ABOVE: Julia Fullerton Batten - Teenage Stories

The main theme of the festival is on photographing children. Both the BJP and Hereford Times quote Bridget on the problems photographers face today:

'Now photographers, both amateur and professional, have to negotiate the minefield of obtaining permissions, run the risk of being branded a pervert and counter our increasing prudishness of what is thought to be an appropriate image of a child.'

The festival also features a retrospective of the photographer John Bulmer, some of whose work of children playing serves as an apt reminder that the paranoid fear that photography is somehow dangerous is a relatively modern belief.

Bulmer was a pioneer of colour photography in journalism so when the Sunday Times launched its colour supplement in 1962, Bulmer was an obvious choice as a contributor to its first issue.

ABOVE: One of a series of photographs by John Bulmer for Town magazine

He worked for the paper for the next 10 years as one of its most prolific photographers, covering both national and international stories.

You can read the full articles online: the BJP here and the Hereford Times here.

His picture that won the award is called "Pin Head". Bill says he is "chuffed."

"Troika Editions is a new project by Bridget Coaker and Michael Walter....Coaker recognised that an audience for contemporary photography exists that does not know how to access work, and is intimidated by galleries and pricing. Coaker has already developed a strong roster of photographers..." wrote Leo Hsu.

See the full article as a pdf