On The Move, the annual competition for amateur disabled photographers, is set to be launched once again at the Mobility Roadshow on June 28th.Award winning war-photographer Giles Duley will launch the competition at the event at Telford International Centre. Duley, whose images provoke immense thoughtful and emotional responses in equal measure, has been cited as an inspiration to many young disabled photographers after losing both his legs and an arm in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2011.Following the incident, involving the sort of improvised explosive device that has claimed the lives of so many British servicemen and Afghan civilians, Duley claimed the 2012 Prix de la Photographie in Paris, the second time the London-born photographer has been awarded the prize.The competition is open to all amateur disabled photographers across the UK and is divided into three categories: under 12s, 12 to 18s and 18 plus. Last years winner in the 12 to 18s category was then-16-year-old Sophia Taylor, a cerebral palsy sufferer whose prize-winning shot entitledMinimalistic†captured a horse rider in action.“I was amazed and excited when I heard that Id won the competition,†she said.“I had only been discussing it with my family a few days prior to getting the news and saying that I thought the date for announcing the winners had gone already. I didnt actually expect to win anything.â€The pressure is now on for 2013s entrants to live up to the quality of previous years submissions. The involvement of Giles Duley is sure to inspire the competitors to come up with some truly enthralling work.In a thirteen year career as a documentary photographer, Duley has covered conflicts in Angola, Sudan and Afghanistan, as well as other projects in Bangladesh and the Ukraine.\r\nFormer Liberal Democrat leader and High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina following the atrocities there in the 1990s Paddy Ashdown likened Duleys photographs to the words of metaphysical poet John Donne;"'No man is an island..... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.' What he said in words, Duley's compelling photographs tell us in pictures, Ashdown said.They are a must for anyone who values the unity, tragedy and potential of the human condition.
By Help Mobility Team