The winner of Bolton College’s popular photography competition has been announced. 

Luca Birtwistle, a pupil at Rivington & Blackrod High School, was crowned winner for ‘Looking Up’, a stunning image using selective focus and depth of field to produce a memorable photograph. Luca received a £50 prize.   

Runners-up prizes went to David Fergie, from Sharples School, and Zahraa Bhobat, from Bolton Muslim Girls’ School. They wowed judges with their outstanding photos and each received a £25 voucher for their efforts.

The popularity of the College’s annual photography competition continues to grow, with more than 70 pupils and over 250 pictures submitted. Students were invited to enter up to three photos of their choice, inspired by a theme of their choice.

The team of judges was led by Ian Littlewood, Bolton College Schools Coordinator and himself a talented photographer.

Ian said: “As always, choosing a winner was incredibly difficult, but we were immediately struck by the power of Luca’s image; not only did it display imagination, but technical competency too. This is one of my favourite events as it’s an opportunity to showcase the tremendous talent of young people within our schools and sixth forms. I’d like to thank all of the students who submitted photos, it was a privilege to look at all of the images.”

Luca, 15, said: “I’m so glad that the judges liked my photo. I love photography so to win a prize for doing something I enjoy is amazing!”

Bolton College is running another photography competition from now until Christmas. Bolton secondary school pupils are invited to submit three photographs on the theme of ’My Life’. Entries need to be submitted by 18^th December 2020. Email photos to photocomp@boltoncc.ac.uk