Winner announced for inaugural ‘extreme’ photo competition for medical professionals

The winner of Devon organisation World Extreme Medicine’s inaugural photo competition has been announced.

Chris Parry’s picture of nurse practitioner Oli Jepson seated on a bike looking across Edinburgh from the Pentland Hills was voted top by the judges.  

It was chosen from over 65 entries, giving the judges a difficult task. World Extreme Medicine founder Mark Hannaford, master photographer Perou and physician, speaker and citizen-scientist astronaut candidate Dr Shawna Pandya whittled down the entries to a shortlist of 15 before choosing the winner.

Mark said: “We were impressed with the standard of the entries and the range of interpretations of the theme Extreme is Everywhere -  from starlings over the sea in Brighton to a bungee jump in Costa Rica!”

Each photo had to be accompanied by an explanation of why it met the theme Extreme is Everywhere. Chris explained that the trail he and Oli rode is “…aptly called Scalextric as it is basically two twisting quad bike ruts that you can ride almost side by side at (probably!) terminal velocity down to where the city starts. Horizontal rain illuminated in torch light combined with terrain appearing rapidly out of the darkness feels like warp speed. I love it. And all from the front door. Proof that extreme can be found everywhere even within view of home and work in a major city.”

Shawna explained why his photo stood out for her. “Chris' description of how austere the Pentland Hills can get, despite being relatively close to humanity, was extremely evocative for me, as it served as metaphor of the duress and isolation healthcare providers have had to endure throughout the pandemic, despite being in the thick of things.”

Chris’s prize is either in person or digital access to World Extreme Medicine’s annual conference in Edinburgh which runs from 19 to 21 November. An impressive list of speakers has been confirmed. The line-up includes Mensun Bound from the archaeological expedition team that discovered Shackleton’s Endurance shipwreck, Hearts in the Ice explorers Hilde Fålun Strøm & Sunniva Sørby, NASA astronaut Michael R Barratt, and Professor Greg White who works with celebrities undertaking gruelling challenges for Comic Relief, Sport Relief and Children in Need. Photo comp judges Perou and Mark Hannaford will also be at the conference.

Two runners up were also chosen: David Osborne who submitted a stunning photo of Kaiteur Falls in Guyana which he entitled ‘facing fear’, and Felipe Urriola whose arresting image was taken from a plane on a rescue mission in Patagonia.

They will both receive WEM goody bags with branded content such as dry bags, travel cups, lanyards and t-shirts.

The winning and runners up photos, plus the best of the rest, will be on display at the conference. To find out more about the event visit: world-extreme-medicine-conference