THE annual Tavyside Patients’ Association (TPA) Young Photographer com-petition was officially launched this month at an exhibition of the photographs from the 2016 competition at Tavistock College.

The TPA, along with support from Tavistock College and teacher Lewis Byron, mounted an exhibition of all the photographs from the 2016 competition, which had led to selecting the TPA Young Photographer of the Year.

The competition, which kicked off earlier this month and runs until October 4, was launched at a preview of the exhibition at the college. The preview was for previous competitors and invited guests, at which guest speaker John Walters, wildlife photographer and ecologist, gave a talk about photographing wildlife on Dartmoor.

This year’s theme for the competition is ‘environment’ and is subdivided into four categories for each of the three age groups of four to nine, 10 to 14 and 15 to 18 years. Although the sponsor of the money prizes awarded to the competition winner and to the winners of the individual categories and age groups, Eric Reynolds, was not able to be present, he sent his best wishes to all entrants to this year’s competition for a ‘happy, snappy summer’.

The preview was opened by the lead judge for the competition, James Bird from the Tavistock Times Gazette. James highlighted the fact that this year’s competition was the sixth to be held and that he had been involved with all of the previous five competitions, with standards getting better all the time. This view was upheld by fellow judge Keith Urro, who said that it was noticeable that current photographs had become more in-depth and more thought out than those in the previous years of the competition.

Surrounded by the photographs from 2016, the winning entry by Charlie Hardy was at the centre of the exhibition.

The TPA welcomed deputy town mayor Paul Ward to the exhibition as well as members of Tavistock Camera Club.

The competition was started with the intention to help young people see past the clinical environment of a doctors’ practice through a fun, pleasant activity, enabling them to be more confident when visiting them in less comfortable times.

For more information about how to enter this year’s competition, contact the TPA at Tavyside Health Centre on [email protected] or visit www.tavyside.org