Which photo do you like best?
Nov 24 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal
More than 100 people entered a photo competition celebrating a notable medical anniversary. David Whetstone introduces the shortlisted images you see here.
MEMBERS of the public were invited to enter a photographic competition called Picture of Health – and here are the 10 shortlisted images for you to vote on.
The competition is part of the 175th anniversary celebrations of Newcastle University’s Medical School and the challenge was to interpret the phrase ‘picture of health’.
Good health, ill health – it wasn’t stipulated. The judges, headed by Prof Chris Day, pro-vice-chancellor of the university’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, were curious to see what would turn up.
We – for I was also on the judging panel – weren’t disappointed. There were newborn babies and what newspapers sometimes refer to as ‘miracle’ babies, having survived seemingly against the odds.
There were lively children jumping, swimming and engaging in a whole range of sports, and there were spry elderly people, laughing, dancing and also engaged in sporting activities.
There were even some entries – largely from medical students – of magnified cells, indubitably pictures of health but perhaps lacking the charm of those featuring humans in their entirety.
If the shortlist is rather long, that’s because there were so many good pictures vying to be a winner.
But an overall winner will be selected by you and the person who took the photo will receive £250 at an award ceremony at Baltic, the Gateshead Centre for Contemporary Art, on December 13.
The winning photograph will be displayed for one month in the sixth-floor viewing box at Baltic along with the five runners-up, whose owners will each receive £50.
The six selected photos will then be displayed at four of the region’s leading hospitals – Newcastle’s RVI, Sunderland’s Royal Hospital, Middlesbrough’s James Cook Hospital and Ashington’s Wansbeck General.
:: You can cast your vote and also view the 10 photos online at http://1834-voting.ncl.ac.uk with voting closing at midnight on Monday, November 30.
