The judges have chosen the prize winners for the Aeronautics photography competition.

Over the past few months, the department ran its first ever photography competition, providing an opportunity for Aero students and staff to showcase their photography work, and to celebrate Aeronautics, Imperial life, and even to provide a humorous take on life in lockdown.

The winner of the first Aero Photography Competition is: fourth-year undergraduate student Mingiyan Ushanov. The judges credited the winning photo of fellow students for its “Creative posing, composition and excellent quality” and its “inventive set up with clear subject matter…” Mingiyan said of his award: “It is incredibly exciting to have had the chance to share this picture with the wider Department of Aeronautics community!”

Graduate student Erin Siah is our first runner-up. She submitted an Aero-themed photo of Imperial’s Queen’s Tower. The judges said: “It has everything... leading building lines, balanced reflections, blue tonal range and aircraft focal point…Nearly a winner”.

Bohan Peng, who is currently on the Year in Industry path in his Placement year at Airbus is our other runner-up. The judges commended his shot as a “Great capture, in a fast-moving scene…the layout and lines of aircraft are perfect...it's a stunning visual.”

Among the competition judges were Head of Department Professor Paul Robinson, Imperial photographer Thomas Angus, and freelance photographer Dave Guttridge (who provided some fantastic photography of our facilities prior to the lockdown which now features on the Aeronautics website).

Our panel judged photos based on their creativity, originality, technical skill and the ability to capture a theme. The themes included studies and research, experiments/labs, societies, College/Departmental life and lockdown/social distancing.

Over the coming weeks, we will also be sharing the 14 shortlisted photographs and honourable mentions on our Twitter page, so keep an eye out for those!

More information is available on our Photography competition webpage.