Sweep success: Frances Terlich wins again in prestigious national photo contest

A captivating black-and-white photograph of a boy sweeping out a weathered woolshed, taken by Pleasant Hills’ Frances Terlich, has won the top prize at the 2024 People First Bank Photographic Awards.

The 39-year-old photographer, primary school teacher and farmer’s wife said she was surprised and thrilled to receive the Open Category award, which came with $15,000 in prizemoney.

The win follows her success in the same competition in 2023 when she won the Illustrative category with another black-and-white image.

“I didn’t expect to win again,” Frances said. “I was so shocked!

“You never quite know what the judges are looking for but when I posted this picture for a camera club project I was involved in, everyone commented on it, so when the competition came up again I thought, ‘That’s the one’ because so many people loved it.”

Now in their 36th year, the People First Bank Photographic Awards represent one of the country’s most prestigious and enduring photographic competitions. With a $50,000 prize pool, the contest attracted 2928 entries from 928 photographers this year – a rise from last year’s participation.

People First Bank CEO Steve Laidlaw said the competition celebrated the essence of Australian life, providing a platform for artistic expression and creativity.

“These images record our social fabric, making the People First Bank Photographic Awards a significant national competition that inspires creativity across the country,” he said.

Frances first took up photography in 2014 when their first child, Samantha, was born.

“As a mum, I take photos of my children all the time and that’s where my love and passion for photography came from,” she said.

“I got my first digital SLR camera in 2014 when Samantha was born because I wanted to be able to capture moments and I didn’t want to have just phone photos, I wanted a bit more and that’s where it started.

“I did love taking photos with film cameras when I was growing up, but it’s very expensive, so digital was great because you don’t have to pay to process.”

A camera is not far from her fingertips on most occasions and there’s no shortage of subject matter on the 1400-hectare sheep and cropping farm she runs with husband Andrew.

She’s turned her passion into productivity and has built a business capturing weddings and family sessions for people wanting treasured memories of special events or moments in time.

Currently on a break from teaching while she looks after third child Alister, 4, Frances has been a familiar face at Pleasant Hills Primary School and has also taught in Henty and Thurgoona.

Her winning photo, Next Generation, was taken of her son James, 8, in the woolshed at her in-laws’ nearby farm, Iowna.

“I remembered that the year before, there had been some awesome light streaming in during the afternoon and I wanted to get a snap of that,” Frances said.

“We went over there and the kids were just cleaning up and I went into the position where I had looked at the light and I looked out the door, saw all the storm clouds, the sheep in the distance and the wool bales just sitting there and I was like, ‘Let’s go for it’.”

The photo was taken using a Canon R6, with a 24/70 mm lens.

“It’s the camera I usually use for documenting the family because it allows me to zoom right out and get all the details and that’s what I wanted for that shot, all the details of the framing, the shadow, the bales.

“It was all about the framing as that was the theme for that week, I didn’t take it specifically to enter it into a competition.”

The 50 winners and finalist images can be viewed in an online virtual exhibition at peoplefirstphotoawards.com.au.

The People First Bank has again acquired the top five winning entries – in the Open Category, Themed Category, Illustrative Category, CEO’s Choice and Mobile Phone Award – to be displayed as part of its photographic collection.

You can find out more about Frances Terlich Photography on her website.