Maltese Photographer Is A Double Winner At The Societies for Photographers Awards In London
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
One of Malta’s premier photographers walked away with two awards this weekend at the The Societies of Photographers Awards in London.
The first award – Street Photographer of the Year – was chosen for his dramatic black and white picture of passers-by at Valletta City Gate. Zammit Lupi also took home with the most coveted award of the evening – the Overall Photographer of the Year.
The Societies of Photographers are a group of organisations incorporating the interests of all aspects of photography. They manage eight internationally recognised photographic organisations. Zammit Lupi was in London for the societies’ annual convention, participating as one of several judges for another competitions, and delivering masterclasses on documentary photography.
“Well, talk about the unexpected. I was already surprised that the picture was nominated for the award as Best Street Photography photo and was rather stunned to win that category,” Zammit Lupi told Lovin Malta. “When it came to the announcement of the Overall Winner of the Year and I heard my name, I was so stunned that I almost fell off my seat, turned white as a sheet, and was convinced this was nothing more than a vivid dream I was having.”
Zammit Lupi’s accomplished career and incredible body of work as a photographer and photojournalist leaves everyone else feeling less surprised. His work is not just visually arresting, but also captures the exact spirit and urgency of both national and international events.
“Receiving one of the highest honours in the photographic industry – I’m excluding those within my field of photojournalism – in a competition with entrants from all over the world, in which the judges are global leaders in their fields, is…. words fail me,” he said, still reeling from the news.
Aside from the great recognition, Zammit Lupi was gifted a Fuji X-T2 camera with a 18-55mm lens, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas as part of the award. A far cry from the camera which he used to capture the winning photograph in question – which was an iPhone 6.
A well-deserved triumph for the local photographer, who is completely thrilled with his victory. “I’m humbled, honoured, thrilled and convinced the judges didn’t have a clue what they were doing.”
Well, we’re pretty sure they hit the nail on the head with this one.
if you would like to see more of Darrin Zammit Lupi’s work, follow his official page on Facebook, as well as his Instagram account – @darrinzl. Who knows, you could stumble upon the next international-winning photograph!