Big ballerinas earn Guy ‘heavyweight’ photography award

Photographer wins international recognition with Russian dance troupe pic

THE visit of a troupe of heavyweight Russian ballerinas to Ilfracombe has resulted in international recognition for a North Devon Photographer.

Guy Harrop pictured stars of The Big Ballet getting ready for a performance at the Landmark Threatre, an image that has won a silver award in the reportage category of the FEP (Federation of European Photographers) European Professional Photographer of the Year Award 2011.

This year’s prestigious competition attracted more than 2,000 entries from the world’s top professional photographers from more than 20 countries.

Guy, from Loxhore, has won five international awards in the last three years for his photographic work with images taken from both in the UK and abroad.

He said: “It is great to be recognised internationally for my work and to win an award in such a prestigious competition is just fantastic news.

“This year has been great for me as I have watched the business grow, taking on more commercial PR for leading businesses, both across the region and nationally.

“Each day is so varied as I can be covering anything from a commercial corporate portrait shoot to a reportage news job to a studio based food shoot.

“This year I have also covered several weddings and in 2012, I will be setting up a professional wedding side to the business which is growing from strength to strength.�