‘
Father and son’, Torbrit silver mine, Canada
Andrew Strain
Winner: Technology and Innovation in Mining
‘
Mining in colour’, Daisy Milano gold mine
Western Australia, Helga Lucas
joy and relief of a team that had just completed a seven month
contracting job. “I was inspired by a technique used by a
photographer named Brian Peterson, which is to create a mirror
effect on water using a wide angle lens. By putting the camera
as low as possible, almost touching the ground and very close
to the water’s edge, I was able to capture exactly the moment
which I called ‘Reflection of happiness’.”
When asked about the competition, Muhammed Iqbal
revealed the opportunity it gives to people to express their
creativity and use the wonderful backdrop mining can provide
to capture amazing images. “I would like to express my gratitude
to Snowden and the judges, including Richard Woldendorp,
who have given such an opportunity to all mining practitioners
around the world to express their love of photography.”
Helga Lucas was ecstatic to learn that her image ‘Mining in
colour’ (pictured middle right) was chosen as the ‘Technology
and Innovation in Mining’ winner. “I was thrilled to win a
category prize amongst the international community in this
highly reputed contest. I was very fortunate that my underground
host, owner of the company who operates in the Daisy Milano
gold mine, was a photography enthusiast. He made me aware of
the pitfalls of shooting in a salty, humid environment including
the need to acclimatise my equipment. I really enjoy thinking
outside the box and when this opportunity arose, my initial
thought was how to bring it to life. I wanted to create something
that had a certain mystique or artistic quality to it, so I used
coloured gels and lighting to emphasise the tunnel and simba
drill rig. By illuminating the pool of water it gave the picture
more depth and greater colour spread. The experience of going
underground was incredible. Driving down a spiral of a tunnel
to ‘34 level’ – the number in itself made the mind boggle as
to the depths we had reached. The deep rumbles of boggers
approaching, and their four beaming eyes in the darkness are
some images that will be locked in my memory for a long time.”
Once again the judging panel was led by world renowned
landscape photographer Richard Woldendorp, who is always
surprised by the high level of photographs submitted by the
amateur entrants.
Snowden Chief Executive Officer David Cormack commented
on the prestige that surrounds the competition and was
impressed with the quality and detail captured in some of this
year’s entries. “The Snowden photo competition is well known
in the resources sector, and is definitely one of a kind. The
images that have been selected this year truly celebrate the
beauty, camaraderie and diversity of the global industry.”
The top photographs will be exhibited at a number of
industry events around the world.
‘
Cool operator’, Exploration, Solomon Islands
Brian Levet
Top to bottom: