Successful photographs from Army Photography Competition supply distinctive perception into service life

The winners of the 2026 British Army Photographic Competition have been introduced, as soon as once more shining a light-weight on the fact of navy life by way of the lenses of serving personnel.

The yearly competitors with classes akin to Army Photographer of the Year, Image of the Year, People’s Choice, Video and Capability, provides civilians an genuine glimpse into the grit and dedication of contemporary troopers and displays the variety of the Army, from its individuals to the big selection of jobs and roles.

This yr’s winners embody Staff Sgt Donald Todd, Sergeant Adam Wakefield, Corporal Nathan Tanuku, Lance Sergeant William Farmer and Sergeant Andrew Grayson, all of whom spoke to BFBS Forces News about their profitable picture and what conjures up them.

Overall Image of the Year

Sergeant Adam Wakefield, an Army photographer hooked up to the Combined Arms Manoeuvre School in Warminster, gained the Overall Image of the Year class with a photograph of a sniper and spotter on a Sniper Platoon Commanders Course and Sniper Section Commanders Course.

Speaking to BFBS Forces News, Sgt Wakefield stated: “Snipers have that mystique about them throughout the Army.

“Everyone likes snipers due to what they do and the precision that it takes and the talent set that they’ve.

“And for me, as a photographer, I just see light.

“And the solar began to set and the sunshine was coming by way of properly so I received down low to get a little bit of foreground curiosity with the grass and yeah, simply received the shot and I did not actually assume too deeply into it.” 

Professional Portfolio Category

Staff Sergeant Donald Todd of the Royal Logistic Corps won in the People and Professional Portfolio category.

The winning image he is most proud of is that of a soldier taken during the military procession and flypast in central London to mark 80 years since Victory in Europe.

Being a Scottish man himself, he was inspired to take the photo because of the “Scottishness” of the image.

He said: “Obviously, being Scottish myself, I wished to seize a little bit of tartan in central London.

“So then obviously his moustache, it was a close second after the piercing, blue eyes, but I just thought [he had a] very stern face, very, stoic looking.

“And I believe additionally… it is virtually timeless.” 

Story

Corporal Nathan Tanuku was the winner in the Story category, in which he had to submit six images from the same event that told a story.

He saw this as an opportunity to shine the spotlight on a group of soldiers who work tirelessly behind the scenes but often get overlooked – military chefs cooking in the field.

He said: “I do know that cooks are sort of like our unsung heroes.

“They work tirelessly in terms of getting up early in the morning, 3 to 4 am to get breakfast ready at seven for the troops and even in the evening, once everyone’s had their food, they still have to clean up and prepare for the next meal the next day.

“So truly spending time to take good imagery of them and inform their story and to win it was fairly humbling.” 

Capability

Lance Sergeant William Farmer, the unit photographer for the Grenadier Guards, won in the Capability category with an image taken on Salisbury Plain of new Guardsmen who have never touched a mortar before firing for the first time.

He said: “It was simply kind of proper place, proper time, to have the ability to get the illume popping, which is kind of the fireworks.

“I knew as soon as I took it I was going to enter it into the Army Photography Competition but it was just luck really.” 

Best Video

Sergeant Andrew Grayson is a part of the crew what gained the Best Video class for BIG RED ONE: A Christmas Mission from the UK Armed Forces, also referred to as Operation Silent Night.

At first, to some who had been requested to participate within the festive video, the concept appeared a bit frivolous, however the remaining product is a slick portrayal of the all three branches of the UK’s Armed Forces working collectively.

The actually tri-service effort additionally noticed a contribution from NORAD. based mostly at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado – well-known for monitoring Santa on Christmas Eve.

Sgt Grayson, who for this video was Director of Photography, stated: “[We filmed] the RAF scrambling fighter jets to escort Santa, so we went and recorded some of that and then used some existing RAF stuff.

“The Pathfinders handed us some footage and of them parachuting out. And I went and recorded some footage of them on an previous, deserted runway, organising the lights for [Santa to land].

“So, in their eyes, because we tried to make everything quite realistic, the Army officially classes, just from doing that video, they class Santa Claus as a light Cessna aircraft for the purposes of marking runways.”

In addition, Major Ben Norfield was the winner within the Amateur Portfolio Category.