Congratulations to Javier Sotomayor, November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Open." Javier Sotomayor - Entry #879 Dave Koch - Entry #877 Peter Wingfield - Entry #874 Here's what Javier has to say: Hello First of all I wa ...
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Congratulations to Matt Davis from London, UK; PFRE Photographer of the Year for 2020! Matt won the February 2018 "Living Room" and February 2019 "Living Room" contests, has had more top-five finishes than probably any other photographer in PFRE history; and tied for third in the 2019 Photographer of the Year voting. Matt has been a long time contributor to the PFRE community and is very deserving of this distinction.
Below are the top three photographers for 2020 based on the jury's voting:
Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to all the photographers who participated in the contests throughout the year. 2020 was a crazy year for everyone and I look forward to another year of
Special thanks to the jurors who take time out of their busy schedules to carefully critique these contests and offer feedback; I've said it before and I'll say it again; you help photographers around the world improve their craft!
Here is what Matt had to say about the win:
I feel both honoured and privileged to have won the annual contest. It's something I've coveted for quite a few years now, as so many of my favourite photographers have either won it or come very close to winning it. It's also a relief that I can no longer enter the monthly contests bearing in mind how high the standards have become since I entered for the first time, I guess around 7 years ago. When I look at my entries compared to the others, I feel pretty damn fortunate.
Back in 2010, I started providing floor plans and residential energy efficiency reports for estate agents and basically fibbed on my website by making out that I also provided
photography and glossy brochures. One day, a recently new client emailed me to request photos for a small apartment, and I thought 'oh heck'. I only had a point and shoot at the time, although that didn't bother me as I didn't even know what a DSLR was. I immediately Googled 'how the hell do I take interior photos' and found this blog in its original format and through that, the good old Flickr forum; and what a slice of luck that was! Right away, I was pretty awestruck by the photos of beachside properties in California, Australia, Portugal, etc. and thought how cool it must be to do that for a living. Prior to that moment, it wasn't even something I thought people did!Even though I now had a chance to get a foot in the door in this wondrous new world, I just couldn't even dream that I'd end up shooting some of London's (and therefore, the UK's) most salubrious homes. It's thanks to this blog, the Flickr forum, and of course, the people who contributed that I was able to end up making a living doing something so immensely enjoyable; something where the thirst for improvement is pretty much unquenchable. So here's to all of you, and all of them; whom over the years have posted photos, critiques, opinions, rants, advice, encouragement, tips, tricks, secrets--and particularly those who have written and produced tutorials... cheers, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!
Thanks again PFRE, and Merry Chrimbo!
Cheers
Matt Davis - London, UK
