The 2025 Competion
Can you capture Clerkenwell?
For some it may be the people, for others the buildings. It might be where you go to school, or to work, or to play. From historic buildings to modern cuisine, from hipsters to high rises, this unique area means different things to different people. From fun social life to serious social issues, from your friends to your favourite tree, we want you to capture whatever the area means to you.
IT’S EASY TO ENTER
Simply upload your images on our website with your name, age category and where (within the area circled) you took the photo. Enter by the end of Sunday August 3rd, 2025.
£100 PRIZES FOR ALL AGES
From schoolchildren getting creative to keen photographers with all the kit to older people with smart phones, we have five age categories:
Under 12s, 12- 18s, 19-34, 35-65 and Over 65s. Also, £100 for the best overall shot, £50 for runner-up, and £100 for the Best Series. Absolutely no experience is needed as this is a fun, free to enter competition.
EXHIBITION AND AWARDS EVENING
One of our sponsors, Dorrington, is kindly hosting the awards night and exhibition in Leather Lane, from 2nd to 25th September, with the results and Awards Night on September 10th.
2024 WINNERS
The standard and variety of shots was once again quite outstanding.
From Under 12 youngsters with a natural flair, true curiosity and genuine creativity to Over 65s still finding new techniques, new angles and a fresh eye.
There were hundreds of entries, with many many excellent shots not shown here.
Maybe one day we’ll make a big fat book of some of our favourites from the last 4 years. (Any publishers out there, just get in touch…).
And it’s never too early to start snapping for next year’s competition. So get out there and have fun!
We’re sorry we couldn’t invite more to the awards night. If you want to see a few pics of the evening click here.
And enormous thanks to our sponsors and supporters.
OVERALL WINNER Little Italy by Graeme Weston
‘With fervour and affection, Anglo-Italians sing the British national anthem, concluding the Italian club’s weekly Thursday afternoon dinner dance.’
WINNER UNDER 12s St Luke’s by Sophia Owen
‘When I walk to school, this lovely cat always says hello to me by the LSO and makes my day.’
RUNNER-UP UNDER 12s Clerkenwell by Sumayyah Azizah
‘Looking out my window and seeing this view just makes my day
WINNER 12-18 Goswell Road by Marilyn Cordell
’I take this bus to visit my aunt’
RUNNER-UP 12-18 Clerkenwell by Marilyn Cordell
‘A memorial statue - To remember the people who gave their lives for us in the war, without them, we would not be able to have this competition because we would all be living in hard and rough times.’
WINNER 19-34 Myddelton Square by Thomas Fletcher
‘A group of inquisitive pigeons in front of the church in Myddelton Square on a cold Winter’s day.’
RUNNER-UP 19-34 Farringdon Road by Efstathios Kapelis
‘A window to another dimension.’
WINNER 35-65 St Cross Street by Colin Page
‘I ran through a flock of pigeons on the street’
OVERALL RUNNER-UP & RUNNER-UP 35-65. Barbican Centre by Carolina Murias Folcini
‘Her hair was on fire. For a few seconds the world stoped. I was in awe of the colours of that scene. The tangerine wavy hair and the deep green of the water.’
WINNER OVER 65s Robert’s Place by Thomas Casey
RUNNER-UP OVER 65s Smithfield Market by Paul Shelley
SERIES
WINNER SERIES Little Italy by Graeme Weston
‘These four images were taken over a two-week period, during which I looked for — and at — the remnants of Clerkenwell’s Little Italy, a once 12,000-strong community of Italian emigrates who first settled in the area in the early 1800s at the start of the worldwide Italian diaspora.’
1. Mass at Clerkenwell’s St Peter’s Italian Church. Seating 2,000, St Peter’s opened in 1863 and was then Britain’s largest Catholic church. It still attracts a large, mainly Anglo-Italian, congregation to Sunday Mass.
2. The step of Clerenwell’s L Terroni & Sons. Established in 1878, Terroni’s proclaims itself London’s oldest Italian deli.
3. Scicilian’s playing cards at the Italian club Casa Italiana S. Vincenzo Pallotti in Clerkenwell. (I was later told by a group of similarly aged but suited Milanese men sitting together at a nearby table that I should be cautious of these card-playing Scicilains. What caution I should adopt was left hanging, but I suspect they simply disapproved of the men playing cards in the social club run by the church.)
4. With fervour and affection, Anglo-Italians sing the British national anthem, concluding the Italian club’s weekly Thursday afternoon dinner dance.
RUNNER-UP SERIES Foxes by Victor Allan
‘All the Fox Images are shot in or around the St James’s Clerkenwell Churchyard where I photograph the foxes but observe other events whilst I wait. Most of the foxes including Scarface appear to have been culled in February 2024. Happily new young foxes appear to have taken over but they are wary and harder to photograph.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Exmouth Market by Miguel Mosquera 19-34
‘Exmouth Market during the early days of March 2018’
Farringdon Road by Jasmine Wales 19-34
‘Rock ‘n Roll at the Betsey Trotwood’
St James’ Church Gardens by Aubrey Brocklebank 35-65
‘Training in the gardens of St James’ Church’
St James’ Churchyard by Victor Allan 35-65
‘Showing how people use the churchyard.’
Clerkenwell Close by Anne Legrand 35-65
‘Reflections of St James’ Church’
Long Lane by Freya Wood 19-34
‘I took this image because I thought, ‘what on earth happened here’, and I hope viewers think the same.’
Clerkenwell by Thomas Casey Over 65s
Clerkenwell by Rhea Richards Under 12s
‘I took this photo from the comfort of my own home located in ec1 over looking Clerkenwell where I have lived my whole life, all 10 years of them.
Clerkenwell Road by Jonathan Wober
The Barbican by Raphael Iruzun Martins 19-34
‘Contrasting concrete geometries in the Barbican
Square Gardens Park by Agata Piccin 35-65
‘To me Clerkenwell means history, tradition , reinvention, inspiration, variety, great outdoors, community, family life. It’s unique energy adds a lot of joy to daily life, and I’m happy to be part of it.
Here are some ‘Lines & Symetries’ at Square Gardens park.’
St James Churchyard by Ilaria Gachi 19-34
Near Spa Fields by Fergus McCann-Bottyán 12-18s
‘Pidgeon 0, Seagul 1. Road kill.’
Smithfield Market by Fergus McCann-Bottyán 12-18s
“Union Jack half mast in mourning for our Queen.’
Clerkenwell Close by Thomas Casey Over 65s
Bevin Court, Cruikshank St by Fiona Meyringer 35–65
‘Lubetkin’s ultimate modern staircase on the site of Lenin’s old digs’
Exmouth Market Lawrence Yip 35-65. ‘A delightful vibe with the colour tone, amused faces and congruence of the cop’s gestures with the cartoon figure up on the wall.’
The Shakespeare’s Head. Arlington Way Tom Brandhorst 19-34. ‘The last bastion of cosy community.
St James’ Church Gardens Aubrey Brocklebank 35-65. Training in the gardens of St James’ Church
Clerkenwell Close Anne Legrand 35-65 ‘Reflections of St James’ Church’
Greville Street Iva Petrovic 35-65. ‘Taken on the way to work, I noted this gentleman kick starting his morning with a coffee and a cigarette whilst reading a newspaper at the Buffet Bar on the corner of Greville Street’
The Charterhouse Rob Wilkinson Over 65s. Charterhouse’s Cool Carthusian Cloister: this 14th Century survivor continues to provide a place of calm and comfort to the Charterhouse Brothers and to visitors
SERIES
Nature Polaroids by Caio Matheus 12-18
‘These polaroid photos were taken in various nooks and crannies in Clerkenwell.
For this year’s competition, I want to showcase the natural beauty of Clerkenwell. I have attempted to do this with my four black and white polaroids of unique parts of Clerkenwell’s nature taken at different times of the year.’
Morning Rush by Tuncsel Ulku
‘I featured stories of people of different ages and genders rushing somewhere in the morning.’
The Barbican by Zipu Zhu 19-34
‘Life around the Barbican, from different times, days, and angles’:
1. 2 Old St. Morning commute, with the Barbican in all its glory
2. 137 Aldersgate St The usual please! Regulars at the Barbican Underground Station Cafe Piazza
3. Lakeside Terrace, Barbican Centre. Lunch under the Purple Hibiscus
4. Barbican Water Gardens, 185 Fore St Framed Purple Hibiscus
