Winning photographer Dale Yudelman's study of an unglamorous job.
Horseracing pays scant attention to the undeniable value of high quality sponsors and the potential supporting role of the arts. That is demonstrated in no uncertain terms by the puzzling lack of media exposure for the fascinating L’Ormarins Moment photography completion.
This unique initiative by the prestigious mile’s sponsors was designed to align the prestigious L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate run on Saturday 7 January, with art. And, as the LQP website suggests, ‘photography is one of the most accessible forms of art to South Africans and the world alike’.
The 2012 entries included a host of South Africa’s foremost photographers, including two names in Charles Faull and the talented Hamish Niven, who will be instantly recognisable to horseracing enthusiasts.
The entrants competed to capture an image that would encapsulate the true essence of this stylish historical event endeavouring to capture the races, the fashion and the location. The images had to be submitted within a week after the event for judging.
The prizegiving function was held at the Cape Town Convention Centre shortly after the official opening of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale last week and a classy, elegant and relaxed mood was created by what one observer termed a ‘beautifully staged function.’
Moment Of Glory. A photograph by Charles Faull.
The winning photographs were exhibited in an alcove adjacent to the Drakenstein Stud Lounge where refreshments and snacks were served by beautifully dressed staff.
Drakenstein Stud’s Gaynor Rupert addressed the assembly and thanked both the participants and the industry at large, recording that the submissions had all been of a very high standard this year. In fact the judging panel felt that in view of the overall quality, that 3 categories had been instituted and Mrs Rupert had generously provided two additional prizes. The categories were split into The Moment / The Message / The Movement
The Movement category was won by Ruvan Boshoff with a shot of Variety Club, Gimmethegreenlight, Tales of Bravery and a fourth hidden horse, flying up the straight.
The Message category was won by Charles Faull with a lovely shot of Justin Snaith and Cyprian leading in Gimmethegreenlight after his brilliant Queen’s Plate win.
The overall winner was Dale Yudelman with the most breathtaking collection of photographs that he had captured on his iPhone.
Does it matter if you're blue or white? Another study by Dale Yudelman.
Yudelman’s entries included a beautiful shot of someone cleaning the Queen’s Plate; a lovely stylish shot of an elegant couple with the gentleman kissing the woman on the cheek. Lastly, a collection of beautiful women dressed in blue and having a good time posing for the camera.
Both Dale Yudelman and Ruvan Boshoff were contemporaries of the famous Bang Bang Club, a name primarily associated with four photographers active within the townships of South Africa during the years following the national referendum which led to the dissolving of the apartheid structures.
The winner Dale Yudelman is currently doing a project on South Africa under Democracy and he interestingly found the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate a credible study in our progress since the first elections in 1994.
We would hardly see it as rocket science that horseracing should be nurturing world-class sponsorships and embracing the positives flowing from initiatives of this nature.
Congratulations and many thanks to Mrs Gaynor Rupert and the L’Ormarins team.
