After scoring the holy grail of photography – a National Geographic cover – it wasn’t too much of a surprise that young Mountains snapper Aidan Williams is again in the headlines.
Williams has been named Australasia's Top Emerging Photographer Award for 2018, an award run through Capture Magazine. He has also taken out the overall third position for all categories and participants.
Williams, 22, of Linden, said the honour “was incredible, it was only just announced last week and it was my first year of entering”.
He has received a cash prize of $450 and $3,500 gear and accessories.
Williams said he would be grateful to use the funds for the prize to buy more equipment. Working in extreme environments, photographing slackliners he said he had “pushed my camera to the absolute limit … through snowstorms, the biggest waves and at high altitude”.
Williams’s photographic work, including his cover shot for National Geographic Germany, is currently being showcased until May 6 at Gallery One88 in Katoomba.
The event was officially opened by former newspaper photographer from The Australian, Adam Knott, who is also an award winning internationally acclaimed portait and fine art photographer and was Williams’s TAFE teacher.
“There was nothing more fitting than having him talk, he knew me best as a photographer,” Williams said. “He lectured me at TAFE, he's seen me put in all the hard work behind the scenes.”
Most of the works featured sold at the opening night event on Saturday April 28 with many prints selling multiple copies. One of the prints that sold was the snap of the world record of Swiss born athete Samuel Volery at Navagio ‘Shipwreck Beach’ in Greece – when Volery walked a 570 metre line blindfolded without falling. It was the National Geographic cover – Williams’ breakthrough moment.
Chasing Lines – photos of the world’s top slackliners on the highline – is open until May 6 at Gallery One88. The gallery is at 186-188 Katoomba Street.
