SHARP SHOOTER

Cowell’s local nemesis results in search for hot local talent for M-Net’s new photographic reality show.

Riding off a surge in digital camera sales globally, M-Net’s new photographic reality show, Sharp Shooter, will showcase the finest in up and coming home-grown photographic talent, premiering in the Idols slot on November 7 at 17h30. Some 15 competitors, in three teams, will undergo a rigorous ten-week challenge, judged by leading photographer and film director, Bryan Traylor; fashion extraordinaire Jenny Button, and former supermodel – now lifestyle photographer – Josie Borain.

“The global digital camera market is experiencing phenomenal growth, largely fuelled by the rapid development of camera technology, with total sales exceeding 141 million units in 2010 – a radical increase on 2008 forecasts,” says Bryan Traylor, “and so it’s no wonder that M-Net has appointed Foghound Studios to produce a ten-episode show which we hope will be the start of a show roll-out internationally.”

American-born and Cape Town-based Traylor, apprenticed with world-renowned photographers Annie Leibovitz, Bob Stevens and Vic Huber, among others, completing an honours degree in set design, lighting and directing from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. Together with Borain and Button, the trio of judges will single out a winner from the 15 aspiring photographers chosen from all walks of life. The competitors will be tasked to apply their skills and team player abilities to a broad range of photographic disciplines and sectors, including abstract compositions, products, fashion and destinations.

Over a ten-episode, ten-week period, the judging panel will view the best three images submitted weekly by the three groups of five contestants, from which one team will win exemption and the remaining two teams see either of their respective contestants being voted off the show. A winner will eventually be announced, walking away with a cash prize of R250,000 plus Nikon equipment worth a quarter of a million rand.

“Photography as a pastime interest is growing in leaps and bounds, across a variety of markets,” notes Traylor, “with unsurpassed gains in Asia (where sales of over 14 million cameras are expected this year, and 16 million during 2011), driven largely by digital and multimedia camera technology that provides both photographic and video functions and is sometimes further equipped with audio or voice recording options.”

A growing interest in photography, both in a professional and amateur context, is having a positive impact on all areas of the industry. Stock photography agencies are providing hobbyists with an opportunity to generate income from excellent content submitted. Pro photographers are being forced to specialise in and capitalise on specific disciplines of strength, and a cross-over in skills is being noted between film and TV skills on the one hand, and stills photography, directing and lighting on the other.

Commenting on the future of professional photography, Traylor says, “Agencies and clients are seeking greater creativity, requiring for example the consolidation of a variety of images to create something extraordinary, or they might perhaps want a photographer who understands other disciplines such as film and TVC direction. So both the maturing of skills, coupled with the evolution of digital technology, is driving exceptional creativity – particularly with photo manipulation and post-production. The Sharp Shooter reality show will be bringing such skills behind photographic excellence into sharper focus for us all.”