A STUNNING shot of the sun rising over Avebury was the pick of the bunch as budding photographers from Swindon College battled it out for a coveted calendar spot.

The School of Art's inaugural photography competition – open to 14-18 year olds – followed the theme of 'reflections' and was won by Kamille Buozyte. Alicia Underwood was the runner-up, with Matthew Stone third.

Their images and more will be used to produce a calendar to raise money for TWIGS (Therapeutic Work in Gardening in Swindon). It will also be on display at a special end of year show which runs at the North Star campus from today until next Thursday an is free to attend.

Judges Alan Holland of TWIGS, Joanne Gennard, curriculum manager for the School of Art, and lecturer John Holdship had the tough job of deciding the winners, who receive a prize of vouchers and a day’s photography workshop at the college.

Joanne said: “The judges were blown away by the quality of work that we looked at this year, and it shows that the future of photography is in good hands.

"It was incredibly difficult to narrow the final selection down to twelve, and even more difficult to pick an overall winner. However, the decision for the top three was unanimous, but we would like to thank all of the contestants for their amazing work and to encourage them to carry on taking photographs.”

Hannah Greig, Jake Kneale, Charlotte Martin, Becca Nicholson, Isobel Pointon, Alice Manchip, Eleanor Harvey, Darcy Johnson and Bethany Wallen were all highly commended for their entries.

The School of Art’s end of year show will also showcase the work of graduates across a number of disciplines, from illustration and graphic design, to production arts and photography, ranging from Level 3 Foundation Diploma through to BA (Hons) courses.

If you are interested in a taste of what these courses entail, the college is running a series of free summer school workshops for adults on July 10 and 11. Further information can be found at www.swindon.ac.uk/art.aspx. Subjects covered include graphic design, ceramics, photography, media make-up and life drawing.