In 2023 ASPC decided to hold a photography competition. The results were so encouraging, with many entrants and a uniformly very high standard, that we decided to do it again, in 2024.

Building on the experience we were very pleased to extend the competition into 2025. The standard of entries was really impressive, yet again.

Twelve winners have been chosen and,  in addition to receiving a modest gift, will be featured on our website home pages - one per month.

Our July winner – an atmospheric view of a mid - summer sunrise was sent in by Nguyen Thac Thanah Thao.

This beautiful capture of those moments just before the sun breaks over the horizon, is pregnant with promise of the day to come. Anyone who has visited our seafront, early on a summer morning, will recognise the quality of stillness, evident in the picture. On days like these, and at this time of day, “all the air a solemn stillness holds”. The night has gone, the day is about to start and, here, we pause on the cusp between both, for a few moments, awaiting the return of our star.

The colours in the photograph are stunning. The clouds, underlit by the as yet unseen sun, the clear sky at the horizon, and the sea itself, all combine to provide a stunning depth of colour.

Waiting in the bay are support vessels for the energy industry – their distinctive shape once so alien to this area – now an everyday sight. Visitors to our area are intrigued by these ships. One visitor, informed (in jest) that they were shrimp boats, observed “the shrimps here must be huge!”

If you’re interested in learning more about each one of our images as part of our photography competition, then why not take a look at one of our previous submissions, here.