Conceptual

Set-up photographs can be literal, abstract or conceptual, and unlike other categories in the competition, are judged almost entirely on subjective and aesthetic criteria because of the absence of a hard narrative or figurative information. Evaluating these images draws more heavily on the fundamentals of photography – composition, rhythm, design, and use of and manipulation of colour or light. Any subject, whether constructed as a frozen Still-Life in a studio or captured on the wing on location, qualifies, and we are surrounded potential subjects, including the abstract patterns of nature and the constructed chaos of our daily lives. Constructed photographs require a designer’s eye to relish the spatial and sculptural qualities of an object.