Celebrating 60 years of the Dorset AONB, our Landscapes for Life Photo Competition has been a wonderful way of seeing the landscapes that you value most, stunningly depicted through sunsets, sunrises, mist, rain even snow.

We are delighted to announce the winners of Youth category of the Landscapes for Life Photo Competition. Despite the pandemic hurdles of lockdowns and home-schooling thrown in their way, over 50 young people aged 18 and under entered the competition. The judges were very impressed by the standard of entries and also the variety – wide views, happy days out and quirky features all capture beautifully.

The Photo Competition has been run by the Dorset AONB Team in conjunction with Dorset Magazine and with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with special thanks to judges Helen Stiles (Dorset Magazine), Matt Pinner (Photographer) and Tom Munro (Dorset AONB Team).

Photo of Purbeck Landscape seen through Grange Arch

Winner: Lulu Fountain, age 16

Lulu Fountain is the winner of the Landscapes for Life Photo Competition 2020 with this image of Grange Arch, with the Purbeck landscape in the distance. The judges were very impressed by the imaginative and accurate framing of this shot and also commended Lulu on the quality of the other images submitted.

Black and white photo of fence post at Blue Pool with figure in distance — Blue Pool (c) Evie Pickford Youth Runner Up 2020

Runner Up: Evie Pickford, age 14

This intriguing photo at Blue Pool captured the judges attention, with the focus on the gnarled fence post in the foreground but the person in the background also capturing the eye. Evie also entered a range of interestingly shot images into the competition.

Photo of young girl jumping for joy with Swyre Head in the background

Runner Up: Oscar de Wit, age 18

The judges loved the sheer joy captured in this photo by Oscar de Wit, taken at Swyre Head in Purbeck. Many of us feel like this when we get outdoors but few actually put our emotions into action like this! Oscar also entered many high quality photos.

To support these budding young photographers, we have a special prize for the winner of the Youth Category – a Kodak PixPro AZ901 camera – and Runner Up Prizes of vouchers for photographic equipment.

Highly Commended Entries

The judges selected a further 6 images as Highly Commended, all showing the landscape off in interesting ways:

Close up of pool at Dancing Ledge with cloudy sky reflected on the water — Dancing Ledge (c) Charlotte Dickin, age 14

Photo of reflections of trees and bushes on water of River Frome — River Frome at Wareham (c) Helen Turnock, age 16

Photo of a field with golden crops and field margin — Sydling (c) Lulu Fountain, age 16

Creech Heath (c) Henry Hollard Dorset AONB Landscapes for Life Photo Comp Youth Landscape — Creech Heath (c) Henry Hollard, age 9

Photo of steam train within Purbeck landscape — Corfe Castle (c) Oscar de Wit, age 18

Photo of footpath at Frampton at sunset — Frampton (c) Lulu Fountain, age 16

Commended Entries

We would also like to give a special mention to the Commended entries which also caught the eye of the judges:

Winterborne Came (c) James Beal-Jones
Durdle Door (c) Matthew Donkin-Turnball
Kimmeridge Bay Stones (c) Maisie Evans
Kimmeridge Bay (c) Maisie Evans
Frampton Tree (c) Lulu Fountain
Scabious (c) Lulu Fountain
Maiden Castle (c) Lulu Fountain
Views of the AONB from Castle Cove (c) Bruno Greenfield
Studland Trees (c) Amelie Hartstone
Winterbourne (c) Amelie Hartstone
Hambledon Hill (c) Alyssa King
Abbotsbury (c) Theo Knight
Ferns at Blue Pool (c) Evie Pickford
Charmouth (c) Tom Smith
Scotland Heath (c) Oscar de Wit
Tilly Whim Caves (c) Oscar de Wit
Winspit (c) Oscar de Wit
Bowleaze (c) Erin Gowers, unfortunately not in the AONB but judges wanted to commend this image

Landscapes for Life Exhibition

We are delighted that all the winning youth entries listed above together with 60 photos from the Open category will form the next version of the Landscapes for Life Exhibition which will be shown at Dorset County Hospital 14th April – 13th July 2021.

Take a look at the winners of the Open category of the Landscapes for Life Photo Competition, announced this summer.

Tunnel of green trees at Winterbourne — Winterbourne Trees (c) Amelie Hartstone

A BIG THANK YOU to all our young photographers

Many thanks to all the young photographers who entered this photo competition. The judges really were bowled over by the amazing variety of landscapes captured and loved some of the quirky details you have spotted too. We’ve really enjoyed seeing the landscape through your young eyes and hope you continue to get out and about in the special places on your doorstep.

Photo Competition Supporters