'Hairy' lockdown potato is a winner for Ray

The first-ever Potato Photographer of the Year competition has been held, after being launched by professional photographer and former Digital Camera editor Benedict Brain.  
The competition was partly inspired by a 2016 photograph of a potato by Kevin Abosch, which sold for a $1 million. All proceeds go towards the Trussell Trust – a registered charity which supports a nationwide network of food banks in the United Kingdom.
The competition inspired some creative entries, showing atmospheric planting photos, potatoes resembling slugs and alien life forms, and a whole new take on the 'Adam and Eve' scene.
But the one that won the most judges' votes was the 'End of Lockdown' entry by Ray Spence which showed a potato getting a haircut. Ray won more than £1,000 in prizes, including a Fujifilm X-A7, a year’s membership to the Royal Photographic Society, a one-to-one workshop with award-winning photographer Benedict Brain and a three-year master subscription to Photocrowd.
One of the judges, Nigel Atherton, said: "This picture manages to introduce a topical lockdown obsession to the brief of photographing a potato. It takes a great imagination to see a sprouting potato as a head covered with hair, and there is a lot of humour in the way the picture has been executed." Fellow judge Paul Hill described it as "delightful, imaginative".
To see all the photos, and read the judges' comments, visit the Potato Photographer of the Year 2020 website at https://bit.ly/2DgY97u