A PHOTOGRAPH of her school’s boilerhouse, with its chimney starkly silhouetted against a bright sky, earned 11-year-old Parris Wilson from Jedburgh an accolade last week.
The picture was selected as the best primary school exhibit in the Scottish Civic Trust’s prestigious PhotoArch competition 2012, which attracted 630 entries from across Scotland.
Parris, a pupil at Howdenburn Primary, admitted: “I didn’t expect to win.”
Parris, together with 14-year-old Megan Robertson of Aberdeenshire, who won the secondary category, received their certificates from Derek Mackay MSP, minister for local government and planning, at a ceremony at the Lighthouse in Glasgow last Tuesday.
Parris’s photograph, along with all the highly commended and commended entries, will be on view to the public for four weeks at the city venue.
After that, Parris’s photo, entitled The Boiler House Pipe, will represent Scotland at the International Heritage Photographic Experience exhibition in more than 40 countries.
It was a red-letter day, too, for Parris’s Howdenburn classmate Kira Renilson, also 11, whose photograph The Cross won her a highly commended certificate.
The PhotoArch project, founded in 2004, encourages young people to take an interest in buildings, archaeology and heritage. Sites under the lens this year included everything from atmospheric ancient ruins to ultra-modern flats, castles, schools, homes, shops, churches and factories.
The illustrious panel of judges deemed Parris’s photograph both “bold and unusual”.
Parris reacted: “I just thought I would photograph the chimney at my school and I certainly didn’t expect to win.”
The judges for PhotoArch 2012 were Ruth Parsons, chief executive of Historic Scotland; Ray Entwistle, chair of the Scottish Civic Trust; Robin McClory, director at ADF Architects; and Julia Horton, a journalist for the Times Educational Supplement Scotland.
Ms Parsons said: “The breadth of imagination shown by the entrants has been exceptional. The competition clearly brings out the very best in our young people, inspiring remarkable creativity and offering new perspectives and new interpretations on buildings and monuments that have a special place in our communities.”
Mr Entwistle added: “This competition, which attracted a record number of entries, is a great way to get children thinking about the places and spaces that surround them. Once again, we had many excellent entries from pupils of all ages, showing originality, inventiveness and an eye for detail.”