place,” he added.

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