A bug's life
Amateur Photographer|July 18, 2023
This year's UK winner of the EISA Maestro competition is Angi Wallace. Here she tells Amy Davies more about her inspirations and her images
Amy Davies
A bug's life

To be in with a chance of taking home the national prize of this year's EISA Maestro competition, entrants were tasked with submitting a series of between five and eight images on the theme of 'The Animal Kingdom'. All entries had to be taken for the purposes of this competition, and we were looking for a selection of images that hung together as a coherent whole. The subject matter could be any type of animal, including wild and urban wildlife, pets and farm animals.

It's not difficult to see why we were so drawn to Angi's portfolio. While it's true that the subject matter might not be exactly to everyone's tastes, nobody can deny the skill with which the images were created.

Here, we learn more from Angi about her background, and what it feels like to win the national round. For this portfolio, she wins a digital subscription to Amateur Photographer and goes forward to the final round of the EISA Maestro Photo Contest 2023, where she will compete against other international photographers to take home one of the top prizes - over €4,250 is up for grabs. Visit: eisa.eu/maestro/

AD: Tell us about your background

AW: My background is in nursing. I worked as a rheumatology specialist nurse but needed to change my career due to health problems. An opportunity came up for me to work as editor of a reptile magazine, which I jumped at as one of my hobbies was keeping reptiles and frogs. Part of my job was writing articles and supplying photographs; luckily my ex had three reptile shops so I had lots of opportunities to photograph a wide range of creatures. I had no experience but threw myself into learning both photography and magazine-related stuff.

AD: How did you get into photography, and what was your first camera?

This story is from the July 18, 2023 edition of Amateur Photographer.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July 18, 2023 edition of Amateur Photographer.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERView All
Canon finally opens up RF mount
Amateur Photographer

Canon finally opens up RF mount

SIGMA is releasing six APS-C lenses for Canon EOS RF mount, thus widening the choice of glass for Canon’s previously ‘closed’ RF system.

time-read
1 min  |
April 30, 2024
Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat
Amateur Photographer

Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat

A camera made in Germany in the early 1950s and discovered at a charity shop

time-read
2 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Stories from the heart
Amateur Photographer

Stories from the heart

Kenyan fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has a gift that she was encouraged by her parents to explore from a young age.

time-read
6 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Cameras big in Japan again
Amateur Photographer

Cameras big in Japan again

AFTER over a decade of bleak news about the key Japanese camera market, domestic research firm GfK Japan has reported positive growth for the first time in 13 years.

time-read
1 min  |
April 30, 2024
Shooting Shogun
Amateur Photographer

Shooting Shogun

What's it like to be the stills photographer on one of the biggest and best historical dramas on TV?

time-read
5 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Handle with care
Amateur Photographer

Handle with care

For his latest book, Fragile, Paul Hart has stepped away from the documentary approach of his previous projects into something more personal. Ailsa McWhinnie finds out more

time-read
6 mins  |
April 30, 2024
Leica SL3
Amateur Photographer

Leica SL3

Leica's top-end mirrorless model gains a 60MP sensor, tilting screen, and significantly improved autofocus. Andy Westlake takes a detailed look

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 30, 2024
More DxO updates
Amateur Photographer

More DxO updates

EVER-INDUSTRIOUS French photo-editing specialist DxO has announced its latest batch of updates.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024
Budget Honor phone with 108MP camera
Amateur Photographer

Budget Honor phone with 108MP camera

WITH the UK phone market dominated by Apple, Samsung and Google, other makers, notably from China, are jostling for a remaining slice of the pie.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024
Google AI editing tools free for more phones
Amateur Photographer

Google AI editing tools free for more phones

MORE AI-based photo-editing tools will become available from 15 May, with Google announcing that its Magic Editor will be free to use on Android and iPhone handsets and many Chromebook laptops.

time-read
1 min  |
April 23, 2024