A photographer has won a top prize with a shot of a hawthorn tree by a dew pond at Ditchling Beacon.
Paul O’Prey was the overall winner of the Tree Festival Photographic Competition and his picture has gone on show in a free exhibition in the foyer of the Jubilee Library, in Brighton.
The theme of the competition was “I love this tree because …” and Mr O’Prey said: “I love these lone hawthorns by the dew pond on Ditchling Beacon because they give shade to thirsty sheep and rest to wind-weary birds. In blossom time they are alive with bees.
“Dew ponds and May trees are both rich in folklore and magic. This is a mysterious place. The city and the sea far below seem from another world.”
His picture is one of 18 photographs on display at the Jubilee Library – the shortlisted entries in the competition which was organised by the countryside charity CPRE, previously the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
The contest was organised as part of the annual Tree Festival organised by CPRE Sussex, with a mix of walks and talks and other events in and around Brighton and Hove.
One of the organisers said that the competition “celebrates the wonderful diversity and life of trees”, adding: “The exhibition highlights our fabulous Sussex trees, their importance and immense value to us.
“All these evocative, inspiring pictures feature trees found in the Living Coast Biosphere and were taken in Brighton and Hove and East and West Sussex.”
The runner up this year was Steve Geliot, with a photograph of a veteran ash near the Devil’s Dyke.
He said: “I love this tree because of the way it frames the soft curves of the escarpment with expressively jagged branches and spiky palmate leaves and also for the shelter it gives me at night, holding a pocket of warm air around me.
“I am recording its last years as it sadly succumbs to Ash dieback disease.”
The winner of the Young Photographer category was 12-year-old Blatchington Mill pupil Evy Finney-Chokey with Waves in the Wood – a picture of a cedar of Lebanon behind Stanmer House.
Evy said: “I love this tree because it is nature’s climbing frame. Kids reach the top to be king of the castle. The trunk is soft to the touch with lines like waves. A work of art made by nature.”
One of the judges, Juliet Sargeant, a fellow of the Landscape Institute, broadcaster and award-winning garden designer, said: “All the lovely, imaginative pictures entered have given us another way of looking at trees. That’s what I loved about this collection.”
Fellow judges Barnaby Ash and Dru Plum, who founded the award-winning Ash and Plumb, creating works celebrating the natural beauty of wood, said: “Coming from different perspectives they’re all quite conceptually creative. Some of them are quite unexpected which is inspiring.”
The other judges included Beatrice Haverich, photography course leader at Brighton Metropolitan College (the Met), and Harriet Broom, who teaches photography at BHASVIC (Brighton, Hove And Sussex VI Form College).
Paul O’Prey won a £100 prize. Steve Geliot and Evy Finney-Chokey won a £75 prize each.
CPRE Sussex trustee Penny Hudd said: “It is a real treat to see such beautiful and interesting pictures, each one giving us another way of seeing and appreciating our wonderful trees.”
Volunteer organiser James Tulley said: “The quality of submissions is really good this year. People have brought thoughtful interpretation and creativity to the subject which is fabulous.”
To join CPRE Sussex or to donate or to find an event, go to the CPRE Sussex website. The charity has thousands of members and supporters locally and aims to “protect, celebrate and regenerate our precious countryside and green spaces across the county”.
It said that the Tree Festival held over the past two weekends, was made possible with sponsorship from the Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere, Rampion Offshore Wind and Connick Tree Care.
The exhibition at the Jubilee Library is due to end on Saturday (28 June). The pictures are then expected to go on show at the Rampion Visitor Centre, at 76 King’s Road Arches, Brighton, over the summer.
Some of the shots will also be featured in the gallery on the CPRE Sussex website.
