- 'Golden Lens' photography competition
promotes ageing well and active ageing
- Competition also celebrates the artistic
skills of older Western Australians
- Selected winners will be featured in the
upcoming WA Seniors Card 2023-24
Discount Directory
A selection of artistic Western Australian seniors have
been announced as the winners of the Department of Communities 'Golden Lens'
photography competition.
The competition gives Western Australian Seniors Card
members the chance to demonstrate their photographic talent and share images
that reflect the lives of seniors and seniors' interests across WA.
Importantly,
the competition aims to promote the importance of ageing well by celebrating
the skills of Western Australians through the art of photography and
demonstrating that people can create at any age.
More than
230 entries were received from 77 WA Seniors Card members.
The competition had five categories - Active Ageing,
Artistic Photography, Diverse Cultures, Flora and Fauna, and Seniors
Influencer. The competition also included a People's Choice award.
The 2023 winners and runners-up in each category were:
Active Ageing
- Winner - Maxwell Wannell for 'Paddling Waves'
- Runner-up - Richard Goodwin for 'The Last
Whaler'
Artistic Photography
- Winner - Dita Hagedorn for 'Starflower'
- Runner-up - Gary Browne for 'Telesto Coral
Polyp'
Diverse Cultures
- Winner - Donna Halliday for 'Brumby Mustering
on the Gibb River Road'
- Runner-up - Maxwell Wannell for 'Chinese New
Year 2023'
Flora and Fauna
- Winner - Geoffrey Vardy for 'Pelicans at
Wonnerup'
- Runner-up - Georgina Wilson for 'Blue-banded Bee'
Seniors Influencer
- Winner - Donna Legge for 'Channelling Iris
Apfel'
- Runner-up - Gary Browne for 'Come Dive With Me'
People's Choice
- Winner - Donna Legge for '73 year old Log Leaper'
- Runner-up - Miriam Romiti for 'Magical Starry
Night with Van Gogh'
The selected panel of judges included representatives from
Have a Go News, Council on the Ageing WA, Camera Electronic, Seniors Recreation
Council of WA and the Department of Communities.
Selected photos will be featured in the WA Seniors Card
2023-24 Discount Directory when released later this year.
Key prizes were donated by WA Seniors Card business
partners, and the Seniors and Ageing Minister Don Punch will also host the winners
for a lunch at Parliament House where they will be presented with their awards.
Further information about the Golden Lens photography
competition is available here.
Comments attributed to Seniors and Ageing
Minister Don Punch:
"The Golden Lens competition is a fantastic opportunity
for our WA Seniors Card members to share the stories of their lives and
interests through the power of image.
"Our seniors lead diverse and interesting lives, and love
to share their stories - so what better way is there to speak a thousand words
than through a photograph.
"Eliminating ageism in WA is at the heart of the 10-year Seniors
Strategy for WA and will be significant in the way we move forward and enable
seniors to prosper.
"This competition is yet another initiative that
demonstrates that commitment and action."
