Liverpool based photographer Andy Allchurch crowned the MyTown 2019 winner

“Do Not Feed The Gulls” taken in Liverpool by Andy Allchurch beat over 2,100 other entries to be crowned the 2019 winner.

• Photography student Andy Allchurch announced the MyTown 2019 winner at last night’s pop-up gallery event at Carousel in central London, hosted by Clear Channel.

• Renowned street photographers Dougie Wallace, Ronya Galka and Linda Wisdom narrowed down over 2,100 entries to “Do Not Feed The Gulls”.

• The winning photograph will be showcased on Clear Channel’s Digital Out of Home sites across the country, including Andy’s home town of Liverpool, to close the UK’s biggest outdoor exhibition of street photography for 2019

Leading Out of Home media owner Clear Channel last night announced the winner of this year’s MyTown street photography competition. “Do Not Feed The Gulls” taken in Liverpool by Andy Allchurch beat over 2,100 other entries to be crowned the 2019 winner.

Judge Ronya Galka says, “Do Not Feed The Gulls was the obvious winner for us – it’s one of those unique candid moments, which you could never plan or re-create as much as you tried, capturing a slice of British life that we all recognise – the perfect embodiment of what the ‘My Town’ competition is all about.”

Speaking of his win, Andy says “It’s all a bit surreal, but it’s amazing to have won. My intention was just to get a photograph of the man who looked slightly strange feeding these seagulls so much bread. As I went to take the photo the seagull flew past his face, with its faced stuffed. In all honesty, it was a complete fluke, which is an aspect I really like about street photography. But it’s a beautiful fluke! I love that the image is a bit of fun too – kind of channelling that Scouser sense of humour.”

“I think it’s great that Clear Channel runs the MyTown event. I actually was inspired to enter after I saw some of the other entries on the screens. It’s a fantastic idea to actually have the exhibition displayed right there on the street.”

Clear Channel’s Marketing Director Martin Corke, who announced the winner, says “This year’s shortlist beautifully highlights the how unique and diverse our Isle is. I’m really proud that we can use the power of Out of Home to show off so many wonderful images.”

As well as being showcased across Clear Channel’s Digital Out of Home network of over 3000 screens, including across Merseyside, Andy receives a FujifilmX100F premium compact camera, and a UK city break of his choosing.

This year’s broad MyTown shortlist is made up of entries from across the UK and highlights the juxtaposed lives of society in modern Britain. View the full shortlist here – mytown.photography/2018shortlist/ (site now closed)

MyTown’s judges:

Dougie Wallace

Dougie is an award-winning British Street Photographer famed for his ‘Harrodsburg’ series, which won the Magnum Photographer Award in 2016 and had a number of images included as part of the Royal Academy’s 2018 Summer Exhibition, curated by Grayson Perry.

He is internationally recognised for his long-term social documentary projects and distinct style of expressive street photography. His next book will be published by Dewi Lewis Publishing in March 2019.

@dougie_wallace

www.dougiewallace.com

Ronya Galka

Ronya was named as one of the ‘Top 10 British Street Photographers in 2015’ by the Interactive Design Institute and last year  was shortlisted for ‘Most Influential Street Photographers of 2016’. Her fine art street photography has been exhibited at Liberty’s of London and the Pall Mall Gallery in London. It can be found in private collections around the world and has resulted in numerous publications and exhibitions over the past ten years. She was also a contributor to the book ‘The New Street Photographer’s Manifesto’ published by Illex Press. 

@Ronya

www.ronyagalka.com

Linda Wisdom

Linda is a professional photographer, specialising in fine art urban and street photography for almost 10 years.  She has been a part of many successful exhibitions including the London Photo Festival and Photo City London in 2017.  Linda won ‘Best Street Life’ category with the British Life Photography Awards 2016 and was commended again in 2018 where her image was exhibited at the Royal Albert Hall, and more recently featured as part of The Hull International Photography Festival.

@lindawisdomphotography

www.lindawisdomphotography.co.uk

See more of this year’s entries on the MyTown Instagram page: mytownphotography