Capture the spirit of faith and community in a snapshot

Last year we launched ‘Faith through a lens’, an amateur photography competition aimed at capturing personal experiences of faith in the community.

Over 250 photographs were entered and judged by a panel, led by esteemed photographer Don McCullin, alongside Chief Executive of Community Matters David Tyler, Revd Dr David Cornick, General Secretary of Churches Together in England, and Paresh Solanki from Inter Faith Network.

The winning photo captured a Haitian grandmother and child. It depicts the faith and strength of a community living in temporary cramped conditions following the earthquake which devastated the capital of Port Au Prince where the image was taken.

Photographer, Anthony Jarman nominated charity, Compassion UK, a sponsorship charity for children, to receive photographic equipment to the value of £1000. The two runners-up, Phil Walker and Jacob Purches, also received donations of professional photographic equipment for their chosen charities worth £700 and £500 respectively.

The competition opens again in June 2011 and we’ll be inviting budding photographers to submit images that convey the importance of faith today. The positive role that faith can play in uniting communities often goes unrecognised and this is an opportunity to capture those moments. Three winners will not only receive a prize for themselves but will also nominate a charity, faith or community group to receive a donation of high quality photographic or audio visual equipment.

Congregational’s Marketing Manager, Margaret Slater, said: “Faith today is diverse and inclusive, and as photography has become so accessible, we felt that this competition would be an effective way of reaching out to people from all backgrounds and beliefs from across the UK. We actively support communities and by donating photographic equipment to the winners’ nominated groups, we hope to encourage continued interaction.”

For more details or to upload an entry visit www.faiththroughalens.co.uk or go to our Facebook page.

Entries that satisfy the competition criteria will be added to our online gallery www.faiththoughalens.co.uk/gallery where we are asking members of the public to vote for their favourite. The top 20 images will automatically be shortlisted for the final judging session alongside 20 selected by our judging panel and the final 10 entrants will be invited to an awards ceremony, during this year’s Inter Faith Week in November.