Hidden Earth
National Caving Conference

Giles Barker Award

This is not a BCRA award; however the organisers have expressed a desire to involve the annual conference and BCRA's Photo Salon judges. For this reason, the conference organisers need to be made aware of the rules and of the planned involvement of the conference staff. BCRA has not sought to 'approve' the details of the rules, or their application, in any wider sense.

Giles Barker lost his life while caving in Spain in 1992. An accomplished cave photographer, Giles was a member of the Red Rose CPC and Morgannwg CC. These clubs have annually, since 1993, presented the Giles Barker Award in his memory.

Rules

[Document supplied by MCC and RRCPC - representatives Chris Howes & Andy Hall]

The Giles Barker Award is presented to a cave photographer (or a person associated with cave photography) annually, in recognition of excellence in any aspect of cave photography. Contenders for the award should be brought to the attention of MCC or RRCPC in advance, or to the MCC/RRCPC representative at the Conference.
- The recipient may be a newcomer or established photographer, the award recognising, for example, outstanding effort or sustained excellence over a period of years, or services rendered to cave photography even if the recipient is not normally considered to be a cave photographer. The award is made to the person, not specifically for any one photograph or portfolio.
- The recipient should not, therefore, win the award in successive years for what is essentially the same reason, for example winning twice for 'continued excellence' (though it is not specifically against the rules for the same person to win the award a second time for a different reason). It is intended that 'in recognition of excellence in any aspect of cave photography' should be interpreted in a broad sense.
- The organising clubs will keep a record of previous winners and the reason for their award, to form a reference for the judges.
The winner of this prestigious award is announced at the annual BCRA Conference or, if this is not held, it will be announced in the caving press.
The winner is selected by a representative of MCC or RRCPC, together with the help of the Photo Salon judges.
- This allows discussion of the winner, which includes entrants to the Photo Salon. However, the winner need not be an entrant: any facet of cave photography may be suitable for being granted the award, and the winner need not be linked to the BCRA Conference. The involvement of the Photo Salon judges is helpful, given that they are already considering making photographic awards. The inclusion of a club representative ensures that previous winners are known at the time of making the decision (and aids in ensuring that the rules are interpreted correctly), as well as enabling suggestions concerning winners from outside the Photo Salon to be made. In case of dissent the club representative holds the deciding vote.
The prize will be a trophy which is retained by the winner.
- Funding for the award is the responsibility of the RRCPC and MCC. The trophy is a work of art, typically a statuette made for the occasion. No cash or other prize is attached to the award.

Previous winners

Also see Reports of past events

1993 Jerry Wooldridge: Continued overall excellence in cave photography together with an originality of approach in colour printing techniques which extend the boundaries of cave photography
1994 Peter Collings-Wells: A relative newcomer to the photo salon, awarded for the overall quality of his colour prints and other work
1995 Richard Rushton: A promising newcomer to the photo salon, having entered a portfolio of small prints of a high standard, Richard will hopefully be encouraged to continue his underground photography by this award
1996 David Gibson: For his support of cave photography, both in initiating the publication of Underground Photographer and development of a slave unit circuit which is now in widespread use.
1997 Chris Howes: For his excellence in cave photography over many years and, in particular, his continuing teaching and encouragement of newcomers to cave photography, including lectures, articles and books, and the production of Images Below, a comprehensive manual on the subject
1998 Gavin Newman: For his professional approach and overall excellence in cave photography and, in particular, his outstanding audio visual presentations, some of which have been specially constructed for BCRA conferences. His awesome 'Caves of Thunder' sequence is a notable example that will be remembered as a pioneering advance in the field of Cave Photography.
1999 Sid Perou: For many years one name has stood out among caving cinematographers: Sid Perou. He has developed filming techniques and shown others the way forward; his influence in the field is widely acknowledged, and rightly so. Sid is presented with the 1999 Giles Barker Award for his continuing excellence and the entertainment that he has given to so many cavers for more than 30 years by creating films underground. Sid wins a lifetime trophy; a figurine, hand-crafted for the occasion by Ceris Jones.
2000 Paul Deakin: Paul is well known in cave photography circles and bibliophiles will recall his involvement in 1975 in the production of British Caves and Potholes, one of the earliest British caving coffee-table books. More recently he has created memorable audio-visual sequences, shown at local and national events, and is particularly known for his fine colour prints of mines and caves (including the modern classic of Titan shaft). Paul is therefore a worthy recipient of the 2000 Giles Barker Award for his continuing excellence in underground photography. The award itself is a figurine, hand-crafted for the occasion by Ceris Jones.
2001 Andy Eavis: Andy Eavis is often first associated with his expedition expertise and leadership, and it is easy to forget that he is also a superb cave photographer; his pictures have graced many a magazine cover and expedition report. In addition, Andy has supported cave photography within his expedition ethos by including specialised photographers in the team rather than leaving the visual record to hit-and-miss. With his recent added venture into digital 3D AV sequences, he richly deserves the 2001 Giles Barker Award. The award itself is a figurine of a cave photographer, hand-crafted by Ceris Jones and retained by the winner.
2002 Glenn Jones: Audio-visual sequences have become a staple part of the Hidden Earth conference. Glenn Jones began constructing sequences in 1991 and by 1996 was showing his work to cavers, progressing through different versions of his Vercors AV at successive Hidden Earth conferences and creating three of its new-format opening sequences). During this period Glenn also produced DSS The Movie and moved from two projectors to four, then to six, and by popular request has shown his AVs at many other caving events around the country. He was the winner of the newly instigated AV competition at Hidden Earth in 2001 with Caving. Congratulations go to Glenn as the recipient of the tenth Giles Barker Award in recognition of his enthusiasm and dedication both in his photography and producing AVs. The award is a figurine of a cave photographer, hand-crafted by Ceris Jones and retained by the winner.
2003 Andy Sparrow: Giles Barker was often involved with teaching the sport to young people. It is particularly fitting, therefore, that the 2003 award goes to a film-maker who has produced three instructional caving videos (the Cave Safe series), as well as entertaining cavers worldwide with his productions of Solo, which has won several international awards, and the recent dramatised account of the discovery of the caves in Fairy Cave Quarry, A Rock and a Hard Place. Congratulations to Andy Sparrow for his well-deserved award. Andy was presented with a figurine of a cave photographer, hand-crafted by Ceris Jones, at Hidden Earth 2003.
2004 Peter Harvey: With the 2004 presentation being made to Peter Harvey from South Wales, the award has widened its scope as Peter's photographs date back to the 1950s and '60s. Even considering the advances in cave photography since that time, his results stand up against more recent work. Peter's negatives have been scanned to a high standard and he has produced modern prints using up-to-date computer technology, some of which were on display at Hidden Earth 2004. This is a deserving award, given Peter's dedication at the time to taking the original image, and now to maximise its potential using today's printing methods.
2005 Robbie Shone: This year the award goes to an outstanding cave photographer who has embraced the latest in technological advances and shoots solely using a digital SLR camera. Always willing to learn, his dedication to producing the results he desires is extraordinary and over the past twelve months the outcome has wowed his viewers. His pictures have been printed in recent editions of Descent magazine and have drawn many admiring comments, as well as winning the delegate ballot and Premier Trophy at Hidden Earth 2005. Choosing the recipient for the 2005 award was a very easy task, so much did Robbie Shone's work stand out with his subtle use of lighting.
2006 Maurice Hewins: Maurice Hewins has for many years worked to document and preserve our heritage of caving films, both old and modern. In this, Maurice has collected data on the photographers and their productions, recording the techniques they used and the people who appeared in often obscure films. Most importantly, he has also - with permission - gathered copies which he has lodged with Wells Museum. His work, from which future generations will benefit greatly (let alone the enjoyment the current caving community has gained), makes Maurice a very fitting recipient of the 2006 Giles Barker Award.
2007 Ron Bliss: This was won by Ron Bliss for his lifetime spent producing fine pictures underground, taking him through changes in technology and culminating in his preparing a slideshow showing the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales caves that he loved, and pressing home a strong conservation message - there can be no stronger use of photography than this. This is the first time the award has been made posthumously as Ron unfortunately died shortly before the first public showing of his final work.