PopView Lex van Rossen Award Exhibition 2009

 

Roundhouse, Camden
2nd August - 10th Sept 2009

An annual competition, award and exhibition which was set up to find and reward the best new European music photographer.

 

This year's winner of the coveted Lex van Rossen Award and cash price of Euros 2,500 is accomplished young Belgian photographer Tom Verbruggen. The accolade, which was awarded earlier in the year at The Eurosonic/Noorderslag Festival in Groningen, recognised Verbruggen's talent for capturing impressive live silhouettes and atmospheric backstage portraits. In fact, his work is said to have reminded the judges of the great Dutch music photographer Anton Corbjin. These images along with the work of six commended finalists will be exhibited at Roundhouse, Camden from 2nd August until 10th September 2009.

 

Amongst the highlights on display in London, will be images taken by NME photographer Danny North, representing UK talent with his portfolio of shots on the road, at music festivals and in the studio. The work of other commended finalists include, the unobtrusive imagery of Belgian photographer Charlie de Keersmaecker; quirky journalistic shots taken by Dutch photographer Jordi Huisman and striking portraitures captured by Frenchman Julien Bourgeois. Also included are Finnish photographer Kalle Bjorklid's riveting images of audience interaction and Danish photographer, Patrick Ryming's   documentation of the highs and lows of life on tour.

 

The European character of this award is underlined by the support of Rockarchive, the international collective for music photographers. Jill Furmanovsky, acclaimed rock photographer and founder of the archive, was invited to the Noordelicht Gallery in March to open the exhibition there and gave a talk about rock photography to delegates at the festival. She noted that "the standard at the PopView awards was awesome and inspiring. We had a lot of trouble picking just one winner"!