A gifted young amateur photographer from Tumbarumba is now Sydney-bound and set to become one of the official snappers at this year’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Chantelle Bruton’s stunning shot of Vaclav Fiala’s sculpture Universum has taken the top prize in this year’s Snowy Valleys Sculpture Winter Photography Competition.

The inaugural competition – a collaboration between Sculpture by the Sea and Region – was designed to showcase the wintery beauty of the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail, replete with its 60 sculptures at 12 locations across 150 kilometres of the Snowy Valleys.

A closer look at Universum, captured by another photographer. Photo: Angela Lyons.

Open to everyone from amateurs to professionals, it attracted nearly 100 entries, all showcasing the sculptures in their mid-year snowy habitat, characteristic of the locations high in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains.

Sculpture by the Sea founding CEO and artistic director David Handley reviewed all submissions, finally selecting Chantelle’s as the winner.

“This is a wonderful photo,” he said. “Congratulations to Chantelle for capturing the beauty of the sculpture in the snow. It is stunning!”

A passionate hobbyist, Chantelle has previously entered several photography competitions and says she was thrilled to have been named the winner.

“I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to have been chosen to be a photographer for Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, and still can’t believe my photo was the winning one,” she said.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Honourable mentions were awarded to:

• Louise Cowell, of Wagga Wagga, for her photo of Stephen King’s Grid Study IV;
• Caroline Cattle, of Oura, for her photo of Andrew Townsend and Suzie Bleach’s artwork Borderlands;
• Bradley Weintraub, of Laurel Hill, for his charming photo of his dog interacting with Shen Lieyi’s Rain and another with Sean Henry’s Seated Man.

Not only will Chantelle’s winning photo be featured on the Region Riverina and About Regional platforms, but she will also spend two nights at The Blue Hotel Bondi and join the team of exhibition photographers at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, from 18 October to 4 November.

First established in 1997 along the coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Tamarama, Sculpture by the Sea expanded its annual spring exhibition of featured sculptures by Australian and overseas artists to a companion autumn event in 2005 at Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia.

Following the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, which tore through the Snowy Valleys, it was decided to establish a world-class permanent collection of sculptures to attract tourism to the region.

Today the trail meanders from Talbingo through Tumut and Adelong down to Tooma, taking in the towns of Tumbarumba and Batlow as well as Bago State Forest, near Laurel Hill, where Chantelle’s photo was taken.

For more information on the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail is available here.

Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.