It is always interesting to sit on the jury of a photo competition, as each is utterly unique. And this was never more the case than in the 2022 Mark Gunter Awards. Since its inception in 2016, the awards have risen to become the most widely respected and regarded photo competition in the sport.
Rouleur was only too happy to become a new partner, but it was clear from the start that we wanted to take the competition to places it had yet to go. And a key ingredient was having a larger, more diverse jury.
As Rouleur staff photographer, and finalist in the awards, I served to bridge the past and the present. And with the addition of last year’s winner, Sean Hardy, we guaranteed a cycling photographer’s perspective. Still, it was important for us to go beyond cycling. Susanna Brown, an internationally-renowned writer and curator specialising in photography, as well as Veronique Rolland, an international photographer, whose work is in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery and Victoria & Albert Museum, London, as well as the Pompidou Centre, Paris, brought serious fine-art credentials to the table. Meanwhile Antonio Colombo, the longtime head of Columbus and Cinelli, is a contemporary art collector and gallery owner in Milan, who understands cycling and is passionate about its link to art.
As a result, the jury asked questions that quickly went beyond the theme of cycling. Are there images that jump out in our mind without seeing them in front of us? Do we want to make any kind of statement with our final selection? These were just two talking points I had never considered before our selection process began.
Needless to say, dialogue was rich throughout the decision-making process, and I think it is reflected here in our final selection. Every photograph selected was debated and discussed with vigour.
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY
1st Place – Bram Bierken @bramberkien
The professional category was led by Bram Berkien (Instagram: bramberkien) for his stunning photo capturing Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard in a rare down moment just after the finish of the race. If memory serves, it was the only photo entered by Berkien. But when you have an image like this, it is not necessary to add more.
2nd Place – Lian van Leeuwen @saltlake_lian
But while Berkien’s image was a clear winner, many other images seemingly had a life of their own, rising and falling in the ranks as the deliberations progressed. And the image…