Armidale Show 2026
07/03/26
The Armidale Show has come and gone, and for some reason I decided this is the year I’m going to enter some photos into the photography competition, 10 images across 10 themes. Things weren’t as simple as digging through the last 12 months of photos to find shots that fit, though. Because I like working with uncommon aspect ratios, I had to do quite a bit of trimming before mounting them securely to cardstock, which is all very new to me.
Did I make a bit of a mess of it? Yeah, first times usually go that way, but I’m still happy with how they turned out, even if some of the prints came out darker than I would have liked. I dropped the photos off yesterday afternoon and there were already plenty of great submissions on display, very competitive indeed. I wouldn’t be surprised if I walk away with nothing, but it’s about getting out there and trying something new, and it’s nice to have my images displayed somewhere other than just the internet, even if it’s only at the local show.
When it comes to the experience of the show itself, I really wish I hadn’t had to take it in after driving home from the Gold Coast the day before and then getting up early to shoot Minerama that morning. I feel like I could have captured a lot more great shots if I hadn’t been so exhausted, but it is what it is. I do quite like the shot of the elderly gentleman talking to the young man on the phone, it was a surprisingly tender moment considering we were in a big, dusty room full of machines.
Will I head back again next year? Maybe. Despite only winning in one of the ten photo categories, I still feel like the whole experience was valuable. There were some fantastic entries, and I was really happy to see both my photography assistant Evelyn and one of my old photography students, Jade, walk away with multiple wins. I guess all I can do is keep improving over the next 12 months, right?
